Ineska

It looks like you duplicated this thread… search for the original “Upcoming interview IR5 Almaty”

Hey- there is a thread already where a lot of us posted our experiences with the Almaty location. It was a good and positive experience for us. The only word of advice make is to sure your mom has everything as required (originals of everything and translated certified copies, copies of sponsor income related docs, etc.) And you need to register for the pick up service and have the info with you for your apt. We were asked to show every single item (but some people said they werent asked) and had a quick positive answer. I am sure your mom will have a positive outcome! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

You dont have to worry about visa bulletin. You are good to go! I just saw your mom has an apt soon. Congrats! Once she gets the approval during her apt, she can pick up her passport (takes 1-5 days) and then she can fly to the US asap good luck!

Sorry, Yulia17- I havent been checking this in a while. Agree with Ana.M’s info on the pick up location. Good luck with the interview. KZ Consulate seems pretty nice in IR-5 cases I am sure it’ll go smooth for you guys as well.

Congrats, @Ana.M! 🎉So happy for you guys also! 🙂

I dont see why you cant use a local notary. Sorry didnt catch your question earlier.

Hey guys- we knew we’d most likely be going to the Almaty consulate so we followed their instructions - “notarized and certified” translations. So all of our docs were. Not sure if they would have accepted unnotarized versions.

Thank you, @M_GlaD I am sure you guys will have a smooth experience as well! Good luck to you guys as well.

Of course! Glad someone started this blog, it was helpful for us too. We actually had a mix of translations between US, Russia and KZ (Astana, but I am sure Almaty will have plenty options as well). You have plenty of time yet

Hey @Ana.M- thank you! I stand corrected, my mom said they asked for all of the originals of birth /marriage/death certificates, spravki o ne sodimosti (we had two from two different countries), translations of everything ( I did have them notarized and certified per the website guidance). Questions were: how did I get to the US? Where would she be living? And then said her visa was approved. Mom said there were lot of people that were not getting approved as they were missing one or more docs. I am sure everything will go well for you guys next week! Good luck! Please post an update, keeping fingers crossed for you!

Hi all- wanted to share our update on our IR-5 interview in Almaty on 10/24/23. Everything went smooth just like many peopelle posted here. Med exam was on 10/16/23 ( others in line did it a day before the interview, we chose to do it a week earlier). Interview was on 10/24/23. It took 2.5 hours with all the logistics but the actual apt was 2 min. We had all the docs and were asked for some of the originals. There were many people in line who were not getting approved due to the lack of the original documents. We got a notification 5 hours later that the passport was ready with visa at the pick up location. Hope this helps and good luck to you all! I met my mom in Istanbul to give her all the orginals. They did ask for it at the apt.

Hi all- wanted to share our update on our IR-5 interview in Almaty on 10/24/23. Everything went smooth just like many peopelle posted here. Med exam was on 10/16/23 ( others in line did it a day before the interview, we chose to do it a week earlier). Interview was on 10/24/23. It took 2.5 hours with all the logistics but the actual apt was 2 min. We had all the docs and were asked for some of the originals. There were many people in line who were not getting approved due to the lack of the original documents. We got a notification 5 hours later that the passport was ready with visa at the pick up location. Hope this helps and good luck to you all!

Congrats on the IL! 🎉 Will post our update. 🙂

Some of us have been exchanging the latest on Almaty experience in this thread- “Medical Exam in Almaty”

I know it doesnt help you at all, but we booked a return ticket on day 5 after visa apt just to be sure…good luck to you guys as well!

Hey Ana, my mom’s interview is on 10/24 in Almaty and I’ll let you know. The other two people I’ve been talking to got their passports back on the second day after the interview.

hey there- I didnt see your question earlier. No, we got DQ’d within 2 weeks and then maybe 4-6 weeks after DQ got an email with IL. Btw- only my mom got the email I didnt. She wasnt even sure if it was spam when it came thru… please check all emails just to be sure. Hope you guys hear soon.

🎉🎉🎉 Thank you, @ITBOB for the awesome news and great update! Congrats guys! So happy for you! Thank you for sharing all of your updates! It’s been so helpful! I’ll post my updates from Oct 24 apt as well. Our apt is on Tues, so we are thinking of getting a return ticket for Sat also. Safe travels to you all! 🙂

Yay! Congrats, guys! So glad everything went well! 🙂 Thank you for sharing! I was also thinking they’ll give you a piece of paper with the info for immigration fees, maybe the pick up location will have it? I’ve been looking for immigration fees a while back and here is what I came up. If the pick up location doesnt have it, I am pretty sure this is it https://my.uscis.gov/uscis-immigrant-fee/enter-data Safe travels to you all and Happy Moving to your MIL! 🙂

Glad everything is going smoothly! Thanks for the update! Were you guys able to get the pick up location sorted out? Good luck on the 7th! I am sure everything will go smoothly

Hey there- The skinny is you have to complete your med exam in the country of the apt and by the place approved by that embassy. Recent experiences with passport pick ups have been about 2 days after the interview. I would recommend this thread here, we’ve been talking more recent details about Almaty- “Medical Exam in Almaty” Hope it helps.

Glad you guys got the pick up location squared away! Good luck and enjoy your time in Almaty! Kazakhstani people are super welcoming and are very sweet people, you guys will love it! Safe travels and can’t wait to hear the good news!

I think it’s a great idea to extend the stay also. Our friend’s mom picked up her passport with visa from GFS office address “temiryazevskaya ul. 28”V” in Alatau Grand” help desk also confirmed this is the place and our friend’s mom picked it up from there.

Hey @ITBOB our friend’s mom got her passport with visa on 8/24 (interview was on 8/22). Just a data point, let me know when you guys get yours. We are also trying to figure out when to buy the return ticket. Hope you figured out the pick up registration also.

Will let you know. Here is how I registered for a pick up, but didnt figure it out on my own: https://portal.ustraveldocs.com/?language=English&country=Kazakhstan log in go under “schedule an apt” but pick an option for doc pick up I had issues before with that secion/profile, because I had set up the profile for B1/B2 visa app in Astana, but later filed i-130. I then switched to IR-5 and it walked me thru all the steps. It had the GFS office address “temiryazevskaya ul. 28”V” in Alatau Grand” pre-selected. I went to the next page and hit “printable version” it printed a letter with a bar code (you’ll need a pick up location letter with a bar code for the interview is what I was just told). Hope this helps.