Insights

Articles and cases

Breakdowns of visa categories, USCIS criteria, and real cases — from the advocate who files the petitions.

A desk by a window: a closed passport, a laptop and a coffee cup

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

A U.S. work visa for Russian nationals in 2026: what exists and what is actually open?

The United States has seven work visas. For a Russian national in 2026, two are actually open — and they are not the two people think of first. We follow one engineer who started with the lottery and finished with a green card, spending a year and one mistake on the way. Current as of 20 September 2026.

All Articles Cases

Talent visa Green card EB-1A EB-2 NIW O-1 PR Process For citizens of Russia and the CIS Updates

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

A highland valley at dawn, stone terraces, soft light

October 21, 2026

A U.S. talent visa and green card for citizens of Armenia in 2026: how do you file from Yerevan, through the diaspora, and without relatives?

Citizens of Armenia have something no one else in the region has: a diaspora in the United States of half a million people. That is why the first question in a consultation is not “do I qualify,” but “is it not faster through relatives.” Usually it is not. Family-based immigration for siblings and adult children waits for years, and a talent visa takes months. We set out a citizen of Armenia’s path to EB-1A, NIW, and O-1 in 2026 - an interview at home in Yerevan, the pause that reached Armenians too, and a separate line for Russians living in Armenia. Current as of 21 October 2026.

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

An airport at early morning, a suitcase by a panoramic window, a person seen from behind

October 21, 2026

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

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has not issued visas for a fifth year, and since autumn 2025 a Russian national without residence in another country has two windows left into America - Astana and Warsaw. We set out which U.S. visas are issued to Russians in 2026, where and how long they take, and - the point - which one leads to a move and which only to a trip. Current as of 21 October 2026.

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

A modern business district of glass facades under a wide sky, morning light

October 10, 2026

A U.S. talent visa and green card for citizens of Kazakhstan in 2026: what changed in Astana and Almaty after the pause?

Citizens of Kazakhstan have the most convenient consular route of any country in the CIS: the embassy in Astana and the consulate in Almaty work in full, and cards and couriers work. That is why 2026 caught them off guard. Kazakhstan was on the list of 75 countries under the immigrant visa issuance pause, and in October EB-2 went into a queue. We set out what that means for EB-1A, NIW, and O-1 from Kazakhstan, and how a citizen of Kazakhstan’s route differs from a Russian’s route to the same Astana. Current as of 10 October 2026.

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

An old European street early in the morning, cobblestones, soft light

October 8, 2026

A U.S. talent visa and green card for citizens of Belarus in 2026: how do you file from Minsk, Warsaw, or Vilnius?

Half of the Belarusians who write to us are no longer in Belarus: Warsaw, Vilnius, Tbilisi, Batumi. The other half are in Minsk, and their questions are different: where the consulate is, whether a card works, how to send the documents. The answers for the two halves differ. The categories do not: EB-1A, NIW, and O-1 do not depend on citizenship. We set out a Belarusian citizen’s path to a talent visa and a green card in 2026, including the pause that in the spring applied to Belarusians in particular. Current as of 8 October 2026.

For citizens of Russia and the CIS

A thick courier envelope and a stack of documents on a desk by a window

September 24, 2026

How do you pay, ship, translate, and clear the consulate for an EB-1A filed from Russia in 2026?

USCIS reads a green-card petition the same way for a national of any country — but filing one from Russia in 2026 is harder than from anywhere else: the cards do not work, the couriers will not collect, the embassy is closed, and half the instructions online were written for people already in the United States. We walk through the logistics, step by step — from the first fee to the interview in Warsaw — and five sanctions myths that stop people at the door. Current as of 24 September 2026.