I am a US Citizen with intent to marry a Russian woman. I want to file for the K1 Visa so we can be in the US together more quickly but I am confused by the information I see that she will have to do the interview in Warsaw, Poland.

[TH_and_LK 1]

As the title says I am engaged to a Russian woman and we want to be together as quickly as possible.  I am seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the US Embassy in Moscow transferring immigration cases to Poland,  but Poland is not issuing Schengen visas for Russian citizens nor letting them fly directly into the country.  I also saw another post that some people are going through Israel for the interview process which confuses me further.   I have not filed the I-129F yet but am getting ready to.  

 

Does anyone have more information about the whole Schengen Visa/Poland situation?  What can I expect after filing the I-129F?  Will this be a significant obstacle to overcome?  Would a CR1 be a better visa choice?  Would the CR1 have to deal with the whole Schengen visa stuff as well?  Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

 

I appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.  Very confused.

[wildbug100420 96]

1 hour ago, TH_and_LK said:

As the title says I am engaged to a Russian woman and we want to be together as quickly as possible.  I am seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the US Embassy in Moscow transferring immigration cases to Poland,  but Poland is not issuing Schengen visas for Russian citizens nor letting them fly directly into the country.  I also saw another post that some people are going through Israel for the interview process which confuses me further.   I have not filed the I-129F yet but am getting ready to.  

 

Does anyone have more information about the whole Schengen Visa/Poland situation?  What can I expect after filing the I-129F?  Will this be a significant obstacle to overcome?  Would a CR1 be a better visa choice?  Would the CR1 have to deal with the whole Schengen visa stuff as well?  Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

 

I appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.  Very confused.

Processing times are roughly the same for either k1 or spouse visa. Can't comment on the visa interview location as I'm not in those location. I believe people are interviewing in Israel in this case but it may be worth it to research what other countries would your fiancee be able to travel to. 

[Dashinka 24,372]

Here is a thread discussing the issues around visa and Russia.  I also reported your post to the moderators to have it moved to the RUB regional subforum where you may receive more current responses.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[Crazy Cat 41,606]

***Moved to the RUB regional forum***

[TH_and_LK 1]

2 hours ago, TH_and_LK said:

As the title says I am engaged to a Russian woman and we want to be together as quickly as possible.  I am seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the US Embassy in Moscow transferring immigration cases to Poland,  but Poland is not issuing Schengen visas for Russian citizens nor letting them fly directly into the country.  I also saw another post that some people are going through Israel for the interview process which confuses me further.   I have not filed the I-129F yet but am getting ready to.  

 

Does anyone have more information about the whole Schengen Visa/Poland situation?  What can I expect after filing the I-129F?  Will this be a significant obstacle to overcome?  Would a CR1 be a better visa choice?  Would the CR1 have to deal with the whole Schengen visa stuff as well?  Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

 

I appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.  Very confused.

 

Thank you

47 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Here is a thread discussing the issues around visa and Russia.  I also reported your post to the moderators to have it moved to the RUB regional subforum where you may receive more current responses.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

Thank you

[SalishSea 17,744]

3 hours ago, TH_and_LK said:

Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

Not correct for 2024.

 

Either K-1 or CR-1 will take several years, particularly for a Russian.  There is no way around her having to interview at a foreign consulate, since the US no longer has a functional consulate in Russia.

Edited April 17 by SalishSea

[TH_and_LK 1]

14 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

Not correct for 2024.

 

Either K-1 or CR-1 will take several years, particularly for a Russian.  There is no way around her having to interview at a foreign consulate, since the US no longer has a functional consulate in Russia.

WHAT?! "SEVERAL YEARS"?????!!!! No where online have I seen any timelines saying it will take that long.  Surely you mean for the entire process, not just US entry?

[Dashinka 24,372]

28 minutes ago, TH_and_LK said:

WHAT?! "SEVERAL YEARS"?????!!!! No where online have I seen any timelines saying it will take that long.  Surely you mean for the entire process, not just US entry?

The processing times at USCIS for the I129F can vary widely (8-16 months) depending on which service center gets your petition.  Once that is complete and approved, then the petition is sent to the National Visa Center which is part of the Department of State, and they will route it to the appropriate consulate (anywhere from 1  to 4 months).  Then you are at the mercy of the consulate and their workload which can also be several months before the actual visa interview.  Yes, even a K1 can take 12-24 months from petition to visa issuance and US entry.

 

Good Luck!

[JayFromTexas 69]

19 hours ago, TH_and_LK said:

WHAT?! "SEVERAL YEARS"?????!!!! No where online have I seen any timelines saying it will take that long.  Surely you mean for the entire process, not just US entry?

 

No, not several years for a K1. That prediction was unnecessarily scary. Yes, there have been a few K1 cases take more than 2 years, but it is pretty rare. K1 cases are taking about 18 months from the time you file your application to the time she has her interview and gets her visa. Before Covid several years ago, K1 cases progressed much more quickly than spouse visas, but now, they are taking about the same amount of time or maybe a little bit quicker for the K1.

 

My wife is a Russian citizen and we are almost done. I filed a I130 in March of 2023 and we should be done in the next 60-90 days, so our timeline will have been about 16 months. I've seen spouse cases take longer than that and a few even shorter than that. I haven't monitored K1 cases as closely, but in general they progress at about the same pace.

 

You asked if a CR1 would be better and I think most here would say yes. I know I think a CR1 is better. For these reasons:

 

1) Your wife, if desired, can work in the U.S. when she arrives, otherwise it could be several months to a year before she is allowed to work

2) You don't have to go through the lengthy K1-CR1 Adjustment of Status (AOS) process (I think we will have to adjust from Cr1 to IR1, but I haven't researched that step, yet. I am under the impression that CR1 to IR1 is a much simpler and easier process, but not sure.)

3) It is cheaper to get a CR1 visa, compared to a K1

4) CR1 cases seem to carry more weight with consulates, if you decide to transfer your case away from Poland. We requested a transfer to Bangkok and it was accepted. Literally 4 days before ours was accepted, a person I know requested a transfer for his K1 case and they were denied

 

There are other reasons for going with CR1, but I can't remember them of the top of my head.

 

Regarding Poland, it IS possible to get there. Several do it every month. But it is a hassle. You've got to get a Schengen in another country like Spain or Hungary and travel their first and then travel to Poland from there. The Schengen Visa you get will be very time limited, like 2 weeks and sometimes it takes longer than 2 weeks to complete the interview process in Warsaw. Most of that time is due to you waiting to get your girl's passport back, after the interview.

 

Good luck!

[TBoneTX 45,023]

2 hours ago, JayFromTexas said:

There are other reasons for going with CR1, but I can't remember them of the top of my head.

There are a lot to remember!  See the comparison, as compiled by our fine member Crazy Cat:
K-1        
    More expensive than CR-1    
    Requires Adjustment of Status after marriage (expensive and requires a lot of paperwork)    
    Spouse cannot leave the US until she/he receives approved Advance Parole (approx 6-8 months)    
    Spouse cannot work until she/he receives EAD (approx 6-8 months)    
    Some people have had problems with driver licenses, Social Security cards, leases, bank account during this period    
    Spouse will not receive Green Card for many months after Adjustment of Status is filed.
    A K-1 might be a better choice when 18-21 year old children are immigrating also
    In some situations, marriage can affect certain Home country benefits, making a K-1 a better choice

    A denied K-1 is sent back to USCIS to expire
CR-1
    Less expensive than K-1    
    No Adjustment of Status (I-485, I-131, I-765) required.    
    Spouse can immediately travel outside the US    
    Spouse is authorized to work immediately upon arrival.    
    Spouse receives Social Security Card and Green Card within 2 or 3 weeks after entering the US    
    Opening a bank account, getting a driver's license, etc. are very easily accomplished with GC, SS card, and passport.
    Spouse has legal permanent Resident status IMMEDIATELY upon entry to US.

Edited April 18 by TBoneTX

[Yeen225 4]

On 4/17/2024 at 1:45 PM, TH_and_LK said:

As the title says I am engaged to a Russian woman and we want to be together as quickly as possible.  I am seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the US Embassy in Moscow transferring immigration cases to Poland,  but Poland is not issuing Schengen visas for Russian citizens nor letting them fly directly into the country.  I also saw another post that some people are going through Israel for the interview process which confuses me further.   I have not filed the I-129F yet but am getting ready to.  

 

Does anyone have more information about the whole Schengen Visa/Poland situation?  What can I expect after filing the I-129F?  Will this be a significant obstacle to overcome?  Would a CR1 be a better visa choice?  Would the CR1 have to deal with the whole Schengen visa stuff as well?  Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

 

I appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.  Very confused.

Israel is not accepting transfers right now. It is easy to travel to Poland, just have her apply for a Shengen visa to Hungary and take the train to Warsaw. This consulate is going to be your fastest and safest option. Unless you want to try going to Turkmenistan, which is over double the price to travel to and even more difficult to get a visa for. When you have a shengen visa you can travel anywhere within the Shengen zone. So just apply to Hungary.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,086]

On 4/18/2024 at 12:53 PM, JayFromTexas said:

2) You don't have to go through the lengthy K1-CR1 Adjustment of Status (AOS) process (I think we will have to adjust from Cr1 to IR1, but I haven't researched that step, yet. I am under the impression that CR1 to IR1 is a much simpler and easier process, but not sure.

Your immigrant spouse doesn't adjust from a CR1 to a IR1, (s)he removes conditions on a his or her permanent residence. You always have to do this on a fiancé(e) visa; on a spousal visa if you've been married for two years when you enter the US you get an IR-1 visa and a non-conditional green card that you don't need to adjust status from.

 

Back when we did things it was taking about 9 months from filing petition to visa issue for a K-1 and about 18 months for a CR-1. Plus there were no Utah zoom marriages then and given that I couldn't realistically spend a month in Russia to marry there and Anastasia couldn't realistically get a US tourist visa to marry here (even pre-war in Ukraine, young single Russian women rarely got tourist visas approved) we would have had to marry in a third country to do a CR-1. And we wanted to have a child soon (and our son was born a little over a year after she arrived in the US), so working ASAP wasn't a huge priority. And this was pre-Covid when we didn't really know or care that the state department basically wouldn't care about fiancé(e)s in an emergency. So we did a K-1 then, and I think it was the right decsion then.

 

But now, for any couple that can overcome the logistical hurdles to make a US/Russia relationship work these days, I wouldn't advise doing one.

[k0nstantin 7]

On 4/17/2024 at 10:45 AM, TH_and_LK said:

As the title says I am engaged to a Russian woman and we want to be together as quickly as possible.  I am seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the US Embassy in Moscow transferring immigration cases to Poland,  but Poland is not issuing Schengen visas for Russian citizens nor letting them fly directly into the country.  I also saw another post that some people are going through Israel for the interview process which confuses me further.   I have not filed the I-129F yet but am getting ready to.  

 

Does anyone have more information about the whole Schengen Visa/Poland situation?  What can I expect after filing the I-129F?  Will this be a significant obstacle to overcome?  Would a CR1 be a better visa choice?  Would the CR1 have to deal with the whole Schengen visa stuff as well?  Overall we just want to be together as quickly as possible and thought we could have that with the K1.

 

I appreciate any guidance anyone can provide.  Very confused.

 

1. There is no difference between CR-1 and K-1 in terms of where the interview is conducted. In both cases your fiancee will have to go to Poland.

 

2. There is a difference in wait time between I-129F and I-130. You can see the current wait times here and here. The TLDR is 6 months for K-1 and 12 months for CR-1 just for petition approval. Someone here said that the wait time is the same, but it is no longer true.

 

3. You need to add some time for consular processing - look at user timelines for the Warsaw embassy on this site. Last time I checked it was around 4 months in addition to the petition approval time, but this could have changed.

 

4. Keep in mind all the things TBoneTX posted above. Your fiancee will be in the US sooner on K-1, but she will get her green card sooner on CR-1.

Edited April 26 by k0nstantin