rikko

Do your best to enter the country with him as having YOU physically there with your US passport seems to sway border control more. As we got off our flight from Armenia, most people (probably also Russian) were being directed to another location (additional screening?) but me and my fiancé were waved through immediately once my passport was shown. My fiancé has a coworker who tried to enter Israel with paperwork confirming he was there for a business visa interview at the US embassy, and he was thrown into a holding cell and deported at his expense at the soonest available flight. Paperwork showing that your fiancé has an interview may not be enough to convince border control there (many Russians and Ukrainians try to enter Israel and overstay). If you are put into administrative processing, and your medical expires (6 months) you will have to do it again. If there are warning signs (sensitive degrees, nationalities, careers, travel history) expect more delays or problems. Also, we were given an exit interview when leaving Israel that was about 15 minutes of multiple people cross-examining my fiancé over what we were in Israel for and why exactly we HAD to go to Bethlehem (for our medical, and because Jerusalem medical location was busy). Anyway, I would avoid Bethlehem/West Bank as of now... Specifically, we were put into AP because while I met the income requirements for a household of 3 (I live in a household of 3), my fiancé would be a 4th member to provide for so I had to meet income requirements for a household of 4. I did not, but the interviewer decided to ask for more information on my fiancé's occupation as he "should be able to provide for himself once in the US" (he is a software engineer). But, with my fiancé holding a chemistry degree, being a software engineer, and being Russian, I think he was put into AP for that. Personally I am optimistic because Israel has good ties with the US, and with the amount of Russian Jews who have made Aliyah, they are sympathetic to Russians with American fiancés. It's a larger embassy and once things get rolling again, we should all be processed quickly enough. Good luck!

Where can you find embassy stats?

You email and ask for a transfer, or use an online portal. It varies from embassy to embassy. Remember to argue your case for transfer well when asking. Many embassies only take cases of extreme hardship. Actual transfers are usually quick, sometimes a reply takes a while, if you get one at all. Serbia has never replied to me once. Small embassies have longer wait and processing times. Jerusalem was processing a lot of Russians pre-war but time will tell when they return to that rate.

gaza isn't near bethlehem, if anything it's closer to jerusalem, they're right next to each other

@Sdsailer If Israel finishes this war soon, I am sure Jerusalem will resume accepting transfers, unless they will resume working at reduced capacity. Many people in this forum transferred their case from Warsaw to Jerusalem.

Serbia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Georgia all denied transfers.

1. Yes, if you have residency. My fiancé has Armenian residency, we applied for a multi-entry Schengen visa to Spain, received a single-entry Schengen that lasted one week. Apparently you can still enter Warsaw on a single-entry Schengen but that's a lot of money to spend on potentially being denied, and it's misrepresenting your intent of travel. 2. Not that I am aware of. Jerusalem did but Israel is now at war and a lot of people got screwed from that. Bishkek is apparently accepting but it's a slow embassy, Manila might have accepted us but they've been really bad at even understanding what we are asking for. At least their response time is really fast. 3. It should be extended. No matter how much this process has set us up to fail, I think most people understand that Russians have trouble entering a country that has banned entry to Russian nationals and issuing visas to them. And that Israel is at war. And that Uzbekistan/Kazakhstan are not accepting transfers. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions.

that piece of paper Военный билет that shows which category you are (not eligible to serve in peacetime, not eligible to serve ever, etc) which also shows military service (my fiance has none)

so how are you guys doing with the ongoing security situation in israel and everything being halted?

Where do you find the number of CO's a consulate has? Is it available on their websites, or on a 3rd party website? Or just how big a consulate is. I want to contact consulates more likely to be capable of processing my fiancé's case. Jerusalem has halted all nonimmigrant and immigrant visa services, and has written on their page how to transfer your case - I'm assuming they don't want new applicants, and/or existing applicants should transfer.

when you apply for your schengen, you have to list your itinerary, places of stay (which must be pre-arranged), etc. back when we did this, we avoided mentioning needing to go to poland for a visa interview due to suggestions we read on visajourney (schengens are primarily for tourism and if you mention any work or study you could be denied and told to apply for the respective country's visa) if you were to get a single-entry schengen visa for spain then cancel all plans and go to poland, it would be extremely harmful if you were to reapply to visit the EU or schengen zone in the future, or potentially any country if they deem you misrepresenting the purpose of your trip as cause for concern. if you were to get a multi-entry schengen visa, you could safely carry out the first visit then legally enter again for whatever purpose in the future, which we were denied. regardless, even if not "illegal" it is "breaking the rules" and we were not willing to do that (and i don't distinguish between the two if it could have lasting consequences for my fiance's future travels) this would all be fixed if they just moved the dang interview location from warsaw to anywhere russians can enter easily. i'd suggest jerusalem, but israel has just declared war for the first time formally since the 1970's! god knows what this means for people who transferred their cases to israel, and for the people of israel/palestine! as if life for russian applicants couldn't get worse, first covid, then russia/ukraine war, now one of the few countries accepting transfers is at war!

That's amazing news! I'm glad it finally all worked out. Can I ask why you were given AP? Did they ask for a CV, did she have a scientific education/career? Did you ever email the embassy and ask if your case was under active review? It is so good to read success stories

Yes, it would've been illegal for us to go to Poland during the single entry stay and it was only viable had we been issued a multi entry visa. Since that was denied we had a pretty good argument to convince the Jerusalem embassy to accept a transfer, and I will always be grateful to Israel for accepting us. We had been trying to transfer before even attempting Schengen but no embassy was willing to let us transfer at that point, so we attempting the Schengen-to-Warsaw route others were taking.

Most Russian cases, or most cases that process through Warsaw?

Hi! I have a Russian fiance and I was put into AP about 2 months ago, but we interviewed in Jerusalem, not Warsaw. Background: My fiance has a chemical degree, previously worked in batteries, and is now a computer programmer. We got asked for a CV and military records (we forgot to take them, its just a piece of paper saying he never served). They DID want to keep his passport after, but we explained we had to leave to obtain documents and they told us how to mail required docs to their office.

Spain accepted us but only single-entry. We were also considering Greece and Italy but decided on Spain because of processing times.

Cheers to not a single DM 🍻

Hello, I am in the middle of administrative processing and it is approaching the 2 month mark. Is there a certain time period where it is okay to contact the embassy, and what would an email like that even look like? I want to avoid aggravating the person on the receiving end, especially if nothing can be done. "Can I ask how my application is going" sounds bad too, as the CEAC website has the status. Is it advised to just not ask, even if months in the process?

You need an app to use the bus and we couldn't get it to work. We boarded a bus and tried to pay with cash and the bus driver told us he'd call the cops and have us fined lmao. If you've ever been to New York City, Israel feels like it and then some at times. Your passport is scanned and you're given a blue ticket upon arrival. No stamp. Many Arab countries will not let you in if you've been to Israel, so this is how they protect tourists. If you rent a car, you'll be checked when crossing checkpoints. If you take a taxi they might or might not check everyone's ID. There is a chance you might be monitored, I think. We were told several times to expect an exit interview when leaving Israel, and every single person stressed to never lie about whether or not you visited west bank. They may even search your phones if they want. We were given an exit interview and cross-examined for 15 minutes. We were honestly prepared for 2-3 hours of this. But you have to understand that Israelis have to take the security of their country and people very seriously due to terrorism. We were physically scanned, patted down, and all of our carry-ons were swabbed for any traces of explosives before even boarding a CONNECTING flight to Israel. Also, we haven't been called back. We are in 221g administrative hell right now.

I was able to wait outside. There is seating but it was too hot at the time so I stood in the breezeway. Infrastructure is old but things are clean and I do think the city is low crime. I would feel safe walking around at night. Bethlehem doc said he has seen pretty much only Russian patients. Israelis cannot enter west bank tier A zones, Jews shouldn't enter because they're at danger of being killed. Many Palestinian Christians have left due to international church support and resources, and the city population is becoming more and more Palestinian Muslim as people leave cities like Hebron. There are actually many Russian Jews in Israel so we had my fiance wear his cross to be safe, but it was probably unnecessary. Both Palestinians and Israelis try very hard to not involve foreigners if there ever is violence. Another reason I suggest Bethlehem over Ramallah is that Ramallah seems less stable. And this is if you cannot do the medical in Jerusalem. Assuming you have to leave and come back for a 221g or any other additional screening, I would absolutely 100000% recommend not setting foot in west bank. Bethlehem has an extremely tourist-driven industry which was hit hard by covid and recent legislation. They love seeing tourists. It is probably the only tourist-driven city I've been in that doesn't hate tourists. Taxis will be hard to source but if you get an AirBnB they'll usually get fam from Jerusalem to drive you around for like $100 lmao, Israeli taxi drivers cannot take you to Bethlehem. Always have a backup plan or arrive 1-2 days before any appointment. There is a refugee camp in Bethlehem that can be raided, and raids usually mean you cannot enter or leave for a period of time. Gunshots from 5-9 pm are locals, gunshots from 1-4 am are IDF (which we never heard). There will be a call to prayer every night at like 2-3 am, if you are a light sleeper, close the windows. Jerusalem is nice too, but consider renting a car while there. All affordable accomodations for us in West Jerusalem was in surrounding suburbs, and as tourists we couldn't obtain bus passes. I did not enter East Jerusalem but from what I understand it can also be subject to raids and clashes. Cheap lodging though.

Bethlehem is right. The exterior is made of a local construction material, inside is as modern as it can get. The doctor in Bethlehem is a Palestinian Christian. It's walking distance from Manger Sq., which is also near an AirBnB.

1. If you get AP and have to leave and come back they won't like if you entered west bank. I would avoid ramallah. Bethlehem is touristy and important to Christians, and the name is in Hebrew. If they ask why you were in Bethlehem I think they'd be more tolerant. Ramallah is like, Palestine proper, it's their defacto capital now. I would suspect issues. But yeah you'll be safe as long as you don't look Jewish (in west bank). 2. Paper. We picked it up a few days after our medical. The Bethlehem doctor is very nice.

Hi everyone, My fiance is a Russian national and we interviewed in Jerusalem over the summer. The interview went well, but they asked for my fiance's CV and proof of no military service on a white slip. They also asked to keep his passport, but after we explained we need to leave to get the documents, they explained the process to mail them required docs. Docs were mailed, received, and our 221g refusal with 2 required docs was changed to a 221g refusal with no required docs. They told us it'll be about 1 month until we hear back. He has a chemistry degree, formerly worked in battery production, and now works in computer programming. I hope STEM backgrounds/careers do not lead to excessive 221g processing. I understand we have a unique case, but does anyone have thoughts or advice to share? It's been 2 months. Feeling down.

1. Stuff gets emailed to you and maybe also her. Keep track of your emails. 2. Email or call NVC. Or wait for the case to reach Poland before trying to transfer from Poland to somewhere else. Costa Rica may not be accepting transfers - my fiance has Armenian residency and a transfer was denied due to lack of resources. Other posters do not have residency in places they live (Georgia, Serbia, etc) and are unlikely to get transfers whatsoever. 3. Ask the embassy to extend, list your reasons. Usually they allow extensions but it's their discretion.

The Jerusalem Embassy is quite big from what I understand so it will be a while before they have to start refusing. Besides, with how expensive Israel is to stay in, it's good for the economy!