For Russians and Belarusians, administrative processing for immigrant and student visas is practically guaranteed — at least at the Belgrade consulate that’s the situation for everyone from Russia/Belarus. I was stuck in AP for an F2 for six months; my husband went through F1 a bit earlier. A year+ for EB-1 for Russian citizens is not an exaggeration — I’ve seen cases of 1.5 years. The scenario with requests routed through the embassy in the country of citizenship looks realistic: with staffing cuts the chain between Washington and Moscow can break, and the case just stalls with no movement.
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