US talent visa from Uzbekistan: O-1, EB-1A, consulates

The typical path

1. 1

   Petition with USCIS: O-1 (I-129, through a petitioner or agent) or EB-1A (I-140, self-petition allowed). The approval is roughly half of the journey.

2. 2

   The form: DS-160 for O-1 (nonimmigrant, MRV fee and booking via ustraveldocs) or DS-260 for EB-1A (immigrant, in CEAC after the NVC fee, one per family member).

   DS-260 guide Paying the visa fees Consular process

3. 3

   Booking in Tashkent; if slots are short, Almaty or Astana as a TCN.

4. 4

   Medical with a panel physician, the interview; a 221(g) or administrative processing is possible.

   Administrative processing Consular process

5. 5

   Visa issuance, entry and an online check of the I-94; for EB-1A the USCIS Immigrant Fee is paid separately and the green card arrives by mail at a US address.

Where applicants from Uzbekistan interview

Interviews of applicants from Uzbekistan

Anonymized reports by community members from public chats: month, visa, outcome, officer questions. Personal experience, not a rule and not legal advice.

Based on: 105 anonymised community interview reports · Jan 2023 - Aug 2026 · all consulates

9reports

56%with 221(g)

120median wait, days

Jun 2026latest report

• Jun 2026TashkentEB-1221(g)

  The applicant started the immigration process in 2020 and recently received a green card. The interview took place in Tashkent, where they received a 221g and were placed under administrative processing.

• May 2026TashkentO-1refused

  The applicant received a 214(b) refusal at the interview in Tashkent, despite having an approved O-1A petition. The consul cited immigration intent.

• Apr 2026Tashkentother visa221(g)

  The applicant wrote to the consulate in Tashkent and received a response about an administrative check. He requested the return of his passport but did not receive a response to his second letter.

• Oct 2025TashkentEB-1approvedslot: 126 d

  The applicant received their passport with the visa after the petition approval and interview. The process took 126 days from document submission to the interview. During the interview, the consul asked questions about their career and plans.

• Mar 2025Tashkentother visa221(g)slot: 7 d

  The applicant attended an interview at the consulate in Tashkent. The visa was refused pending administrative processing. He sent additional documents but has not heard anything since.

• Dec 2024TashkentEB-1221(g)

  The applicant attended an interview in Tashkent for an EB-1A visa. The interview ended with administrative processing. The officer asked questions about professional activities and education. The applicant was polite, but the timeline for a decision is unknown due to upcoming holidays.

• Nov 2024TashkentO-3TCNapprovedslot: 120 d

  The applicant had an interview in Tashkent. The interview was scheduled after changing the location from Warsaw. Questions were about studies. The visa was approved.

• Aug 2024TashkentO-1refused

  The applicant was refused the O-1 visa in Tashkent. During the interview, two questions were asked, and documents were not checked.

• Jan 2024TashkentEB-1221(g)

  The applicant had an interview in Tashkent for an EB-1 visa. After the interview, they have been in administrative processing for 10 months.

Community questions on the consular stage →

Official numbers: visas and I-140 petitions

Documents and translations

Documents in Uzbek and Russian are filed with an English translation; USCIS does not require a certified translator, but do not certify your own translation, and machine translation must be proofread. No apostille is needed for a degree evaluation, evaluators work with copies from a plain translation. Police certificates are needed from Uzbekistan and from every country where you lived longer than the threshold; order them when you are about to submit documents to the NVC.

• Translate articles in full or just the abstract?
• Translator certification: every page or once?
• Can I translate my own documents?

Salary comparison

The high-salary criterion is benchmarked against the market of the country where you actually worked and paid taxes, for your occupation, not against US salaries. If you worked in Uzbekistan, compare against the Uzbekistani market for your role; for remote work for a foreign company the community advises comparing against the local market anyway. The community advises combining several sources at once: official statistics, a paid certificate from a major job site with a salary-level breakdown, open international salary reviews by country and profession, and showing the top of the range, not only the average. In members experience officers dispute the comparison method more often than the number.

Which route for applicants from Uzbekistan

Community questions

• How long to DQ and interview after the NVC?The community benchmark: allow at least 6-8 weeks for DQ, then about 6 more weeks until the interview date - but the spread between consulates is huge. In Abu Dhabi people waited about 8 months from DQ to the appointment letter (the interview itself is set a month or six weeks ahead), Poland is quoted at 8-9 months or more, while Almaty schedules quickly. Getting a Schengen visa in advance is pointless - it is issued exactly for the trip dates, and the medical exam may add an 8-week sputum test.
• Can I translate my own documents?Machine translation with careful proofreading is common practice, but do not certify your own translation - another person signs the certification. The community warns that petitions are screened for AI-generated text and sloppy translations invite challenges, so proofreading is mandatory.
• Is an apostille needed for a degree evaluation?No apostille is needed for an evaluation: such requirements are long gone, evaluators work with copies, some with electronic ones, and members who dealt with US agencies never met an apostille requirement anywhere. A foreign degree cannot be used directly in the US; what you need is the evaluation, done from a plain translation. For WES the tip is to first ask your university which evaluator it already works with: many universities have a WES arrangement and the sending problem solves itself; otherwise follow the WES instructions. Do not send originals, and WES correspondence can be slow - one member spent six weeks explaining that two similar-looking forms were two different diplomas.
• Which countries' police certificates are needed?Certificates are needed from your country of residence, your country of citizenship and every country where you lived longer than a threshold - members cite both 6 and 12 months - plus anywhere you were arrested. Russian certificates have no statutory validity; the receiving body decides: the community reports 6 months (embassy support in Poland), one year (consulate website) and 24 months (Warsaw embassy website). The practical takeaway is to order the certificate when you are about to submit documents to the NVC, not in advance.
• Foreign-company salary: which country do I compare against?You compare your income against the market of the country where you actually worked and paid taxes, for your occupation. If a foreign company pays you remotely, the community advises comparing against the local market for the role, backed by several statistics sources. Officers usually dispute the comparison method, not the number.
• Translate articles in full or just the abstract?The strict approach: the translation must fully match the original, so both the original and a complete certified translation go in. In practice, for long papers some applicants translate only the abstract and publication data - a risk trade-off each person accepts for themselves.
• Do USCIS or consulates call recommenders?It happens, though not often: the community has seen consulates call recommenders after the interview, sometimes in Russian. Warn your recommender that a call may come. A separate risk: a letter in flawless English from someone who cannot speak it looks odd if a call happens.
• Translator certification: every page or once?USCIS does not require a certified translator - any competent person can certify a translation. Community practice: the certification goes once per complete translated document (usually the last page), not on every sheet; if it sits on a separate page, it names the document. A translator's diploma is attached as a bonus.
• Do I need a credential evaluation, and which service?It depends on the track: for EB-2 NIW education is part of the requirements and an evaluation via a recognized NACES/AICE service is near-mandatory; for EB-1A the diploma is often not filed at all. Five-year specialist degrees from the CIS are frequently evaluated as a master's. For WES specifically, your university must cooperate with them.
• Can I file two petitions in parallel?Yes: for example EB-1A and EB-2 NIW at once - each is adjudicated separately, and a denial of one does not automatically sink the other. Officers can see both, so the facts must not contradict each other. The community uses parallel filing as insurance when time costs more than the fees.

Approval stories

• O-1 approval for an inclusion specialist: visa in TashkentO-1 - O-1 for a educator / instructional: consular processing abroad; with a lawyer; RFE received; interview in Tashkent; criteria: memberships, original contribution; shared in 2023.

From community practice

• Support letters are stronger when written by independent experts familiar with your work who cite concrete results rather than general praise.

• Field chats advise gathering evidence for a specific criterion from the start, rather than bolting it onto the petition at the last moment.

• The community reminds that the same piece of evidence cannot be counted under several criteria at once - the officer expects separate evidence for each.

Distilled from public community chats - observations, not legal advice.

From community discussions

• «I know people with EB2-NIW experience - it's a similar category but easier to get than EB1. And if you're not Chinese or Indian, there are almost no downsides.»

  community member · from public community chats

• «The first time I filed with premium and got denied. We refiled the case without premium and got approved in about 2 weeks. No RFE.»

  community member · from public community chats

• «Formally, the consul's job is to physically verify that you're a sane person, that the biography in the petition really is yours, and that you're telling the State Department the truth.»

  community member · from public community chats

Personal opinions of community members from public discussions, not legal advice.

Glossary

Frequently asked questions

Can I interview in another country as a third-country national (TCN)?

Many nonimmigrant visas (including O-1) can be applied for as a TCN, but booking and slot availability depend on the post and current policy. For immigrant visas (EB-1) the interview is assigned by default to the country of permanent residence; a move to another post is requested in writing through the NVC. Always verify on ustraveldocs and travel.state.gov.

Do I need Kazakhstan residency to interview in Almaty?

For many nonimmigrant categories residency is not required, but TCN rules and slot availability depend on the post and can change. Verify on the Kazakhstan ustraveldocs.

How do I pay the NVC fees without a US bank card?

In the community experience only a US card or a US bank account (ACH) goes through CEAC; the DS-260 does not open until the payment clears. The usual workaround is to ask someone with a US account to pay for you and reimburse them. The MRV consular fee is paid separately per your embassy instructions.

Other countries

• KazakhstanAlmaty
• UkraineKyiv
• Belarusvia third countries
• GeorgiaTbilisi
• ArmeniaYerevan
• KyrgyzstanBishkek
• SerbiaBelgrade
• Russiavia third countries
• Moldovavia third countries