petition I 130 to reunite with my son

[Anny111 1]

Hello.  I received a green card after arriving in the United States on a K1 visa.  I plan to submit petition I 130 to reunite with my son, he is 21 years old, not married, a citizen of Russia.  1. When filling out a petition, the question is asked whether there have been any previous immigration requests.  How to answer this question, if he came with me on a K2 visa before reaching the age of 21, they submitted form 465 for him, but he left without waiting for an interview.  2. Is it possible to indicate the embassy of another country, not Russia, for the interview, since the Russian embassy is very limited.  I understand that by the time of the interview, everything may have changed, but still I wanted to play it safe.  And is it possible to change the selected embassy?  3. What is the best way to submit - online or on paper?  Please advise.  4. If online, how to pay the fee through the online account (I could not find payment links)?  Does it have to be a bank account or card opened in the United States?  Thank you for your answers.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 yes, the i485 counts as one 

2 they will assign embassy based on home address, if at the time the petition is current Moscow is still basically closed you can request to see if another embassy will accept the case. I guess you understand this is likely to be a 6-7 year process

3 online is instant submission and receipt notice and generally much more preferable imo. You will get a link to a payment page at the end of the submission process. There should not be a restriction on where the credit card is located. I don’t know about bank account debits.

[SlovakRusyn 0]

2 hours ago, SusieQQQ said:

1 yes, the i485 counts as one 

2 they will assign embassy based on home address, if at the time the petition is current Moscow is still basically closed you can request to see if another embassy will accept the case. I guess you understand this is likely to be a 6-7 year process

3 online is instant submission and receipt notice and generally much more preferable imo. You will get a link to a payment page at the end of the submission process. There should not be a restriction on where the credit card is located. I don’t know about bank account debits.

Do you know if it is possible to submit applications listing another consulate to avoid the closure in Moscow? For example, submitting an I-129f for a Russian citizen listing the consulate in Kazakhstan or Armenia for processing.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 hour ago, SlovakRusyn said:

Do you know if it is possible to submit applications listing another consulate to avoid the closure in Moscow? For example, submitting an I-129f for a Russian citizen listing the consulate in Kazakhstan or Armenia for processing.

You can list whatever you want but there is no guarantee it will be sent to a country in which you are neither residing nor are a national of. It’s my understanding that usually what will happen is that you get assigned to the consulate serving the address listed for the beneficiary, and then it’s up to you to contact different embassies and see who will take your case

[jan22 3,056]

I would recommend that you just put the the embassy or consulate that serves where he lives, which is Moscow, right?  There is no way to predict what the situation will be in 6 to 7 years when it will be time for his visa interview. If in some unlikely scenario the US Embassy in Moscow is still essentially closed for visa services, that is the time to see what arrangements have been made to process visas for Russian nationals -- not now, where a lot can change during the long wait ahead.

 

I think the most important thing to do right now is get the i-130 filed as soon as possible so you get a priority date and join the queue.  The longer you wait, the further back you will be in the backlog of applications.