NVC approval timeframes

[October 2022 26]

1 hour ago, powerpuff said:

How ridiculous!!! I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’m glad it worked out at the end

I know, right? I was amazed that they completely ignored official guidance from the State Department. I can see why Russian IR-5s are assigned to Warsaw by default. Circumstances differ, and the NVC tends to simplify. But not simply changing the post at petitioners' requests with clear guidance from the Department is mind-boggling. I expected them to know by now, because assigning more convenient posts for IR-5s on humanitarian grounds is not uncommon. DOS acknowledges the fact these are older people with health issues etc.

[October 2022 26]

1 hour ago, powerpuff said:

Just as an fyi, In expedited cases, the applicant schedules their own appointment. If it’s a non expedited “regular” case then NVC will schedule it themselves.

Yes, the whole transfer issue is incredibly confusing. None of the information sources online go into that much detail, so you're kind of stuck trying to figure this out as you go.

[PG0305 1]

Hello, sorry if this has already been answered somewhere but I'm really unsure of what to do and don't want to waste time. I'm applying for a K1, I am American, my fiancée is Russian. Our petition was approved, we received our NOA2 and were assigned to the Warsaw embassy for the interview. This should be doable as my fiancée currently lives in St. Petersburg and barring any bureaucratic oversights or unexpected circumstances, should be able to get a Schengen visa. The last contact I received was from the NVC that they approved our petition and were forwarding it on to the embassy.
 

I wanted to ask- When am I able to schedule a visa appointment and how will I receive notice from the Polish embassy? 

I logged in to the CEAC tracker and using the case number and was able to see that the case is READY. However, I haven't received any notice from the Polish embassy and haven't been able to find a clear answer on how to receive notice. Will it come via my email? My fiancée's? Will she receive physical mail of this notice? If so, that may take weeks (or months) coming from Poland to Russia. Any insight would be appreciated. I'm aware that it may take a few weeks but I want to know what to expect. 

[millefleur 5,046]

Just now, PG0305 said:

This should be doable as my fiancée currently lives in St. Petersburg and barring any bureaucratic oversights or unexpected circumstances, should be able to get a Schengen visa.

I'm just curious what you mean by this as my whole Russian family is from St Petersburg and being located there has not made it any easier to get a Schengen visa? Is there some service or office you know of where people have been having success? 

[PG0305 1]

33 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I'm just curious what you mean by this as my whole Russian family is from St Petersburg and being located there has not made it any easier to get a Schengen visa? Is there some service or office you know of where people have been having success? 

I only meant that in that I don't plan on trying to transfer my case to some other embassy and plan on sticking with Poland as my fiancee is in the city vs living in some other country. I wish there was a service, but I haven't found any. I have also done a lot of research as to what country is best for Schengen and still haven't found an answer. 

[millefleur 5,046]

6 hours ago, PG0305 said:

I only meant that in that I don't plan on trying to transfer my case to some other embassy and plan on sticking with Poland as my fiancee is in the city vs living in some other country. I wish there was a service, but I haven't found any. I have also done a lot of research as to what country is best for Schengen and still haven't found an answer. 

Gotcha. There are different visa centers all over but they can only do so much since it's up to the embassies/consulates to issue Schengen visas. 

 

We had a recent thread on the topic, you might find it helpful:

 

[PG0305 1]

On 2/21/2024 at 2:03 PM, PG0305 said:

Hello, sorry if this has already been answered somewhere but I'm really unsure of what to do and don't want to waste time. I'm applying for a K1, I am American, my fiancée is Russian. Our petition was approved, we received our NOA2 and were assigned to the Warsaw embassy for the interview. This should be doable as my fiancée currently lives in St. Petersburg and barring any bureaucratic oversights or unexpected circumstances, should be able to get a Schengen visa. The last contact I received was from the NVC that they approved our petition and were forwarding it on to the embassy.
 

I wanted to ask- When am I able to schedule a visa appointment and how will I receive notice from the Polish embassy? 

I logged in to the CEAC tracker and using the case number and was able to see that the case is READY. However, I haven't received any notice from the Polish embassy and haven't been able to find a clear answer on how to receive notice. Will it come via my email? My fiancée's? Will she receive physical mail of this notice? If so, that may take weeks (or months) coming from Poland to Russia. Any insight would be appreciated. I'm aware that it may take a few weeks but I want to know what to expect. 

Hello, I want to reach out again and ask if anyone has any advice or guidance on how I can expect to hear from the Polish embassy (Will it be via email, physical letter and will it be sent to me in the US or my fiancee in Russia)? Also am I already able to schedule an appointment? I don't want to waste any time obviously and waiting on this is stalling everything else in the process (Schengen visa, Europe travel plans, travel plans to the US, etc)

[Pirozhok 13]

On 3/30/2024 at 3:18 PM, PG0305 said:

Hello, I want to reach out again and ask if anyone has any advice or guidance on how I can expect to hear from the Polish embassy (Will it be via email, physical letter and will it be sent to me in the US or my fiancee in Russia)? Also am I already able to schedule an appointment? I don't want to waste any time obviously and waiting on this is stalling everything else in the process (Schengen visa, Europe travel plans, travel plans to the US, etc)

 

I'm at the same stage, and I reached out to the Warsaw embassy recently via email to see if they would give any updates, since I've been READY for a while now. Got back a form letter saying it can take a several weeks to receive instructions from them, and to please not schedule the appointment until we have been contacted with instructions to do so.

 

From old posts here and other forums, believe it'll be coming via email from Warsaw. I'll update with a more confident answer if I ever actually get something from them personally though.

[aleksey23 8]

open a schengen for hungary, that's what i did for my wife, we currently live in st.petersburg, there is a visa center that helps you get the docs, got our approval within 10/14 business days, then we went to our interview in poland..

[Pirozhok 13]

On 4/8/2024 at 4:58 AM, aleksey23 said:

open a schengen for hungary, that's what i did for my wife, we currently live in st.petersburg, there is a visa center that helps you get the docs, got our approval within 10/14 business days, then we went to our interview in poland..

 

This is our plan as well. Is there a specific visa center you used and can personally recommend? She's in St. P too. She's obtained Schengen visas before for travel and always did it all herself, but she's considering visiting one of these visa companies because it's so much more strict than a few years ago. 

[Pirozhok 13]

On 3/30/2024 at 3:18 PM, PG0305 said:

Hello, I want to reach out again and ask if anyone has any advice or guidance on how I can expect to hear from the Polish embassy (Will it be via email, physical letter and will it be sent to me in the US or my fiancee in Russia)? Also am I already able to schedule an appointment? I don't want to waste any time obviously and waiting on this is stalling everything else in the process (Schengen visa, Europe travel plans, travel plans to the US, etc)

 

As the weeks went by without hearing anything, I started emailing the Polish embassy through their USTravelDocs support address. It took asking 3 times, but they finally stopped giving form letters and told me they sent the email back in mid-March (when the CEAC site began showing READY) to the wrong email address. I got them to re-send and got it this morning.

 

It might be worth reaching out to them, specifically saying you have been waiting a while and want to confirm whether they have sent the email yet.

[aleksey23 8]

send me a direct message, it's all very simple really

[rikko 82]

I just wanna chime in that if you guys apply for a multi-entry Schengen they can give you single-entry instead, so plan accordingly. In our case we applied for a multi-entry Spanish Schengen, were given a single-entry (which messed up our timeline to get to Warsaw) and were able to transfer to Jerusalem saying we could not legally get to Warsaw. 

[PG0305 1]

On 4/9/2024 at 8:52 PM, rikko said:

I just wanna chime in that if you guys apply for a multi-entry Schengen they can give you single-entry instead, so plan accordingly. In our case we applied for a multi-entry Spanish Schengen, were given a single-entry (which messed up our timeline to get to Warsaw) and were able to transfer to Jerusalem saying we could not legally get to Warsaw. 

What was the process like to get a spanish schengen? I'd realllly not like to transfer to Jerusalem with the  conflict going on.

[rikko 82]

4 hours ago, PG0305 said:

What was the process like to get a spanish schengen? I'd realllly not like to transfer to Jerusalem with the  conflict going on.

i don't know my partner handled it (sorry), i think its the normal procedure as with other schengens.