Police Certificate requirements for NVC upload (K1)

[Vashezzo 43]

My fiancee is a Russian citizen who's been living in Serbia for over a year. We know that we need to get both police certificates (Russia and Serbia), but we're not sure what the expiry is for them.

 

She has not been back to Russia since leaving, so that certificate will be valid forever, correct?

The Serbian certificate has a 90 day validity on the document - does it need to be uploaded to the NVC during those 90 days, or does the 2-year expiration policy from the State department take precedence?

 

We're mainly asking because we have literally no clue how long it'll take to obtain the Serbian one, as there's no instructions online for how a non-Serbian-Citizen living inside of Serbia can obtain one. It could be difficult to obtain a facially valid certificate for the NVC without causing a delay for our case.

 

(We're aware of the official reciprocity schedule, but it only has sections for citizens, "non-citizens who once resided in Serbia, and are now in their native country", and "Non-citizens who once resided in Serbia, and are in a third country now".)

 

Thank you!

[Chancy 6,241]

On 5/23/2023 at 5:44 PM, Vashezzo said:

The Serbian certificate has a 90 day validity on the document - does it need to be uploaded to the NVC during those 90 days, or does the 2-year expiration policy from the State department take precedence?

 

K1 cases do not upload any documents for NVC review.  The original police certificates must be presented to the consulate staff at the visa interview.

 

[powerpuff 6,598]

On 5/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, Vashezzo said:

She has not been back to Russia since leaving, so that certificate will be valid forever, correct?

It should be unless the consular officer requests another one - that’s within their discretion.

 

On 5/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, Vashezzo said:

does the 2-year expiration policy from the State department take precedence?

This ^^
 

On 5/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, Vashezzo said:

does it need to be uploaded to the NVC

On 5/23/2023 at 6:44 PM, Vashezzo said:

for the NVC

Have you researched the K1 process? K1 applicants do not submit or upload any documents to NVC. There’s pretty much no interaction with NVC apart from them holding your case until the consulate requests it. The police certificates are to be brought to the interview by the beneficiary.

[Vashezzo 43]

9 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

K1 cases do not upload any documents for NVC review.  The original police certificates must be presented to the consulate staff at the visa interview.

 

 

7 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

Have you researched the K1 process? K1 applicants do not submit or upload any documents to NVC. There’s pretty much no interaction with NVC apart from them holding your case until the consulate requests it. The police certificates are to be brought to the interview by the beneficiary.

 

I've been following the steps listed on this page: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-8-scan-collected-documents.html

 

Does this not apply for K-1 visas? The information online has been confusing and contradictory. For example, the state department K1 page references form DS-160 but the embassy page references form DS-260. I've been told mixed things on when to treat a K-1 as "immigrant" vs "non-immigrant", since it's considered a "nonimmigrant visa with immigrant intent"

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, for a K-1 I will not submit any forms to the NVC, and instead the embassy handles everything?

[powerpuff 6,598]

During my process, I honestly found the info on state dept and consulate pages - regarding K1 process specifically - unhelpful and, as you mentioned, contradictory, largely due to them just pooling K1s together with immigrant visas.

What has really gotten me through so far, and I had my AOS approved a while ago, is searching the VJ using the search bar specifically on the laptop/desktop and putting key words in (mobile version doesn’t search well). Almost all my questions and uncertainties were answered that way, it was/is a life saver.

 

9 minutes ago, Vashezzo said:

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, for a K-1 I will not submit any forms to the NVC, and instead the embassy handles everything?

Correct 

Edited May 25, 2023 by powerpuff

[Vashezzo 43]

3 minutes ago, powerpuff said:

During my process, I honestly found the info on state dept and consulate pages - regarding K1 process specifically - unhelpful and, as you mentioned, contradictory, largely due to them just pooling K1s together with immigrant visas.

What has really gotten me through so far, and I had my AOS approved a while ago, is searching the VJ using the search bar specifically on the laptop/desktop and putting key words in (mobile version doesn’t search well). Almost all my questions and uncertainties were answered that way, it was/is a life saver.

 

Correct 

Yeah - I tried searching for info on police certificates, but I couldn't find anything about submitting them to the NVC in specific, just for the interviews. I guess this explains why 😅

 

Thank you!

[ZRomper 42]

7 hours ago, Vashezzo said:

Yeah - I tried searching for info on police certificates, but I couldn't find anything about submitting them to the NVC in specific, just for the interviews. I guess this explains why 😅

 

Thank you!

My wife is from Belarus and she and I have lived in Poland for a year and a half now since we moved in 2022 to Warsaw. She and my daughter are getting their IR1 and IR2 visas. She was asked for both certificates at NVC a Belarusian one and a Polish one. They accepted the Belarusian one even though it was from beginning of 2022 with no complaints since they realize we've been living in Warsaw for over a year. They shouldn't ask you for  a new Russian certificate if you can show that you and her have been living in Serbia for the past X months/years.

However my wife just reminded me that the 2 year rule does apply. Ours will be 2 yr old only in March 2024. 

If they make you get a new one, even Belarus lets you do this online now. Russia should have something similar. You can appeal that she doesn't want to go back there because of the political situation in the country. Another thing she can do is issue the power of attorney to one of her relatives/friends in Russia, you just need to find out what the process involves in Serbia. In Poland we just went to a notary public and drafted a power of attorney which specifically states all the state institutions we needed etc etc, you can find samples online. Then we had to go to a local regional court here in Warsaw and waited 3 days for the notary's signature to be confirmed, after that we got an official apostille at another office and that's it, they accepted it in Belarus. We did this here in Poland. This way they'll be able to get it for you and mail it or pass it to you in Serbia somehow.

Edited May 25, 2023 by ZRomper

[ZRomper 42]

12 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

My wife is from Belarus and she and I have lived in Poland for a year and a half now since we moved in 2022 to Warsaw. She and my daughter are getting their IR1 and IR2 visas. She was asked for both certificates at NVC a Belarusian one and a Polish one. They accepted the Belarusian one even though it was from beginning of 2022 with no complaints since they realize we've been living in Warsaw for over a year. They shouldn't ask you for  a new Russian certificate if you can show that you and her have been living in Serbia for the past X months/years.

However my wife just reminded me that the 2 year rule does apply. Ours will be 2 yr old only in March 2024. 

If they make you get a new one, even Belarus lets you do this online now. Russia should have something similar. You can appeal that she doesn't want to go back there because of the political situation in the country. Another thing she can do is issue the power of attorney to one of her relatives/friends in Russia, you just need to find out what the process involves in Serbia. In Poland we just went to a notary public and drafted a power of attorney which specifically states all the state institutions we needed etc etc, you can find samples online. Then we had to go to a local regional court here in Warsaw and waited 3 days for the notary's signature to be confirmed, after that we got an official apostille at another office and that's it, they accepted it in Belarus. We did this here in Poland. This way they'll be able to get it for you and mail it or pass it to you in Serbia somehow.

Also, you shouldn't have any issues getting a Serbian police certificate. In Poland it was very easy, you just pay 30 zloty ($6) and go to the criminal justice bureau office and there we filled out a simple application and got the police certificate in 10 minutes. The important question here is on what grounds is your wife staying in Serbia? If it's official, then she shouldn't have any issues. I just did a quick google search for "справка о несудимости в сербии" (police certificate in Serbia) and got a bunch of videos online on how to get one in Serbia.

Also it's very important that you guys check what is required to be filled out on the Serbian form for the police certificate. For Poland, we had to check all 3 boxes of the form, even one that said "Juvenile criminal records". These instructions are country specific and will be located on the Serbian US embassy website concerning police certificates. They even tell you how to fill it out.

[Vashezzo 43]

53 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

My wife is from Belarus and she and I have lived in Poland for a year and a half now since we moved in 2022 to Warsaw. She and my daughter are getting their IR1 and IR2 visas. She was asked for both certificates at NVC a Belarusian one and a Polish one. They accepted the Belarusian one even though it was from beginning of 2022 with no complaints since they realize we've been living in Warsaw for over a year. They shouldn't ask you for  a new Russian certificate if you can show that you and her have been living in Serbia for the past X months/years.

However my wife just reminded me that the 2 year rule does apply. Ours will be 2 yr old only in March 2024. 

If they make you get a new one, even Belarus lets you do this online now. Russia should have something similar. You can appeal that she doesn't want to go back there because of the political situation in the country. Another thing she can do is issue the power of attorney to one of her relatives/friends in Russia, you just need to find out what the process involves in Serbia. In Poland we just went to a notary public and drafted a power of attorney which specifically states all the state institutions we needed etc etc, you can find samples online. Then we had to go to a local regional court here in Warsaw and waited 3 days for the notary's signature to be confirmed, after that we got an official apostille at another office and that's it, they accepted it in Belarus. We did this here in Poland. This way they'll be able to get it for you and mail it or pass it to you in Serbia somehow.

Russia has the ability to request their police certificate through the Russian embassy in Belgrade, so she's in line to get an appointment with them to request it. It sounded fairly routine, as she said they had a section on their website specifically to request the document.

 

34 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

Also, you shouldn't have any issues getting a Serbian police certificate. In Poland it was very easy, you just pay 30 zloty ($6) and go to the criminal justice bureau office and there we filled out a simple application and got the police certificate in 10 minutes. The important question here is on what grounds is your wife staying in Serbia? If it's official, then she shouldn't have any issues. I just did a quick google search for "справка о несудимости в сербии" (police certificate in Serbia) and got a bunch of videos online on how to get one in Serbia.

Also it's very important that you guys check what is required to be filled out on the Serbian form for the police certificate. For Poland, we had to check all 3 boxes of the form, even one that said "Juvenile criminal records". These instructions are country specific and will be located on the Serbian US embassy website concerning police certificates. They even tell you how to fill it out.

She tried going to the police in Serbia to request one, but they sent her away since apparently it's only for citizens. We're working with a lawyer in Serbia who advised us to try to get the Serbian police certificate via the Russian embassy, so that's what we're trying next. Thankfully if we don't need them for the NVC phase we have a good 6 months to figure it all out.

[Vashezzo 43]

I did just notice that the state department reciprocity page for Russian documents (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/RussianFederation.html) has a section that says to upload the police certificate to the NVC. (See below) I wonder if this applies for K1, I don't see the note on other countries' pages...

[ZRomper 42]

29 minutes ago, Vashezzo said:

Russia has the ability to request their police certificate through the Russian embassy in Belgrade, so she's in line to get an appointment with them to request it. It sounded fairly routine, as she said they had a section on their website specifically to request the document.

 

She tried going to the police in Serbia to request one, but they sent her away since apparently it's only for citizens. We're working with a lawyer in Serbia who advised us to try to get the Serbian police certificate via the Russian embassy, so that's what we're trying next. Thankfully if we don't need them for the NVC phase we have a good 6 months to figure it all out.

You do not go to the police to get this certificate, they will send you away. It will be something like a ministry of criminal justice informational bureau. They hand out these papers to all residents. It's hard to believe they would say this since imagine hypothetically a resident legally residing in Serbia commits some crime for instance, what they're saying is that they wouldn't have a record of that?!
My wife and daughter are in Poland on a temporary residence permit through a humanitarian visa and they even let me stay here as her husband. They gave us all the documents we requested and even gave us a Polish social security number (PESEL) for all processing. If your wife has a legal temporary residence card from Serbia, they can't turn you away for a police certificate. I would definitely ask your Serbian lawyer about this.
 

[Vashezzo 43]

3 minutes ago, ZRomper said:

You do not go to the police to get this certificate, they will send you away. It will be something like a ministry of criminal justice informational bureau. They hand out these papers to all residents. It's hard to believe they would say this since imagine hypothetically a resident legally residing in Serbia commits some crime for instance, what they're saying is that they wouldn't have a record of that?!
My wife and daughter are in Poland on a temporary residence permit through a humanitarian visa and they even let me stay here as her husband. They gave us all the documents we requested and even gave us a Polish social security number (PESEL) for all processing. If your wife has a legal temporary residence card from Serbia, they can't turn you away for a police certificate. I would definitely ask your Serbian lawyer about this.
 

In Serbia the "police" are the same as the ministry of the interior - at least according to the US website. It says to go to "the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MUP - Ministarstvo unutrasnjih poslova), also known as the police". It could have been a language issue, since my fiancee doesn't speak Serbian, and the people she spoke to at the police didn't speak great English. We'll work it out, we have time.

[ZRomper 42]

6 minutes ago, Vashezzo said:

In Serbia the "police" are the same as the ministry of the interior - at least according to the US website. It says to go to "the Ministry for Internal Affairs (MUP - Ministarstvo unutrasnjih poslova), also known as the police". It could have been a language issue, since my fiancee doesn't speak Serbian, and the people she spoke to at the police didn't speak great English. We'll work it out, we have time.

I see. But it's just really strange that they would turn her away since by any means, she's a legal resident. I would definitely seek the help of a translator. In Poland this isn't an issue since most people know pretty good English.
Good luck. Share how it goes. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by ZRomper