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In 2021, by presidential decree, the representation of the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in Russia was reduced by more than 60%. As a result, getting to America has become much more difficult. The Internet is replete with conflicting information on the topic of obtaining an American visa. It is important to understand that any review written on forums or social networks is based on subjective experience and may not be applicable to everyone. We have compiled a detailed and up-to-date article based on the successful receipt of a US visa by our tourists.
Where to get a US visa
To obtain a US visa, citizens of the Russian Federation must personally contact the Consulate General for an interview and fingerprinting. At the moment, there are only three Consulates General in our country - in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Residents of St. Petersburg and the entire Northwestern District were the least fortunate - it turned out to be the only one that was closed after the expulsion of American diplomats from Russia, thus creating a lot of inconvenience. But this does not mean that obtaining a visa has become impossible.
Many people living in the Northwest region continue to successfully obtain both initial and repeat visas.
It’s just that now you have to go to another city to pick it up on your own. A visa can be issued in advance, without being tied to a specific trip; the standard duration of a visa is 3 years from the moment it is affixed to the passport. The main thing is to declare your intention to visit the USA and write in the application form an approximate route and travel dates. There are no official visa centers or agents who submit documents for you; visas are issued in one of these three cities if you choose to apply to the Russian Federation. When first obtaining a visa, each adult applicant must be personally present at the interview, so you will also not be able to apply for your spouse or brother. If you live in St. Petersburg or the region, then you need to register in other cities (or even countries).
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Unfortunately, the flow of people wishing to apply through the Moscow Consulate is so great that the registration slots fill up within minutes of opening. You shouldn’t count on easy and fast delivery through Moscow; it’s easier to choose another city. Good news for those who do not want to go on a voyage to the Urals or the Far East - obtaining a US visa is possible in absolutely any country where there is an American consulate, regardless of your citizenship. Of course, this alternative has its own characteristics, which we will consider below.
Issuance of visas at the US Consulate in St. Petersburg
Visa interviews are held directly at the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg, during which the issue of issuing a visa is decided. Life-changing interviews are conducted on weekdays, usually from 08:00 to 10:30. During official holidays and weekends established in the USA and Russia, the Consulate is closed. It is better to arrive for the interview in advance - in these circumstances, being late can worsen your chances. However, people are allowed into the building no earlier than 20 minutes before the start of the interview, so you shouldn’t arrive too early either. Then you have to get in line, wait a little - and soon you will be able to get inside.
Residents of the Northwestern Federal District most often contact the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg. However, the Americans do not have a clear division of services for the Russian population by federal districts. When applying for a US visa, the applicant’s residence permit is not checked, and any Russian citizen with any registration can apply to the US Consulate in St. Petersburg. Therefore, when choosing a place to apply for an American visa, you can safely be guided by considerations of your own convenience. Just think about where it will be easy for you to travel to for your US visa interview process.
According to official statistics, the US Consulate in St. Petersburg issues about forty thousand visas annually (as of August 2021), 70% of which are B1/B2 visas intended for travel for tourism purposes, by invitation as a guest or with business visit. Our company helps to obtain visas of these categories: detailed information can be found in the relevant sections of the site. Typically, obtaining a US visa does not take much time, but it is worth considering that currently the deadlines have been significantly increased. It is better to apply for a visa at the US Consulate in St. Petersburg or in other cities in advance!
How to apply for a visa abroad
US consulates are open in many European cities, and in some of them there are no queues at all. All EU citizens enjoy visa-free entry into America, so appointments for interviews may be open even in the coming days. The most affordable options for residents of St. Petersburg and surrounding areas are Helsinki, Prague, Krakow and Warsaw. If you have a Schengen visa, you can apply there, or there is an alternative to traveling to Tbilisi and Israel.
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You can combine the interview with a short vacation, and receive your passport with the coveted sticker delivered to your hotel. But do not rush to pack your things, anticipating that tomorrow you will find yourself at an interview with the consul. In some countries, the interview may take place in the local language or in English. You don't expect an American diplomat working in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to be fluent in Russian, do you? Soberly assess your chances of answering simple questions, because the success of the operation depends on your answers. Some Consulates provide a full-time translator free of charge; when choosing a country and city, be sure to clarify this point through feedback. When applying in a country other than your home country, the consul may have additional suspicions: what do you need so urgently in the USA that you are going to another country to get a sticker for your passport? Of course, there is nothing criminal about this, but be prepared to confidently and calmly explain the purpose of your visit, and Americans already know about the queue for registration. If you doubt your level of English language proficiency, do not have Schengen, or do not want to spend money on an expensive flight abroad, then it is better to choose Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok, having previously specified the terms for registration.
If you choose to file abroad, then you need to take into account the features and nuances of filing in each specific country, and we will look at some of them below.
Helsinki, Finland
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With the closure of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg, many residents of the North-West region prefer to move to Helsinki. Due to the proximity of Finland, the number of applicants has increased significantly, which also entailed an increase in the waiting period. Currently, appointment slots are not available until mid-summer, so those planning an immediate trip to the US may want to consider another city. One of the important advantages of applying in Helsinki is the opportunity to undergo an interview in Russian, as well as the proximity of the Consulate to the region. If the trip is not an emergency and you have time to wait, then you can safely apply in Finland. Of course, you need to sign up now, not in the summer. After filling out the application and paying the fee, you simply wait for the date of your interview.
Prague, Czech Republic
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If you don't have that much time and patience, you can get your US visa in just one week. To do this, you need to apply to the Consulate in Prague. Registration for an interview is carried out almost the next day, and the average waiting time for a passport (in case of successful completion of the interview) is 3 days. That is, if you passed the interview on Monday and your visa was approved, you can get your passport back on Wednesday. In case of refusal, the consul will immediately return your passport. It is important to note that all interviews take place strictly in the first half of the day from Monday to Thursday, so it is better to fly to Prague the day before application. In the Czech Republic, the interview can also be completed in Russian, which will need to be indicated when registering.
Warsaw Poland
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If you don’t have any time to wait for your passport, then traveling to Warsaw to get a US visa is the most acceptable option. The Consulate General in the Polish capital usually issues passports the next day after approval. The interview can also be completed in Russian. However, in Warsaw they treat applicants from Russia a little more strictly, carefully checking the application forms and the information that you provide at the interview. You will be asked many questions, including a list of countries visited.
Krakow, Poland
If you can’t get into any of the above-mentioned Consulates, and you need a US visa urgently, then Krakow is another option for citizens of the Russian Federation, here you can also undergo an interview in Russian and quickly receive your passport. One of the disadvantages of the supply is that it is not very convenient to get to the city from St. Petersburg, and indeed the entire North-Western District. Please also note that you can only receive your passport in the country of the interview; courier services do not accept such documents for sending them abroad - neither within the EU nor beyond its borders.
Visiting Fort Ross is a great trip goal. And patriotic feelings are in order and it’s clear why they are needed in the USA
Tbilisi, Georgia
Another great option for those who want to combine a vacation with obtaining a US visa is a trip to Tbilisi. The interview is also conducted in Russian. However, when applying at the Consulate General of the Georgian capital, it is very important that you have connections with the country. This could be a Georgian passport, work visa or residence permit. In all other cases, you will simply lose money and time.
Other options
There are also options to apply at the Consulates in Azerbaijan or Georgia. But, as a rule, it is often necessary to confirm the binding to these countries! Additionally, the waiting time for a passport in Azerbaijan can be quite long.
Not so long ago, there was an option to obtain an American visa in the Baltic countries. But at the moment there are no places in Tallinn, Vilnius, or Riga and there are no places in sight.
If you are not afraid of the prospect of passing an interview in English, then you can sign up at absolutely any Consulate, and combine applying for a visa with a business or tourist trip. Our compatriots receive visas in Milan, Rome, and Berlin. Thus, based on your plans, you can choose the best place for you to obtain a US visa, if the flight to Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok seems expensive or long to you!
American visa after refusal in St. Petersburg
Every US visa refusal can be fought. There are no hopeless situations. Unless the applicant directly told the visa officer that he plans to remain in the United States or has found an employer in America.
For each refusal, the visa officer leaves a comment, which only authorized consulate employees know about. The waiting period for a new interview varies for each applicant. It all depends on the reason for the refusal.
For example, an applicant for a US visa in St. Petersburg indicated work as a waiter and Egypt in the countries visited over the past five years. Correcting this legend will take at least six months. After all, the first thing a visa officer pays attention to is work and tourism history.
But it happens differently: the visa official did not believe that a salary of 60,000 rubles was enough for a trip to the USA. With such a questionnaire, you can go for an interview the very next day, and no changes are required. But for the new interview, prepare a bank statement showing the balance in the account.
In any case, a re-entry visa to the USA in St. Petersburg is possible only after reading the latest application form.
Benefits of obtaining a re-entry visa
If you already have a US visa, you can use the simplified document submission option. It is important that no more than 11 months have passed since the expiration of the previous visa.
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Repeated application is possible only in the country where the first visa was obtained. That is, having in your hands an old visa received in St. Petersburg, you can apply to Moscow, Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok according to a simplified procedure.
There are much more slots for signing up for re-submission than for the initial submission; you just need to pay the fee and remotely send your application for consideration. If the consul has no doubts or questions regarding you and your previous trips to the USA, then you will receive a visa without an interview or trips to other cities.
“I will spend a lot of money in Las Vegas” is an excellent explanation of why you need to go to the USA.
However, if you are invited to an interview, be prepared for the fact that you will definitely have to sign up again in the city where you sent the documents, and there may not be places for an appointment. The paid consular fee is valid for one year and cannot be “transferred” to other countries. The most common reasons for being invited for a second interview is an inexplicably long stay in America on old visas.
Consular fee for a US visa for Russians
All applicants who apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate must pay a visa application fee. It is paid only by the individual applicant and cannot be transferred to another person. The fee is required to be paid and is not refundable even if the visa is refused.
On the website, the amounts are indicated in dollars, but payment is made in ruble equivalent (by card or cash) at the exchange rate on the day of payment.
The applicant who has paid the fee must take into account that the receipt is valid for 12 months and can only be used during this period. If you apply for a visa more than a year later, a new payment will be required.
US Non-Immigrant Visa Fee:
- The following visas will cost $160: tourist and business visas, transit visas, for members of aircraft and ships, student visas, for media employees or visas for exchange programs.
- $190 for visas for trainees or relocation for temporary work, for employees who are transferred to work within the company in another branch, for athletes, cultural and artistic figures, for people with special knowledge or abilities, artists and cultural figures.
- $205 – visas for investors who work in the international market.
- $265 – for spouses or future spouses of legal US citizens, the so-called. bride's visa.
Applicants should note that there is a group of people who are exempt from paying the fee. Additional fees may apply depending on the situation. More information about fees can be found here.
How to “catch” a place to record
To schedule an interview at the Consulate General in Moscow, you must have remarkable patience. Slots open for the next couple of months and sell out almost instantly. No one knows on what day and at what time access to the new dates will open. The number of recording attempts from one account is limited and is 10 times per day. After the tenth attempt, the account is blocked until the next day. Of course, modern technologies are trying to alleviate the plight of the Russian tourist, so a service such as recording through a bot quickly appeared. Its main advantage is that you do not need to wait and catch free slots yourself, waste your time and nerves, the bot will do everything itself and offer the closest available date in a very short time. You can use this service yourself or through our office. Unfortunately, as of March 2021, using a bot is not very relevant - it is quickly blocked, making it impossible to record. However, you might want to think about this option if the consular fee expires in the coming days.
Preparing for an interview
When you are one of the lucky ones who managed to snag a free slot, it’s time to think about preparing for the interview. Correctly filling out the application form and competent behavior during the interview is a 99% guarantee of a successful outcome. The most important rule of every American, which they apply to all pitchers, is truthful and simple image.
Your answers to the interview must match the information written in your application form.
This applies not only to your work, but also to your upcoming trip. The American consul needs the simplest possible reason for visiting his country. The ideal image is a family traveler with a long history of working in one place. But do not rush to be upset if you do not meet the given criteria; the materials of each application form are considered individually. There are cases where two people applied together, but one was approved for a visa and the other was denied. Most often this concerns groups of friends, not married couples. The greatest attention is paid to your travel history; for this purpose, there is a special item in the application form that needs to be filled out in detail, indicating all the countries you have visited. The farther, more exotic and more expensive the country is from your place of residence, the better. For example, for residents of St. Petersburg, trips to Finland for one or two days will not be of decisive importance, but a trip to the UK, Ireland, as well as Australia, Canada, Japan and other countries of the Western world will be a more significant argument. This also has its pitfalls, since one of the most common reasons for refusal can be a long absence from the country of residence. Those who like to spend the winter in Thailand for 3 months, as well as those who spend all 90 days in a row in the Schengen zone, will have to prepare a convincing answer about what they have been doing in these countries for such a long time. The fact is that by applying for a tourist visa, you do not have the right to stay and work in America, even remotely. Of course, there are exceptions to every case, so it is important to justify all your answers to possible tricky questions. And there can be many of them.
Consulates General employ excellent psychologists trained to deny potential emigrants a tourist visa.
The United States loves travelers who travel with one goal - to spend as much money as possible for the benefit of their country's economy, and not those who want to wash dishes for $8 an hour.
Who else is not favored by the consuls, mercilessly giving refusals?
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Young and unmarried girls who went on a “package” tour to Turkey or Egypt a couple of times, and suddenly decided to see the lights of Manhattan. This is not discrimination, this is a clear directive for Americans to prevent the possibility of a massive flow of illegal immigrants into the country. Obviously, a girl could find herself a man by correspondence and give up everything in her country for the sake of the American dream. (This is why it is now necessary to show all your social networks directly when filling out the questionnaire. This data is carefully analyzed).
Potential refusal also faces those who have just changed jobs or graduated from university. Here you will need to prove what keeps you in your homeland and why you are going to return. Of course, the consul will not look at photographs of your cats and houses in the countryside with an apple orchard, because the interview lasts only a few minutes, and the basic decision is made at the level of the completed application form. The wisest behavior tactic when talking with the consul is to remain yourself and show that visiting the USA is not the goal of your life, and in the event of a possible refusal, you can easily change your vacation plans.
What documents to take with you to the Consulate
From what has been written above, it already becomes clear that in order to obtain a tourist visa to the USA, the best document to confirm your intentions is your passport with a bunch of stamps and visas. If you have old passports that contain “valuable”, from the consul’s point of view, seals from distant countries, grab them too. Also take a certificate from work, although they are rare, they are looked at. Basically, that's all. Yes, yes, this is the entire set of documents that it is recommended to bring with you in a standard case.
The consul is not interested in your airline tickets, hotel vouchers, cruises, etc. In general, it is better not to buy or book anything in advance until you have a visa!
And in no case should you try to push all this through the window, in this way you put pressure on the consul, which leads to a guaranteed refusal. Each applicant should carefully approach the set of documents brought, because there are other types of visas.
For F1 student visas, work visas and seafarer visas, documentation is required to show the validity of the request for this particular type of visa. Students present a special confirmation from an American university, received after enrollment, show the availability of funds for living (for the entire period of study), indicated by the university in this confirmation, as well as a reasonable justification for why they need this study. For example, obtaining a degree in your main profession looks convincing, but English courses for three weeks do not. A young bachelor continuing his studies in America will receive a student visa, but an adult who is radically changing his field of activity with sponsorship from his parents will not. It is necessary to take your own capabilities as seriously as possible, and not dream about the United States, hoping for a miracle.
What should I do if I urgently need to go to the USA?
Despite the difficulties with registration, the American Consulate provides the opportunity to apply for an urgent interview for compelling reasons. This is usually a medical emergency that can only be performed in the United States. A medical visa is included in the category of visas for non-immigrant purposes, and is the same as a tourist visa. It should be understood that “emergency medical intervention” does not mean plastic surgery, examinations and childbirth. In 2021, the US government promises to take action to reduce the number of maternity visas issued. The fact is that many families choose to give birth in the United States not for medical reasons, but because this way the child automatically receives American citizenship. When applying for an urgent interview for medical reasons, try to attach as many documents as possible confirming the possibility of providing this service only in America (special equipment, conclusion of a council of doctors, agreement with the clinic, confirmed diagnosis, etc.).
In addition, students, teachers, sailors, and crew members of sea vessels can apply for a US visa using an accelerated procedure. But we will talk about this separately.
What's the result?
After reading everything, it may seem that a US visa is issued only to a select few, but this is not so. The refusal rate for non-immigrant visas in the Russian Federation is just over 10%. This means that most applicants still receive approval. The main difficulty is signing up for the interview itself, however, if there are Consulates in neighboring countries where you can apply in the shortest possible time, this no longer seems impossible. It is also possible to obtain a visa in your country of residence by contacting the Consulates General in Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok. Every year the United States complicates the visa issuance procedure, so you should take the application seriously. Even the most minor errors, discrepancies with the application form and deception during the interview can lead to an entry ban for up to 10 years (which the consul will not inform you about in case of refusal).
In addition, you yourself will spend a lot of time figuring out where and how it is most convenient now to count on a successful interview. It will be much easier to do this with the help of a specialized visa agent.
Visas and business
According to government and business representatives, significant changes in the life of St. Petersburg will not occur after the closure of the Consulate General. Travel companies note that it was previously difficult to obtain an American visa at the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg due to long queues, so city residents turned to American missions in the Baltic countries and Finland.
“The closure will worsen the situation slightly. In fact, it [the situation] does not worsen it catastrophically, because this opportunity to obtain an initial tourist visa was practically non-existent anyway. You can get a visa at the American consulate of another country, respectively, our St. Petersburg residents prefer Riga, first of all, and Tallinn, secondly. People applying for an initial visa could no longer sign up [for an interview] because the queue was huge,” Pavel Rumyantsev, deputy director of the North-Western regional branch of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry (RST), told TASS.
US citizens living in St. Petersburg will also have to turn to other countries or Moscow. According to city authorities, there are about 1 thousand of them.
The Committee on External Relations of St. Petersburg admitted that the Consulate General actively supported the interests of American business, so the cessation of its work could result in a decrease in the level of business contacts, but this would also strike the interests of the United States. “Due to the fact that the diplomatic mission has actively supported the interests of American business in the city, it appears that for the American side the changes may affect business contacts,” the committee said.
According to the American Chamber of Commerce in St. Petersburg, about 40 American companies operate in the city. However, trade turnover between the United States and St. Petersburg in 2021, with the Consulate General operating, decreased significantly compared to 2021 - from $2.9 billion to $2.2 billion.
