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| Moscow, Russia |  Review on August 20, 2017: |
Алекс и Эрин
Rating:  | Review Topic: General Review
I attended my husband and stepdaughters interview at the US embassy in Moscow on August 8th. Our interview was scheduled at 8AM, but we arrived about 30 minutes early. There was already a line of people outside waiting. We waited about another 5-10 minutes in this line until an officer at the gate started taking passports for about only 6-7 people at a time. He took the passports into a small security station kiosk and stayed inside for a minute or two before coming back out and handing everyone their passports back. He would then start on the next batch of people doing this same thing. It was fairly quick and we had no problems at this point. We then entered into the building where we were greeted by another woman. This woman was young, dark features/complexion and was not very polite. She looked almost like a civilian off of the street. She was wearing no official uniform, but casual every day clothes and held some kind of scanning device in her hand. She took my passport and kept looking at me and then at my husband, and then at the passport and back at me again with a mug on her face. She was asking questions in Russian and my husband kept saying in a calm, but firm manner that I was his wife, and was with both him and his daughter. She continued her attitude and my husband finally said in a more strict and affirmative voice everything he had been saying before. She continued to look at me and back at the passport, and back at my family and finally handed my passport back. Very rude young woman. It made me very nervous because I didn't want problems at this point. During this entire episode, I did not say or do anything. I simply stood and kept calm without making any faces or remarks. After this, we moved on to yet another woman who was much, much nicer and was again checking passports. In front of her she had a clipboard with a list of typed names on it. She checked off the names as she looked at each passport. When I handed my passport, she turned to the next page where a shorter list of names were. She checked off my name. After this she checked our bags/purses and directed us to another counter in this same area where we then handed our cellphones over. We were given a card that would be used later to retrieve these personal items.
We then walked through doors into a much bigger area. This area was spacious with mulitple windows and rooms. There were vending machines as well, and quite a few people walking around. We walked up to the first window where my husband handed over both his and my stepdaughers interview letters (P-4), as well as the DS-260 confirmation. The woman behind the window scanned the bar codes on these and we were given a ticket with a number on it. She told us to go upstairs to another waiting area. This waiting area was extremely small and had only two visible windows. On the wall was a display that flashed numbers. We were the only ones in this waiting area for quite a few minutes. Finally someone came to the window and this is when we handed over all the original civil documents and the IV confirmation delivery page. We were not asked to give copies or translations, although I did bring those just in case. We then sat back down and waited for our number to be called. We didn't wait very long until our number flashed on the display and the next room to go to. This room we entered was even smaller than the one we had just previously been in and it was also very narrow. There was a huge piece of glass seperating us from the officer. There were actually two officers. One was a young man with a pleasant smile and face sitting at the computer. The other was not too much older, but kept a very good poker face and he sat off to the side. During the entire interview this officer just simply watched. He observed. Nothing more. The officer sitting in front of us on the computer greeted us and confirmed our names. He then asked both my husband and stepdaughter to raise their right hands and take the oath. After this, he casually sat back in his chair as if we were old friends, crossed his hands over his lap and in English asked, "So, tell me a little bit about how you both met". There was a long and awkward pause. Mainly because when the officer asked this, he looked at both myself and my husband. I was extremely nervous and didn't know if I should be the one to answer or not. I also think my husband was processing what the officer just aksed, since he still does not speak or understand English very well, especially if it is spoken very fast. Finally my husband answered and he answered in Russian. He continued to speak Russian throughout the interview. The officer spoke Russian quite well, and had a slight American accent when speaking it. The officer then asked my husband why he thought it was a good idea to get married to me. After this he asked my stepdaughter if she was a student. He then turned to me and asked me a question in Russian. I told him "English please". He asked me how my husband and I communicate. He then asked me what I do for work and my position, and asked me what my company is/does. His final question to me was if I had any children.
After this the officer asked about my husbands medical and if he had done it. My husband said yes, but that further testing was needed. The officer asked if it would be about a month before the results were available, and my husband answered that he didn't think so. He told them that the medical would be available August 30th and the officer asked when he had done the medical exam. He told the officer July 19th. The officer just simply said, "ok". My husband asked after this if the visas had been approved and the officer replied "we don't know yet". My husband asked, "this is because of the medical"? Officer replied "yes". At the end of the interview the officer handed my husband back all original civil documents and kept both of the passports. Police certificate was also kept. No papers, futher documents, or instructions were given.
Overall the interview went very well, a little disappointed due to the pending of the medical exam of course, but all in all very good experience minus the woman at the entrance who was very impolite. That should not have happened and is the reason I give a 4 instead of a 5 rating. In a situation where people are already very tense and nervous, you should not have to encounter or deal with such unprofessional individuals. Everyone else including the officer were very good, efficient, and professional in their manner.
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #22367