Skip to content

Can a Russian get a B1/B2 visa in 2026, and where?

Key answer

Yes: Russians do get B1/B2 visas, but the Moscow embassy holds no interviews - people apply in third countries as third-country nationals (Astana, Almaty, Warsaw, Belgrade, Yerevan, Jakarta). The chats report both instant approvals and months of administrative processing; Russians usually get a 3-year visa.

Community answers

The answers below are translated from the original Russian - the language of the community chats.

  • Outcomes vary wildly: a Belarusian acquaintance with an AI/ML profile "simply got" a B1/B2 with no check at all, while a member in Warsaw got a 3-year visa after a month and a half of processing. Nobody in the chats will predict the outcome by country of filing.

  • Refusals can hinge on the moment: one member was refused because the filing fell on the mobilisation; the family later applied for O-1 and went into processing together.

  • The interview takes minutes, but not always: a woman with a brand-new Armenian passport got a 10-year visa after a 40-minute conversation, which she credits to preparation and "an online life planned in advance".

The answers are anonymized community experience from the public chats, not legal advice. Officers may decide similar cases differently.

Sources

All questions on: Consulate and interviewAll questions on: General questions

Related on this site

Similar questions

A reference page built from community experience, not legal advice. Requirements and practice change - verify on uscis.gov.

Did this answer help?