millefleur

There's no reason to argue, the ustraveldocs website spells it out clear as day. https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ng/en/business-visa B visa a huge umbrella category that covers any kind of temporary "visit" to the US. That includes tourism, seeing family and friends, medical treatment, business related trips, etc etc. It's all listed right there. So you don't have to take our word for it, read the source directly for yourself and see.

I was in a similar boat (living abroad for many years) except I had maintained my state ID, bank accounts and mailing address in the US. This allowed me to vote absentee in the presidential election, and I submitted my voting record as evidence. Does she have a valid state ID or DL? Is she receiving any mail in the US, such as at her parents' address? Any letters received with her name on it and a US address can be used as evidence. The moving in with parents is completely fine, I did that and had my mother write a letter that it was our temporary plan until we could secure our own lease.

The screenshot you posted pretty much sums it up. It's out of the hands of the embassy/consulate, it's clearly a Dept of State thing relating to Administrative Processing. It's irrelevant what type of visa you apply for, could be tourist, business or other kind, AP would be triggered regardless and passed onto the DoS people who handle that. There is pretty much nothing you can do until AP is completed. If you want to read more about it, there's an informative wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Advisory_Opinion

I'm kind of baffled why the counteroffensive was overhyped so much. Was it for the morale? Because it seems like hyping it up did nothing but hurt in the end.

I haven't heard any shocking/new names come out yet, save for some oddball figures like Michael Jackson and Stephen Hawking but hardly surprizing given the revolving door of celebrities that seemed to frequent the place.

You can try but it'll be hard to overcome immigrant intent if she was approved for an I-130.

I have no idea, the only cases I've seen on VJ were they took the person's phone and scrolled through messages and existing apps.

Interesting.....well, since they were the ones who did the transfer, go for it. Maybe her having been born there was enough!

Curious, did you specifically ask to have it transferred there or did they do it automatically because she was born there?

Great news. I-90 has always been all over the place with wait times. It seems like straightforward cases go faster than those related to spelling or other typo errors.

Don't have any messages on your phone that could be construed as plans to stay, also don't overpack and bring a lot of luggage. We've seen both such cases on VJ were people were turned away for such reasons.

If you don't have a trusted family or friend who can receive mail for you, a virtual mailbox service with US address who scans and checks your mail on your behalf is the way to go.

Difficult to find an answer to this. I saw some people say "6 months to 1 year" validity, but others say it depends on each country. Have you tried emailing the embassy to see what they say?

**Moved from Off Topic to Working & Traveling During US Immigration**

That's just great, I love all the deep sea footage we have now thanks to advancing tech.

Court documents naming Jeffrey Epstein's associates to be unsealed: What to know Hundreds of sealed court filings pertaining to the late sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein are set to be made public this week, and several prominent names -- including Britain's Prince Andrew and former President Bill Clinton -- are expected to appear in the documents. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska ruled earlier this month there was no legal justification for continuing to conceal the ex-president's name and more than 150 names other "John and Jane Does" mentioned in the records. Preska ordered the unsealing to begin after Jan. 1. Read more here: https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=105993160

They mean when the visa is endorsed at the border and gets the I-551 stamp. Having the passport plus valid visa isn't proof of status in the US, she won't have that until she arrives and gets let in by CBP.

I disagree to the "no benefit in waiting" because Russians only get a 3 year visa max, and it's currently a huge pain for Russians to get tourist visas as it requires a trip to another country to do so. I think applying closer to their actual date of travel thus makes more sense here. @SnowColdIce the only time I know of Russians being asked for documents is when they get a very cheery, chatty CO and they usually have a super specific reason for travel (i.e. got invited to some event in the US that is very specific - like they're going to perform or be a guest speaker etc), in that case I know people who were asked to show documents. I've never heard of anyone being asked to show their property ownership documents, hence why I mentioned it's uncommon.

The "visit Disney" advice is terrible, will just make everything look more suspicious and weird. 60 year old men don't "visit Disney" by themselves either, so obviously the actual reason for going to the US is to visit family there.

It seems they just go by the DS-160 answers because you're required to tell the truth there, regarding jobs/employment. In terms of owning property, it's fairly common in Russia for people (especially older people) to own their own property so I suspect they might just assume most applicants own? I also find it a bit strange but it seems to be the trend is "they don't usually ask" when it comes to supporting docs. FWIW it seems most elderly Russians get approved for tourist visas, it's much harder for young people especially younger women to get approved.

Yeah, and there's no need to bring itineraries or other travel plan documents either or anything like that. It differs greatly from Schengen visas where these are often required with the application. @SnowColdIce another thing to keep in mind is they usually don't even look at any supporting documents at all. It's still a good idea to bring such papers (anything showing strong ties to Russia) in the rare case that it is asked for, but don't count on it.

Yes, you'll have them provide dates as it's required on the DS-160 but it has no bearing on the decision and you're not required to stick to those dates. I would just have them pick some dates that correspond roughly to their idea of travel, I think the CO's are more looking at how long they will stay than anything else. They won't have to provide any "evidence" backing those dates like accommodation or plane tickets, it's just to give the CO's an idea of your plans and intended stay in the US. My MIL always ended up coming at a different time than she originally put on the DS-160, didn't seem to be an issue as she's had 2 US tourist visas now (with 2 interviews since Russians in Russia aren't eligible for interview waiver renewals.)

Length of stay is determined at port of entry by the CBP officer. All the Russians I know have been given a 6 month stay, as that seems standard if the person doesn't raise any red flags (such as visiting too often or appearing like they want to stay permanently.) No, we always have her apply months in advance and she usually comes way later, which gives us plenty of time to buy tickets. Also I think this is a plus because it shows there is no desperation to get to the US, so waiting a while before entry seems like a good idea. We had general plans of when we wanted her to come, but we always waited for her to get a visa first. It might be kind of confusing at the interview if they say the reason for visiting to see their daughter, but she isn't even in the US yet. For clarity's sake, might be simpler to have them apply after she gets her immigrant visa and is in the US. You want to avoid as much as possible "looking desperate to get to the US" and them applying before she's even there, it might appear that way. I don't remember exactly but it wasn't more than a couple of days, 3-4 days max. I think planning for a week in Almaty is safe.

Nope, the "private visa" doesn't exist in the US. Theres no invitation or anything you can do to help make it easier sadly. Russians were never eligible for 10 year visas. The current longest multi-entry option is a 3 year visa only. Not true, technically Russians can apply for a tourist visa at any consulate that will take them. My MIL did her last tourist visa interview in Kazakhstan. I have a thread about this experience in the RUB forum: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/804421-tourist-visa-appointments-for-russians-via-kazakhstan/ If they are approved, they will get the 3 year multi-entry visa by default. The only reason they'd be issued a shorter stay visa is if the US consulate had some hyper specific reason to do so (very unlikely, never heard of it happening to any Russians I know.) Odds are they will be approved and get the 3 year or they'll be rejected.

I would look into transferring to Tashkent, that'll probably be your best bet since she has citizenship there and it's a small embassy without much traffic.