SnowColdIce

Yes, you need to register yourself where you are staying. If you stay in a hotel they will do it for you. If you stay in someone's place, then they need to register you on their online system, most people would know how to, or they can go to their local office and get help. Moscow is really the center for almost everything, that is where I stay. I am not sure about Siberia, but Moscow is beautiful and a very modern city. You would be surprised how digital and technological everything is there. As far as I know, Moscow and St Petersburg are the best cities to live in because they are the biggest cities in the truest sense. I would imagine things in Siberia being a little more difficult, to put it in American terms it would be to live in the middle of Idaho vs New York. You would be able to get a lot more done in New York. Important to note that the medical check is done in Moscow too. For the form I am not sure, I would imagine using whatever its on the birth certificate if possible. If not use the modern name. My partner's was Moscow so I didn't have that issue, sadly I wouldn't know there.

They do complete a background check but in all honesty seeing how simple it was, I doubt that they care. I don't think they are looking for anything they can incriminate you on. But I mean...just be smart and don't do anything that you think could piss them off. The people getting arrested for donations are those who did it to organizations involved in the conflict going on. But in all honesty I do not see how anyone would want to go there if you are doing stuff like that. It's the sort of situation of "if you got nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry". Yeah it is a little scary and funny enough instead of getting easier every time I go, it just gets even more stricter. I am kinda used to it by now although it is always a pain to have to go through it. Again, just be smart, it is not America, and the more I travel anywhere, the more I realize that we cannot behave the same as we behave here everywhere else. Yes, I understand why you think it is overwhelming. The 129f doesn't seem to be available to be submitted online unlike other forms like the 130. You have to submit it by mail. And from what I read, any evidence you send should be just copies. What you CAN do is once you submit it and you get your first NOA, then you get your confirmation number and put it in your USCIS account and you can track the progress of your case there. I did not choose a lawyer because I felt confident I could do it independently. Having a lawyer is not a bad idea if you are unsure of everything and don't want to deal with investigating and doing everything yourself. The lawyer WILL NOT help you with the matter regarding Poland, the only way they might have some input is if they have experience with Russian cases like yours. But a lawyer is just there to help you with the paperwork or for people with very complicated cases that involve a lot more than what you have. The lawyer won't be of much help with the Poland matter, its either you get there by the Schengen means (do not go directly there from Russia, only from the Schengen area), or by transferring to another consulate in another country which is a very hard thing to do and only a few lucky ones get that approval.

The Russian Visa was very simple for me, just get an invitation, filling the form online, then going to the consulate. I think you can technically leave for one day and then come back but in all honesty I do not know how they would react to that. If you have officially married, you can try to see if you can get an extended stay so you do not have to leave after the 6 months mark. Once you get to Russia, you WILL be checked when going through passport control. They have even become much stricter now. They won't deny you entry, but they will tell you to wait in an area and they will keep your passport. You will probably have to wait sometime there. It can be 15 mins, or it can be 2 hrs. Then they will call you and most likely question you about why you are there, for how long, and can even ask you personal details about your relationship with your Russian partner. I was even asked if I work out and what I do in my day to day one time (they were implying if I was military or special forces or something). Be prepared to hand over your phone (unlocked). You might be taken to a small room or not. In my opinion just be honest about what you will do there. If it makes you feel better, they are doing that not only to you, but pretty much a lot of foreigners INCLUDING Russians that are living outside of Russia and are just coming back to see family or something. I was nervous but I can understand why. And before anyone goes crazy here, we do the same thing here in America, I know multiple people who were taken to a room, questioned and even had their text messages checked, here in the land of the free. Just remember the current political situation and that they have had incidents lately so the security is tight and that is understandable. Eastern Europe culture is not like western one. They do not smile at random nor when greeting someone. If you randomly smile at someone they will either know you are not from there or think you are silly or deceitful. However, once you get to actually know them they become very happy and warm people. I honestly have not had a single bad experience with anyone there. Even random people I met on tours were awesome. And no one cares that you are American honestly, they might just be curious and ask you a couple of questions but actually many are happy you are visiting their country. As far as your documents go, I am not sure with 129F, but with 130 you can do pretty much anything online except any official documents you may need to get here but then you upload them online either way. You only take the physical ones to Interview. But in all honesty as what @OldUser said, you need to have a stable address here in the US, don't count on mailing stuff back and forth as it can take a long time and I don't even know if its reliable. It looks like you haven't studied the 129F enough. Go through all the steps in the USCIS and travel.state.gov sites and become well acquainted with them in what you can and what you cannot do. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

In a way if you do not have the possibility of getting married soon, or doing the UTAH online marriage and seeing him on a Visitor visa in Russia (they get approved very quickly, and they last a couple of years) then K1 is better for you yes. Specially if you really do not want to be separate after the wedding. (You don't have to under CR1 either if you stay in Russia with him for a while). On a side note, are you planning on living in Russia for a while with him? Not to intrude or anything but have you researched your possibilities for work, etc...? I have been there multiple times, and I still could not see myself living there momentarily UNLESS I can work remote or staying there forever. Or if I knew the language well. Russians are not like Americans, they are will always prefer to hire one of their own and you might have slight difficulties as a foreigner. Nothing rude, they are just a more nationalist country and people. Nothing wrong with that either, its just part of who they are. I have been there for months in multiple occasions but I am able to do that due to the nature of my work. Met many Russians and I never had a bad experience with anyone and once they became acquainted with me, they became very very warm people (initially very cold, they are not at all like the western culture)

And in all honesty, if you can, please do a spousal Visa. I know it seems more complicated first, but actually, it is less complicated later. Your spouse would arrive with all the benefits of a resident from the get-go, which is basically everything except a passport. And I think lately they even auto-submit your SSN request or something like that. With K1, you need to get married within a very small of time after arrival, then need to Adjust Status (this takes time), in the meantime apply to work permit and SSN. All of these cost money and very importantly time. A calculation somewhere shows the difference, but K1 is more costly in the long run. Also try to see each other and spend time together. It would be good for your evidence. I have gone to Moscow and it's scary at first but its actually pretty ok.

1. In my case at least being CR1 yes. Not sure about K1 but I would imagine it is the same situation. A while ago you could ask Israel to get your case but now that is not advisable due to the situation there. Other consulates are most likely to deny your case transfer unless they for some reason think they can take it, its hit or miss. 2. I am not sure how you submit the 129F form, but at least with the 130 you can do the whole thing online, obviously when they ask you to attach evidence/documents, they are just scans because, well, it is online. For the interview, any documents should be the originals/certified copies of the issuing authority + translation (if not in English). I would also take a copy for good measure. Not sure about your citizenship proof...for me with the I-130, the citizenship proof is done when applying to USCIS on the first step, not when you go to the interview. 3. Again not sure about 129F, but 130 this is done prior to the interview when you get access to the CEAC website. 4. Not really. You should be fine if your join sponsor is over the poverty line FOR HIS HOUSEHOLD. 5. Until a while ago (I confirmed with the clinic in Moscow) yes. I believe the place is called IOM or something like that. 6. Sadly yes, I think for me this is one of the most stressful parts because you need to try to time everything to the interview, travel, and the Schengen getting approved which can take any amount of time depending on the country. When he gets the Schengen, DO NOT GO DIRECTLY FROM RUSSIA TO POLAND (I don't think you can), because even if you have Schengen you will not be allowed into Poland. The idea is to first go into the Schengen country that approved it, then go to Poland from there. 7. When you submit the first form that is the biggest wait time. It will be (probably) more than a year before you hear anything else related to your case. I have seen my partner in Moscow and other countries while waiting for USCIS.

I went with CR1, and from my research it seems to be the MUCH better option with things like time, costs, hassle.... Russian partner as well. Also, I see you used ChatGPT as your source. Please don't do that. ChatGPT is not accurate at all for specialized things SPECIALLY IMMIGRATION, I can explain why but it would take a whole post for that. Immigration is a very fluid topic, and with even Lawyers making mistakes, believe me ChatGPT would make 100s.

As far as I know, Almaty is taking IR-5 cases from Russia which looks like yours is. How long ago did your mother get the official documents? Usually, things like marriage certificates are valid for a very long time. I am not sure about the police certificate, hopefully, someone can chime in for that. Why can you not get an appointment? I am in a CR-1 process and will probably get assigned to Warsaw once my time comes (more than a year from now) if cases are still handled in Warsaw, so like many, I am watching how people get to Warsaw like a hawk, as many have had difficulties even with Schengen.

I don't disagree with you. I understand what you are saying and it makes sense. I would just think that they would ask for something as they do for Cubans (a lot actually). But that probably has to do with the higher amount of people intending to actually stay in the country.

Yes but also they must show ties to their home country, and a property is a common example of a strong tie. It is fairly common on B2 to show some documentation regarding this. However, it seems for this specific example (Russians) as @millefleur mentioned they do not ask a lot of documentation. A Cuban for example (with much higher rate of denials) do see quite a lot of documentation requirements. I am Cuban so I would know.

Interesting....If they usually don't look at any supporting document, then how do they determine eligibility well? For example, my in-laws have jobs and own property. How would they know for example that they have 2 small properties to take care of that tie them to Russia if they don't look at the documentation?

What amount of "visiting too often" is a red flag for CBP for 3-year multi-entry visas? I guess coming every year once or twice is fine? Yeah, that makes total sense. I just guess that the Application probably asks for a planned date of visit or they might ask for tickets. So maybe at least it seems that you should provide them with an idea of when the person will travel? That is a great observation. We will just wait once my wife is here and do it all calmly. I just honestly was expecting this process for B2 Visas to be much slower, but it seems like a normal time would be like 3 months for everything. Thank you! That makes it much easier for them as well to be able to request time off work. This adds to your philosophy of doing everything in advance and with calm with no rush.

Yes I am aware. They have no intention of coming to the US to live at all. They have a humble but comfortable life back in Russia so they have no desire to come to a COMPLETLY different country to basically have to "start from zero".

I guess I explained myself incorrectly here. I was just trying to see the terms of the Visa. (in paper) My in-laws will probably visit only for around 2-3 weeks at a time max since they do have jobs and responsibilities back home. They can probably come back again about 8 months later for a similar timeframe since they do get more vacations in Russia. The reason I ask for this frequency of coming every 8 months for example is because they will likely want to see their (future) grandson often.

Yeah, I noticed. I imagine it's due to the high illegal immigration with people applying for B2 and then staying here. Thanks for this! I already read it and did research based on it. I guess I was under the impression that since some immigrant Visas have to be done in Warsaw then Non-Immigrant Visas would be a similar story. It sounds like they are reciprocating the same policy for Private Visa of US Citizens to Russia. I assume the 3-year multi-entry means that they can come for up to 6 months per visit with unlimited visits for those 3 years correct? When your MIL applied did she already have tickets purchased to go to the US? Did you have a plan in general? Per your own opinion, do you think my in-laws should apply now or wait for her daughter to come since they will have to say essentially it's to visit her? How long did it take for you from approval on the interview in Almaty to the passport pick-up date?