Effective September 2025, the US State Department has changed the procedure for issuing non-immigrant visas. Interviews are now only permitted in the country of citizenship or legal residence. For Russian citizens, this means an end to the practice of “visa tourism,” when interviews were scheduled in third countries with available slots and shorter waiting times.
Formally, the rules for tourist (B1/B2), business and study visas remain the same, but in fact Russians have the opportunity to apply to US consulates only in those countries where they have residence. Purchasing such visas in Warsaw and Almaty without residence in Poland or Kazakhstan is not permitted. Already scheduled interviews without proof of local residence will be automatically cancelled. Consular fees, as before, are non-refundable.
Accordingly, Russians with residence in Mexico should contact the US consulate in Mexico — Now the only legal way to obtain such visas.
The main changes affected immigrant visas. From November 1, 2025, all interviews of Russians in family, work and lottery categories will be conducted exclusively at three US consulates — Warsaw (Poland), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). In particular, Tashkent is authorized to process IR-5 visas intended for parents of US citizens.
After the closure of consulates in Russia, applicants were no longer allowed to undergo interviews for visas within Russia. Case processing was moved to Warsaw, but EU entry restrictions caused travel difficulties. In 2023, the National Visa Center began distributing cases in addition to Almaty. Now Tashkent has been added to this list.