JPLaw

The economics of applying just didnt make sense for us - we both live outside of Russia and the costs and time of traveling to apply for the Schengen with the risks of scheduling issues made us decide to stay put in Georgia's long line. We spoke with 3 visa agencies in Russia that help facilitate getting a Schengen and 2 of them told us that because our financial proof would only be my US bank records (wife has no income and shares my cards w/o name on account) we would have problems getting a visa in the first place. Idk if that's true - but a weird repeated problem they highlighted. Also because Schengen applications in RU are processed based on where your RU spouse is registered there are some additional costs or longer waits when they're registered outside the major cities. Honestly, it seems like most people can coordinate getting the visa and Poland appointment just fine. It looks like the way to go if the logistics can make sense for y'all - just a stressful hassle.

Right now the chatter in the Telegram chats is that Kyrgyzstan is accepting transfers (at least from Russians scheduled in Israeli) it may be worth writing them if you haven't tried already. Alternatively, I also think it's worth considering trying to get a Schengen visa through France or Spain since those countries are known to be more lenient than most. It's a massive pain but the embassy in Poland works quicker to interview than most. For example, Poland has been able to schedule within 1-2 months while countries like Georgia take an additional 7 months after NVC to schedule. The idea would be to enter schengen through the visa issuing country and quietly travel to Poland from within the Schengen zone. Not possible for everyone (myself included) but a good option for many folks.

What agency issued your new Georgian no conviction report? Maybe try to receive a report from Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Tbilisi Service-Center. There is one location at 5a Petre Kavtaradze St, Tbilisi near City Mall. We completed NVC right before the Georgian authorities made this change - but we first went the address I name above and received one version of this document.. NVC rejected and after resubmitting it with a note indicating its the proper issuing authority NVC accepted it. Afterwards we saw the 10 Gia Gulua instructions online and obtained that afterwards... although it's the same authority, we received 2 different looking police reports. Maybe worth going and asking?

My wife and I have been debating this point and I'd love some input to minimize potential issues. We have an attorney but feel that the advice given so far has delayed our case and think this may be an area of bad advice... Background: At the NVC stage I had submitted a letter explaining I was a student with no income last year and did not file a return but included evidence of current salary (started job January 2023 (qualifying income)). Due to no prior tax filing, the joint sponsor is my father who had tax extensions until October and does not utilize W2s or 1099s (partner in a partnership). My mother does not work and did not sign any forms although they file taxes jointly. Basically, our attorney directed us to submit letters and schedules each time DQ asked for w2/1099 forms so we have a fairly cluttered and confusing income/tax submission... even the 2022 income on my joint sponsor's 864 is different than what is on his actual 1040 since the lawyer used business schedule forms to extrapolate projected income. We were DQ'ed from NVC in August but received a notice at the same time (screenshot attached) stating our reported income is insufficient.🫠 After that we submitted the newly acquired 1040 for 2022 on behalf of my joint sponsor which still shows "Submitted" on CEAS since mid-September. I am afraid that my mother not being on these financial forms at all, my joint sponsor's original 864 with incorrect income remaining on file, and tons of schedules& miscellaneous tax filing forms now on CEAC for my joint sponsor that we will encounter problems at the interview. Our immigration attorney stated that by submitting my joint sponsor's final 1040 after being DQ'ed that we effectively corrected the i864 form. We were never advised on using tax transcripts which would have greatly simplified these issues. Specific Questions: In your experience/opinion... 1). If total income was corrected post-DQ but before receiving an interview date should my joint sponsor resubmit a new Form i864 at this point? 2). Being DQ'ed already, should we submit a 864a for my mother (joint sponsor's spouse filing jointly) at this point to be safe? 3). Would requesting and uploading 3 years tax transcripts from the IRS likely save us headache later or add more problems at this point? We are afraid that having been DQ'ed and waiting for an interview date +2 months that adding too much or new critical documents would slow our case or mess up our case from being scheduled. I asked our attorney about adding these documents/corrections and got a simple "no need" answer.. my gut is telling me different. Any thoughts?

Just adding my experiences here for others - we were DQ'ed from NVC August 15th and assigned at NVC to Tbilisi, Georgia (based on address on application). Our application is still at sitting at NVC and will be until Tbilisi has availability to schedule us on there end. Based on Telegram chats and other shared information this has been around an 8 month wait from being DQ'ed for others. We're estimating over 2.5 year total CR1 processing time given Tbilisi is so slow. Avoid Tbilisi, Georgia as I believe they only have 2 COs and will automatically deny all expedite requests and are not great at responding at all. We attempted to tranfer to Kazakhstan last week (and failed to expedite in Georgia) based on medical reasons with documentation and were rejected. Kazakhstan would not accept us based on not being residents absent a life or death emergency. Serbia is a no go for non-residents as well. For folks earlier in this process, my view is that either Poland or quickly getting residency elsewhere (e.g., Costa Rica confirmed if I held a remote worker visa and my wife accompanied - she would be eligible as a "resident" to interview there) are currently the best options. Both are terrible, but this whole system and process is so gotta navigate it.

Hey there, any chance I could get an update? Did you have your interview and how long did you have to wait if so? DQ'ed about 2 weeks ago myself and nervous about this embassy.

I don't want to create any false hope but perhaps you can uodate your application with the Georgian address he is currently residing at? I am currently waiting for my Russian wife's spousal visa interview in Georgia and just cleared the NVC stage. We were automatically assigned to GE by NVC but never requested it and had Warsaw listed in our application. It might be different since we were married there in GE and we listed an address in Georgia on our application documents. We hold no residency there and do annual visa-runs to stay legal here. My thought would be to update the information/address on your docs before the NVC stage - they assigned us without any inquiries or even asking. NVC was clearly relying on our application information for this decision.

I just logged into NVC's application page for the first time after my lawyer has paid all the fees for NVC already. At the top I am seeing: VISA CLASS: CR1 YOUR CASE IS CURRENTLY AT: NVC FOREIGN STATE OF CHARGEABILITY: RUSSIA INTERVIEW LOCATION: TBILISI PRIORITY DATE: 07-JUN-2022 I see the interview location here is Tbilisi, Georgia although we indicated Warsaw on the application. Does this mean NVC has already assigned the interview location and it will not otherwise change? We were planning to transfer to Kazakhstan like so many others anyway but I am a bit confused if this indicates NVC has already determined to transfer our case. A bit odd but we were married in Georgia but hold no legal residency there. This is positive news I guess? Separately, is there a way to check how quickly Tbilisi processes/interviews immigrant visas? I see B1/B2 appointment wait times are at 280 days.... does that indicate I should try to transfer to Kazakhstan for a quicker interview appointment anyway?

That's great - did you email the Bangkok embassy using the ustraveldocs email address listed on the embassy website? I ask just because I have never received a response from a US embassy by email and wonder if I'm using the wrong approach or email 😅 Georgia is a weird case - we are tax residents here and can stay for 1 year at a time but that confers no 'residency status' for US immigration consideration I guess... we're just tourists with tax obligations. Bahamas is for timezone and processing times - the Bahamas decides Nomad visas within 5 days of applying so we could get it quickly. We would only move if it entitles us to interview there as well. Just unsure if a 1 year nomad visa would entitle us to be treated as residents in the third-country... I assume it would but would hate to relocate and be wrong. Again, no embassy has ever responded to my email questions so hard to get any assurances. I assume it's similar to a student visa though. I appreciate the insight.

Hello, First post here but I've found helpful insights here so far and appreciate that! I am a US citizen with a Russian wife currently living in Tbilisi, Georgia on visa-free status (so no residency status). A decision on our pending I-130 is expected at the end of April (1 month from now). Like many others, we hope to avoid Interviewing in Poland due to the logistical headache. My thought it to quickly apply for digital nomad visas in the Bahamas or Croatia and have my russian wife apply as a dependent. My understanding is that these 1 year+ visas are actually resident permits thus allowing us to transfer our interview there hassle-free. Has anyone transferred away from Poland through a nomad visa or other temporary residency program? I am assuming an embassy could not turn us away if we hold temporary residency in that country, is that true?