Cire32

Just an update for anyone interested - Everything went well for us and my fiance is now my husband The medical interview in Jerusalem went smoothly. He really didn't have any health records to bring except some hand written vaccine records and documents from his childhood in the USSR. Fortunately Do Jonty was able to read Russian and was able to determine the vaccines needed. My fiance printed out an official "recovered from covid" form from Gosuslugi and when he showed it, the doctor said there was no need for the covid vaccine then. He actually crossed it off the form and marked him as having completed the vaccine requirements. On thing about the medical exam though... They say your exam results should be ready within a few days, but this was not true for us. The bureaucrat who does the paperwork for the embassy was way behind on his work. My fiance went there after several days and was told that they might get it done the day before the interview. We had two weeks between the exam and the visa appointment, and two days before it, my fiance went to the med center and sat outside the bureaucrat's until they were about to close. He literally had to negotiate with the guy - he just couldn't be bothered with it - and remind him of the disaster it would be if it wasn't done in time. He did complete it at the end of the day. What's crazy is that if you're getting a CR1 visa, it's digitally submitted, so there's know way to know if the guy did it in time. At least with K1 you have to get a physical packet from him. The interview at the embassy went very well. There were two parts. The first woman took his documents and asked some formal questions. She spoke russian and was a little cold at first but actually warmed up a bit went they talked. She didn't really spend much time looking at the documents. For any russians reading this, you will definitely need your военный билет even if you didn't serve in the military. It still says you didn't serve and they do want to see the original. After that, he moved to a different window with an American officer. He was actually quite friendly. He asked some basic questions about how we met and very basic things a couple should know. Nothing at all to worry about here. After about 15 minutes he said that he can come back and pick up his passport with the visa in a few days. And that was it. As for getting the passport back, they had him come back several days later and he went to a window outside the embassy and picked up his packet. Online there had only been an option to pick it up from the post office, but they never even mentioned that at the interview and just gave him instructions to pick it up there. We immediately changed our El Al flight to the nearest date and got him out of there within two weeks. Entering the US was easy. They pulled him into a special room at the NY airport and some questions, took his packet and sent him on his way. We're married now and sent in our application for adjustment of status. He just received his work permit and social security number, only a month after submitting the application. Good luck to everyone else going through this!

My understanding is that's always been a bit like the US, where there is an assumption of illegal immigration intent and need for the traveler to prove they will leave on time (of course they went easy on privileged nationalities). But it seems that right now with the war and security situation, they are really scrutinizing everyone. Apparently even Israelis were being questioned to some extent.

My fiance successfully made it into Israel! He took an El Al flight into Tel Aviv. At the check in desk, they subjected him to a two hour long interrogation. They asked him about every place he had been recently, who he met there, what he was doing for work, why he was coming to Israel. He had all his documents and evidence of on going relationship printed out with him for the interview and they went through everything. They even wanted to see his email on his phone where he got the interview confirmation and his Telegram chat with me. We had a flight booked to the US (cancelable and changeable through El Al) and they commented on that flight, so it was probably good we had a flight out booked. In the end they were apparently satisfied and they let him through. They gave him a stamp that showed he went through security already, so they let him through quickly at the actual border control in Tel Aviv. Now just waiting on the medical exam and the interview.

Hi everyone, I'm a US citizen engaged to a Russian man, and in February 2022 we submitted our K1 packet and received our confirmation that they received our documents at the end of February. In September 2022 my fiance left Russia to avoid mobilization. Since then he has been living in various countries and will continue to do so. Since he can't go home, there is no way he would be able to go to a European embassy in Moscow to even attempt to acquire a Schengen visa. This means our only hope for the next step would be to have our case transferred from Poland to some other country. I have several questions I'm hoping someone could provide insight on: 1. Can you apply to have your case transferred before you've received the NOA2 to schedule the interview? 2. Do you have to currently be in the country to have your case transferred there? 3. How long could it potentially take for them to consider your request, and how soon could you schedule the interview after approval? Are we talking days, weeks, or over a month? 4. Once an interview is scheduled, how much time should we plan on spending in that country? I'm really concerned about the various unforeseen waits and delays or extra hurdles that could affect our calculations. 5. I've read that Uzbekistan, Armenia and Mongolia are known for not accepting transfer cases. Are you aware of any non-EU countries in Asia or north Africa that are known for accepting or not accepting transfer cases? I know that there is so much I don't know about what's to come, so if anyone has experience with getting an interview transferred and has any insight or advice, I'd be very appreciative to hear it.