Interview at Warsaw embassy - case transfer from Moscow

[Wouter 143]

On 9/28/2021 at 11:46 PM, JurisDoctor said:

Good topic. How does one's case transferred from Moscow embassy to any other.?

1. Do I have to send a "Public inquiry" to NVC?

If yes, can someone share a good sample of the inquiry?

2. Transfered automatically?

3. How is the transfer destination country is determined? If alien fiancee was born in Kazakhstan, is she eligible only for transfer to Kaz? Or there is other way to determine that?

My (actually, my friend's) case: K-1. Just received NOA-2 on 9.25.21 ( case was sent to NVC).

Hi,

The transfer definitely doesn't go automatically.

You will have to email to US embassies that are likely to accept your request for a transfer. In theory any embassy can accept your request but in practice only certain embassies have been willing to take on Russian cases: Warsaw, Kazakhstan, Kiev, (anyone any other?); typically countries that have a connection with Russia and border on Russia.

For transfer to Warsaw or other EU countries the applicant has to have a Schengen visa.

I emailed US embassies in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, but none were willing to take our case, only Warsaw approved the request.

Then next I wrote to the NVC through the Public Inquiry to tell them I wanted to transfer the case to Warsaw and included the approval email from the Warsaw embassy.

 

 

[Wouter 143]

Final update: my Russian wife had the interview on Monday, October 4th and all went well and we could pick up her passport with the CR1 visa at the embassy in Warsaw yesterday, October 5th. Most other applicants we talked to also got fairly short notice of their interview appointment, only about 20 days ahead of time, so like us everyone had to scramble to arrange their travel to Poland and to get the medical exam done.

Everyone with an interview that day got invited for the interview at 8:30 or 9:00 AM and then everyone was kept in the waiting area in the embassy until their turn. For my wife it took about 2.5 hours of waiting. (Very interesting: during the waiting the applicants all get pamphlets to read about human trafficking, protection against abuse from their spouse, and their rights in the US. I think this is really great that they actually inform and protect the immigrants and not just see them as a number that is approved or refused.)

The actual interview was very short, perhaps 2 minutes. Questions were:

- how did you meet your husband?

- where does he live?

- when was the last time you saw your husband in person?

- you have been to the US for studies? (She has had an F-1 visa in the past)

Before the interview at a check-in window they looked at the original birth certificate, marriage certificate, police report, sealed envelope with medical records, and they took in the passport photos. During the interview they did not look at any documents (so they didn't look at the original I-864 or any proof of the relationship we brought)

She was told she was approved right away at the end of the interview and that she could pick up her passport with the visa the next day at 12.

She was out at about noon so the whole thing took about 3 hours.

The next day it was very quick to pick up the passport with the visa. Interestingly: there is no sealed envelope (IV packet) with immigration documents anymore. Apparently, they have switched (since 2018) to an online system to collect, review, and process the required documents previously contained in the IV packet. So we did not get the famous 'sealed envelope' but her visa says at the bottom "IV Docs in CCD".

 

[millefleur 5,047]

6 hours ago, Wouter said:

She was told she was approved right away at the end of the interview and that she could pick up her passport with the visa the next day at 12.

Congrats! Finally! The whole process sounds identical to the one at the Moscow Embassy, minus the in person passport pick up.

 

Huh, I didn't know that they got rid of the sealed envelope. That's probably for the better as tearing it accidentally was so easy.

[TBoneTX 45,596]

20 hours ago, Wouter said:

my Russian wife had the interview on Monday, October 4th and all went well and we could pick up her passport with the CR1 visa at the embassy in Warsaw yesterday, October 5th.

Congratulations!  You must feel great.

Your comprehensive posts about this and other experiences are distinctly helpful to others.

[Yuliya.99 28]

23 hours ago, Wouter said:

Final update: my Russian wife had the interview on Monday, October 4th and all went well and we could pick up her passport with the CR1 visa at the embassy in Warsaw yesterday, October 5th. Most other applicants we talked to also got fairly short notice of their interview appointment, only about 20 days ahead of time, so like us everyone had to scramble to arrange their travel to Poland and to get the medical exam done.

Everyone with an interview that day got invited for the interview at 8:30 or 9:00 AM and then everyone was kept in the waiting area in the embassy until their turn. For my wife it took about 2.5 hours of waiting. (Very interesting: during the waiting the applicants all get pamphlets to read about human trafficking, protection against abuse from their spouse, and their rights in the US. I think this is really great that they actually inform and protect the immigrants and not just see them as a number that is approved or refused.)

The actual interview was very short, perhaps 2 minutes. Questions were:

- how did you meet your husband?

- where does he live?

- when was the last time you saw your husband in person?

- you have been to the US for studies? (She has had an F-1 visa in the past)

Before the interview at a check-in window they looked at the original birth certificate, marriage certificate, police report, sealed envelope with medical records, and they took in the passport photos. During the interview they did not look at any documents (so they didn't look at the original I-864 or any proof of the relationship we brought)

She was told she was approved right away at the end of the interview and that she could pick up her passport with the visa the next day at 12.

She was out at about noon so the whole thing took about 3 hours.

The next day it was very quick to pick up the passport with the visa. Interestingly: there is no sealed envelope (IV packet) with immigration documents anymore. Apparently, they have switched (since 2018) to an online system to collect, review, and process the required documents previously contained in the IV packet. So we did not get the famous 'sealed envelope' but her visa says at the bottom "IV Docs in CCD".

 

Thank you for the detailed information! Were you able to go into the embassy with your wife and be with her during the interview? 

[Wouter 143]

4 hours ago, Yuliya.99 said:

Thank you for the detailed information! Were you able to go into the embassy with your wife and be with her during the interview? 

No, nobody else is allowed to go in (except perhaps if you bring your own official interpreter).

There is a bus stop across the street from the embassy consular entrance and that is where I and several other American husbands were waiting for 3 hours.

(It was amazing to meet total strangers and share the same experience of going through the same stressful immigration process, exchange stories about the challenges along the way, and sit there sending positive vibes to our wives inside the embassy while just waiting one hour after another.)

[Yuliya.99 28]

Hello everyone! Today we got an email from NVC with our interview date scheduled for November 2nd in Warsaw! It’s so soon and very exciting! Now we are rushing to get a schengen visa and we’ve scheduled my husbands medical exam for the 25th of October in Moscow. 

[millefleur 5,047]

14 minutes ago, Yuliya.99 said:

Hello everyone! Today we got an email from NVC with our interview date scheduled for November 2nd in Warsaw! It’s so soon and very exciting! Now we are rushing to get a schengen visa and we’ve scheduled my husbands medical exam for the 25th of October in Moscow. 

That's great news! Apparently a Greek Schengen visa is easy to get these days for Russians. Hope it's still the case, let us know which country he gets one to.

[Yuliya.99 28]

15 minutes ago, millefleur said:

That's great news! Apparently a Greek Schengen visa is easy to get these days for Russians. Hope it's still the case, let us know which country he gets one to.

We’re actually trying through Hungary because it’s cheaper. Hopefully all goes well. 

[millefleur 5,047]

2 minutes ago, Yuliya.99 said:

We’re actually trying through Hungary because it’s cheaper. Hopefully all goes well. 

Great idea. Let us know if you have success!

[ninjakid 13]

For anyone who didn't have a Schengen visa at the time of transferring your case to Poland embassy, when you applied for a Schengen visa, how did you explain why you are applying to visit Poland or other countries? Did you explain it is sightseeing or honestly it is for an interview at the Polish embassy?

 

[Yuliya.99 28]

On 10/18/2021 at 7:16 PM, ninjakid said:

For anyone who didn't have a Schengen visa at the time of transferring your case to Poland embassy, when you applied for a Schengen visa, how did you explain why you are applying to visit Poland or other countries? Did you explain it is sightseeing or honestly it is for an interview at the Polish embassy?

 

We simply bought a tour for 6 nights to Hungary so yes we said we were sightseeing as tourists. When filing for the schengen visa there isn’t a full on interview most of the time because the visa center just accepts your documents and sends them to the embassy that then decides to approve or not. 

[Yuliya.99 28]

I have good news for those who don’t have a schengen visa and plan on doing the medical exam in Moscow. Well my husband and I were worried we wouldn’t have enough time to do the medical exam and get the schengen in time for the interview since they notified us 18 days in advance. However when we called the IOM they told us that my husband can do his medical exam with his internal passport with no problems. So now we don’t have to stress as much about it. 

[ninjakid 13]

10 hours ago, Yuliya.99 said:

We simply bought a tour for 6 nights to Hungary so yes we said we were sightseeing as tourists. When filing for the schengen visa there isn’t a full on interview most of the time because the visa center just accepts your documents and sends them to the embassy that then decides to approve or not. 

Thank you! That is helpful!  I hope you can get a visa without any problem 🤞

10 hours ago, Yuliya.99 said:

I have good news for those who don’t have a schengen visa and plan on doing the medical exam in Moscow. Well my husband and I were worried we wouldn’t have enough time to do the medical exam and get the schengen in time for the interview since they notified us 18 days in advance. However when we called the IOM they told us that my husband can do his medical exam with his internal passport with no problems. So now we don’t have to stress as much about it. 

Great information to know!

[ninjakid 13]

I contacted the embassy in Poland today to request a case transfer. I have been trying to contacting the US embassies in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine but have never got any responses from Armenia and Kazakhstan. I got a response from Ukraine today refusing my request and recommended that I contact the embassy in Warsaw, Poland to see if they can accept my cases. That made me think Poland is the only option now and other embassies even know it.  

I also tried to contact Georgia and Moldova but I saw their website already says they do not accept transfer from another country. I was going to contact Belarus but I realized that all the interviews for Belarusian is conducted in Poland.