US Immigration from Russia

Hello y'all, My fianc and I just received notice from the NVC that our K1 case has been sent to the Warsaw Embassy. My fianc is a Russian citizen, and Poland is not currently approving Schengen Visa applications to Russian citizens.

We've spent some time gathering information and want to know if anyone has recent personal experience to verify these things:

1) We got our NVC receipt on March 24 stating they'll be sending the case to Warsaw. - Currently the CEAC website won't let us use the "Visa Status Check" despite having the WSW#### case number. This can take a few days/weeks to populate, correct?

2) I've seen information stating that the Warsaw Embassy will allow us to choose an interview date once they've processed the case. Is this true, and is there any way to see how far dates are pushed out at this time?

Not directly K1 related questions:

3) Regarding Russians needing a Schengen visa, is France still one of the easier countries to get approved by, or which are?

4) Has anyone had trouble with getting a Schengen from a different country to Poland and then travelling to the Warsaw embassy for their interview? I've seen there are rarely 'border checks' between Schengen countries, so as long as you get the Schengen you can comfortably move between their countries.

5) Of the 'more likely to be approved' Schengen countries, which is the easiest to travel to Poland from? The ultimate goal is to get her to the interview and be approved, not necessarily to tour Europe.

While it is likely futile we will attempt to explore asking another embassy to take our case.

Any other tips/tricks regarding travel to Poland/Europe are appreciated and we thank you for your time.

Hello, I applied for US B1/B2 visa for my mom to come visit us again but the earlies appointment is in 2028 in Kazakhstan. I've heard that you can use a slot booking bot to help you book an earlier appointment. I'm wondering if anybody has used a bot like this to help schedule an appointment.

A little venting here, so apologies. The last time I worked with the SSA, we could walk in, but now apparently an appointment must be scheduled. How does one navigate the SSA website, or phone system and actually get an appointment? The website constantly just refers me to do it online, and the phone system is also horrendous. I feel for those that are not on the internet.

Hi all,

NVC is processing cases for both my mother and father, as I received this RFE request for my mom's case only:

"Our records indicate that you are not a national of the country where your visa interview is scheduled and your eligibility document is missing/incomplete. Please upload valid proof of your legal status or residency in that country. This documentation is required before your case can proceed. For more information, refer to the Passport/Travel Documents section for your interview location at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country.html"

The link takes me to the page that says "The U.S. Consulate General in Almaty has been designated to conduct immigrant visa services for residents of Russia (IR-5)."

Do you know what proof NVC might possibly want?

https://www.newsweek.com/us-visa-processing-frozen-countries-list-trump-administration-11359433