Karjala

Supposedly, they keep his passport to put the visa in it once it's approved. Which did not happen yet. Unfortunately, we did not get to decide what country to interview in, since U.S. embassy in Israel was the only one accepting the transfer of our case. The only reason why it's taking so long there is because the case is in administrative processing, who knows why. I would not recommend trying to transfer to Latin American countries, the wait time there is too long.

I am married to a Russian man, not a woman. Men are still a subject for conscription/draft. Besides, we've been actively opposing Putler and the war, which means that Russian prison is a part of the equation for us. It's good that you are feeling safe in Russia, but you should stay alert at all times.

You schedule your own interview in Israel: Please register with the Israeli Post/ Wassel courier at the following Yatri web site https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-il/iv. This is the same web site where Applicant shall be able to schedule himself for an interview by selecting an available appointment slot. When is your interview in Jerusalem

My husband obtained one through Gosuslugi. Jerusalem regularly posts vacancies for immigration interviews. It is possible to reschedule for the earlier date if you'll keep checking. Please, read the most recent information about traveling to Israel. Preferably in Russian. Israel deports people at the airport of Tel Aviv, denying entry. My husband has got in, having his scheduled visa interview information printed out, but he spent about 4 hours in the deportation hall. My Russian husband had his CR1 visa interview on April 25, but the embassy requested the court order for my legal name change (when I've got citizenship). And Israel is different to other U.S. Embassies: they request police certificate for every country where you've lived for over 6 months (not a year, what is usually requested). My husband spent almost a year in Mexico waiting for the immigration interview (did not happen) and couldn't provide the police certificate from there, because he has never been a resident for Mexico, just a tourist. We've submitted everything we could on May 1st, and our case is still in the administrative processing.

The immigration officer requested more evidence, which we did provide in less than a week. The embassy took extra evidence and his passport on May 1st. Before that his case was "Refused" on ceac with "requested documents" in the comments. It was update 3 times: May 2nd, May 3rd and May 9th, but the status remained the same throughout all these 3 updates: Refused. But the words changed to "If you were informed by the consular officer that your case was refused for administrative processing, your case will remain refused while undergoing such processing." Apparently, administrative processing is the standard procedure and Russians are put through it routinely. The "refused" status will change to "issued" or "denied" once the decision has been made. We are still waiting. I believe our main problem is that my husband spent a year living in Mexico (waiting for the interview there). And for some reason U.S. embassy in Israel requests a police certificate from every country where you lived for 6 months (when U.S. immigration requests them only for countries where you lived over a year). My husband is unable to provide it, because he has never been a Mexican resident and did not obtain Mexican SSN. There are simply no such records of him. So we are stuck.

I don't think there is any public transportation left, but you should be able to catch a car, because people regularly drive back and forth. Services like blablacar should be helpful. If anything, I might find people I know, who would be driving to Petrozavodsk.

Could you, please, provide me with an update? My husband has attended an interview in Jerusalem on April 25th, but the officer requested a few more things, which we've submitted on May 1st. There is still no passport in sight and I am worrying, since We've got enough means for no more than 2 month.

I do not recommend getting married in Mexico now. From what I've heard, Russians are being assigned to embassies in the countries of marriage now and you do not want to be assigned to Mexico. My experience: they make Russians wait in the line with locals. There is no way of expediting it, unless somebody is actively dying. The information I found too late in the process in the Mexican FB group is that the wait time is about 15 month there for U.S. citizen spouses. I've been trying to transfer the case to U.S. embassies in other Latin American countries, but they are overloaded as well. Try a different route. P.S. Israel denies entry at the airport the majority of the time. My husband was able to get it, because he had the U.S. immigration interview notice and a picture of me with my U.S. passport.

This is exactly what I am saying. And not just Russians, but Ukrainians and Afghani, even Americans and Europeans get routinely deported. While my husband was waiting for his entry interview in the deportation hall at the Tel Aviv airport, he saw an Italian family being denied entry. You have to look it up. These stories are horrific. The way they treat people is awful. They even have a deportation prison where they're holding people. They are trying to force you to buy your own ticket out of Tel Aviv, which could be a good thing if you are a Russian, because otherwise they'll deport you into the country of citizenship. But they are trying to avoid paying for it. The only reason why my husband was let in, is because (besides all the required things) he was able to show his U.S. embassy immigration visa appointment notice and a picture of me next to my U.S. passport.

It's in the first sentence: My other half is Russian. So I believe it is applicable in this case.

Oh, and what U.S. government provides to you as a solution: personally reaching out to the embassies around the world and see if they will take your case. They usually don't. I was able to secure a spot in Israel, but it's difficult to get into the country (they deport the majority of visitors from Russia) and expensive to live in.

I took the CR1 route and I'm recommending to try K1 instead (Or any other B/J visa). USCIS processing time was going to be 2,5 years, but ours got expedited. You may also apply for K-3 visas, but I've heard that they take just as long as I-130 for spouse. With CR-1, after the I-130 approval your case will go into NVC, which used to take forever to process, but now they are way faster at processing cases. When they are done, your case will be documentarily qualified and only on that date you are placed in the line for the immigration visa interview. Wait times are a mystery, you won't find the information. Usually, K-1 fiancee visas are processed in the separate consulate which is faster, than regular immigration visa interview lines, where CR-1 mixed with other types of immigration visas. Locations: From what I've seen if Russian marries outside of Russia, then the case is assigned to that country. DO NOT GO TO MEXICO or Latin American countries. It's the immigration black hole. I'd definitely recommend trying to through European route, if your fiancee can get the EU visa. And she should be able to request the transfer of the immigration case to Poland. P.S. It's been 14 months and my Russian husband is still stuck abroad. His case has been stuck in the administrative processing after the interview for a month already. IF YOU CAN, MOVE ANYWHERE ELSE, LIVE IN THE DIFFERENT COUNTRY. U.S. IMMIGRATION WILL CRUSH YOU. Good luck, mate.

All I have to say is Congratulations! My husband and I were waiting for the CR1 visa interview in Mexico for 10 months before we realized that there would be another 10 months of waiting for the visa. We've tried to reach out to other U.S. embassies but they either ignored us, or told that they cannot accept non-resident cases. He had to leave Mexico so he did travel to Georgia and then, finally, U.S. embassy in Israel has accepted the case...But it's been over a month since the interview and I believe our case is in administrative processing...just runninf our of money while waiting for the decision. I would say you are very lucky! If you are wondering how long does it take fore the immigrant visa interview being scheduled, you should try to find groups/forums for Georgian locals discussing it. U.S. does not disclose such information. Good luck!

Hey, So I've had a similar experience. I am the U.S. citizen and my husband is a citizen of Russia. He had his interview back in April and was asked to provide some of my originals and a document he could not possibly obtained (without putting himself in danger by returning to Russia and us going broke by him flying all over the globe again). I've sent my originals by DHL, which was twice cheaper and twice faster than FedEx. He brought documents along with his passport to the Embassy in person and dropped them off on May 1st. I believe his case is stuck in the administrative processing now, but it just says "Refused". So my hubby is stuck in Israel with the expired tourist visa, unable to extend it, because the U.S. embassy kept his passport. At least the bombing from Gaza has stopped. You should be able to mail your originals to the embassy, the directions are at the same website where you schedule your visa interview appointment. Hopefully it goes well for you!