A U.S. visa for Russian nationals in 2026: which visas are issued, where do you get one, and what is realistic?

In one week of September three people wrote to us: a manager from Kazan asking how to “get a U.S. visa” - she wanted to visit her sister; a student from Novosibirsk - how to get into a master’s program; an engineer from St. Petersburg - how to move. All three were looking for “a U.S. visa for Russians,” and all three needed three different documents, issued in different places, waited for different lengths of time, and pointing in different directions. We walk all three roads - and the one the engineer did not know existed.

In brief

• The embassy in Moscow does not issue visas; since 6 September 2025 Russians without residence in another country receive nonimmigrant visas only in Astana and Warsaw, and immigrant visas in Warsaw.
• The B-1/B-2 visitor visa and the F-1 student visa are issued, but the interview queue for non-residents is months long; they do not lead to a move.
• What is realistic for a move is O-1, a work visa on a record of achievement, and the self-petitions for a green card, EB-1A and EB-2 NIW; H-1B from abroad is almost closed in 2026 by the lottery and a $100,000 payment.
• Consular processing in 2026 is unstable: two pauses on immigrant visas, a partial resumption from mid-September. USCIS decisions on petitions do not depend on the pauses.

Where do Russians get U.S. visas in 2026?

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow stopped issuing visas back in 2021, and since then Russians have travelled to third countries for them. Until autumn 2025 the choice was wide - from Belgrade to Bangkok; on 6 September 2025 the State Department fixed the rule: a Russian citizen without residence in another country is interviewed at only two consulates - Astana and Warsaw. Those who live legally in a third country go to the consulate where they live. Immigrant visas for Russians are processed in Warsaw; a transfer of the case to Almaty is possible on request through the National Visa Center.

The practical difference between the two windows is not the criteria but logistics and the queue. Astana needs no Schengen visa and is closer for the Urals and Siberia, but interview appointments for non-residents are stretched out, and slots appear irregularly. Warsaw requires entry into Poland, but for immigrant visas there is no alternative. The queue at both consulates for visitor visas is measured in months and changes every week; on approved work petitions the appointment is usually sooner, because the consulate is working a case that is already ready.

The place is settled. Now the document, because “a U.S. visa” is seven different visas.

Which U.S. visas are issued to Russians? A map for 2026

The table answers the manager from Kazan: she needs a B-2, a queue in Astana and Warsaw, and no illusions about “staying.” The student needs an F-1 and an I-20 from a school, and a move is a separate conversation after the diploma. The engineer needs none of the first five rows, and that is what follows.

The visitor visa: what has changed, and why is it not a path to a move?

B-1/B-2 remains the most common visa, and it is issued to Russians. The criteria are what they always were: the purpose of the trip, ties to home, finances. Three things have changed. The queue: non-residents of Astana and Warsaw wait months for an interview, and it is worth opening the appointment calendar as soon as the trip is even a thought. The review: since 2025 consulates look harder at the digital trail - for student visas open social media accounts have become a requirement, for the rest a practice; the form and the profiles must tell the same story. And refusals after the interview have become more frequent for people without clear ties to home.

Separately, the question in every second consultation: enter on a visitor visa and “stay.” A change of status inside the United States exists on paper, and for those whose ground appeared only after entry it is lawful. But an application filed soon after entry on a B-2 is tested by USCIS for preconceived intent - the so-called 90-day rule - and at the next interview the consul reads the whole history. Entry on a B-2 with a plan to stay is the most common way to damage an immigration record for years. If the aim is a move, the petition is filed in advance, from Russia, and entry is on an approved ground.

The student from Novosibirsk needs a separate caveat, because his road is longer than it looks.

The student visa: a road the length of a degree

An F-1 is issued for a specific school and a Form I-20; the consul checks funding and the intent to study. For Russians there are two hard spots. The first is paying tuition: transfers from Russia need an intermediary bank and time, and the consul waits for proof that the money will arrive. The second is open social media: since June 2025 applicants for F, M and J must open their accounts for review; a locked profile is a reason to defer the decision.

An F-1 leads to a move only indirectly: after the diploma, one to three years of OPT, then a move to work categories or a petition on achievement. A student who during the degree gathers publications, judging and talks has, by graduation, a base for an O-1 - and that is shorter than waiting for the H-1B lottery.

And here we come back to the engineer from St. Petersburg, because his case is the most common and the most underestimated.

Work visas: why does a Russian have two of them in 2026, not five?

The engineer wrote about “a work visa” and meant H-1B - that is how the intuition is built, because it is the one people talk about most. But H-1B in 2026 is almost closed for those outside the United States: the lottery is weighted by salary level, and since September 2025 a $100,000 payment applies to new petitions in consular processing - extended to 2027 and at the same time blocked by a court, which is to say uncertain a year ahead. L-1 needs a year of work at a company with a real office in the United States. E-2 is not open to a Russian passport - there is no treaty between the countries. A full account of every work visa for a Russian passport is in “A U.S. work visa for Russian nationals in 2026”.

One work visa is left with no lottery and no cap - O-1, for people with a record of achievement: three of eight criteria, a petitioner in the United States, an interview in Astana or Warsaw, up to three years with extensions. It is a nonimmigrant visa that allows dual intent, so a green card can be prepared in parallel. And one road the engineer did not count as a visa at all - the immigrant categories EB-1A and EB-2 NIW: the petition is filed by the applicant from any country, with no employer, and the result is not a visa but a green card. The engineer had published material about the product, judging at hackathons and a salary in the upper part of the market; two months later he filed EB-1A.

What changed in 2026 - and what does that mean for planning?

The year turned out to be the least stable for consular processing in a long time. In January the State Department paused immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries, including Russia; on 21 August a court held the pause unlawful. From 25 August interviews for immigrant visas were paused worldwide so officers could be retrained under the new public-charge rules; by mid-September appointments had resumed at some consulates, Warsaw among them. From 18 September a new public-charge policy applies to green card applications inside the United States. The green-card lottery has not opened for a second year. These pauses did not touch nonimmigrant visas - visitor, student, work.

The common denominator: what became unstable is consular processing, not USCIS decisions on petitions. Three rules of planning follow. Those who need a trip book the interview months ahead and prepare the story of ties to home. Those who need a move start with a petition, not a visa: O-1 or EB-1A is prepared from Russia, approved regardless of citizenship, and by the time of approval the consular route may look different from today. Those already in the United States in lawful status file inside the country through adjustment of status, without leaving for an interview.

How long do you wait, and what do you prepare? Timelines by visa type

The times in the table are from practice in 2025-2026, and they change faster than any article: we record the current changes in the chronicle. How the interview itself goes in Astana and Warsaw, and what the consul asks on different visas, is a separate piece, coming in the same section.

The three people from the first paragraph got three different answers. The manager booked an interview in Astana for January and gathered documents on work and family. The student is waiting for an I-20 and opened his social media. The engineer filed an EB-1A petition and is not travelling anywhere yet - his visa starts with a letter from USCIS, not with a queue at a consulate. If, like him, you are looking for “a U.S. visa” in order to move, not to travel, the right question sounds different: do you have grounds for an O-1, an EB-1A or an NIW. The answer in two minutes is in the quiz below.