How to get an American visa in Russia without an interview

Last year, the US consulates in the Russian Federation significantly reduced the number of diplomats and even temporarily stopped issuing visas to Russians. Then they started again, but with huge queues for months ahead and the hassle of travelers. At the same time, I ended my three-year American visa, and how to renew it under such conditions is unclear.

I must say right away that we were warned about difficulties, but just yesterday I received a fresh visa - everything is very simple! So I share the recipe and prepare a new journey.

The embassy itself advises doing this in other countries, for example, Ukraine, Georgia or Latvia, and I was ready to fly to Kiev or Riga, but in time I found out that everything starts there from scratch and you need to re-collect documents, record and go through an interview. If you already had a state visa, you can submit documents without an interview and not even go to the embassy within 11 months from the date of its completion. I’ll talk about such a case below, so if you apply for a visa for the first time or if your old one expired a year ago or earlier, you have to fly to your neighbors or wait for the line for an interview, in Moscow it is now over 100 days.

Those who have already received a new visa through dropbox earlier may not read my instructions, it is no different (except that now you can choose any consulate in a country where there is less queue - Peter, Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok). True, at the end of last year, dropbox also did not work due to a failure in the system, but now everything has been repaired.

So, the simple rules are:

First. An important condition is the question of re-obtaining a visa without an interview. If no more than 11 months have passed since the previous one expired, you can apply without an interview.

Second. You can submit documents to any consulate, while being anywhere in the country: Pony Express courier service accepts, sends and returns documents, they have offices in dozens of cities, I personally gave and collected my passport in Moscow, sent it to Yekaterinburg, and the application form filled in general for the consulate in St. Petersburg. It does not matter.

And now the steps that need to be done:

1. Re-fill the form DS-160. This is the longest questionnaire where you need to remember all past trips over the past five years, places of work, dates of birth of relatives and honestly answer whether you are a member of the Yakuza gang. You can do it here.

After filling out the form, you will receive a confirmation. Do not lose it, it is better to immediately save it to your computer desktop.

2. Pay the visa fee. Now it is 10 thousand rubles. A tourist / business visa B1 / B2 is always given for three years, it is multiple. Payment information is here.

3. Sign up for the submission of documents to the Pony Express - here.

- choose the city where your passport will go. I advise Eburg or Vladivostok, it will be faster there than in Moscow and St. Petersburg

- choose a visa category: submitting documents without an interview through the Pony Express office

- select the type of visa (B1 / B2), answer a small questionnaire, then find the nearest courier service office and select it.

4. On the appointed day, go to Pony Express with the following set of documents:

- Original passport

In fact, that’s all. You can bring nothing more, in theory you should get a visa anyway, but in exceptional cases they may request additional information, and then you will have to go for an interview. To reduce the risk, I advise you to take with you and forward to the embassy:

- Copies of previous visas (if they are in a different passport)

- A color photo suitable for the requirements (even if you uploaded a scan of the photo when filling out the questionnaire!). I was offered to make a paper photo in the visa center (for 250 rubles), and I agreed, despite the uploaded photo online, in the end it was used in the visa.

- A certificate from the place of work, an extract from the bank, copies of documents on the right of ownership of transport and real estate (to show my worth and "connection with the Motherland") - I did not provide these papers, but in some cases they are needed.

5. Wait! Do not forget from time to time to check the status of visa readiness here.

If you see the inscription ISSUED - start to rejoice, a new visa is glued into your passport, and he is on his way!

Yes, I’m also enraged that everything needs to be done on four different sites, but you’ll also need the fifth one, the page of Pony himself, where you need to track where the documents are now: at the consulate, on the road, or you can come for your passport.

6. Come to the courier service and pick up your passport. Check for a visa, the correctness of the data indicated in it and the validity period.

7. Be proud of yourself and enjoy the result. Everything took me exactly two weeks, from the moment of filling out the application until the visa was received. Given that my passport flew to the Urals and came back, it’s fast.