Everything is quite well organized! Yes, there is a small queue at the entrance. In winter, you need to dress according to the weather! Employees everywhere help, explain and support! Well, the decision to approve a visa depends only on you. Be as polite, honest and calm as possible, and everything will be fine! A visa is not always issued the day after approval. Set aside 3-5 days and come for your passport only after receiving a letter that it is ready to be issued!
The embassy has three entrances from different streets. The open area in front of the embassy entrance is very windy and cold in winter. There is no clock in front of the entrance and without a phone you don't know if you are late or arrived on time. Although the queue is not large, 15-20 people, total, but 10 minutes of standing in an open area led my grandson to catch a cold. Very contradictory information is given about the possibility of taking or not taking phones. They came in with phones and handed them over to the storage room in the guardhouse at the entrance. I had to empty everything out of my pockets and put it in a cell with open cells. Entrance to the embassy for an interview withTauelsizdik, not Koshkarbayeva. However, the website of the US Embassy indicated on the phone in Astana their location on an unknown street "23-22", where the embassy is allegedly located. The security at the entrance is Russian-speaking, as are the employees who contact you directly. The interviewers, it seemed to me, are Russian-speaking Americans (three windows No.1-3). I think they're not happy about working in this place. The faces are sad. The guardhouse is located 10-15 meters away from the building where the interview is conducted in the open air. In the room where the interview is being conducted, there are hangers from the student's past without numbers, it's good that at least there are hangers. There are plenty of clothes, like on the shelves in a Sports store or on the market. In an interview, I found it very strange that I did not intend to return to Russia from the United States. They asked: the goal? - tourism, do relatives in the United States have a green card or citizenship? - No, where does the grandson study? - college, my place of work? - University teacher, marital status? - divorced, where did you travel?- in Russia. Aren't studies and work a priority? Apparently, in the USA, studying is free, you can work in tourism, and there are plenty of them. Divorce - within 10 days of staying in the USA apparently means the opportunity to get married. According to the interviewer, it was possible to travel even with the COVID epidemic.Then why did they close the embassy in Russia at the beginning of the epidemic and did not allow me to be interviewed on the first day of the epidemic announcement? Fantasy. Is social media proof of your travels? Are they posting everything on social media? and privacy? Minors, I believe, can be interviewed without parents and without accompanying persons. At least they did not require the appearance of the grandson's parents and documents about it. We'll take that into account. Kakhakhstan should be grateful to the United States for the opportunity to conduct interviews for Russians in Astana. A lot of people come and go for interviews, rent a house, spend money in shops and catering. Banks do not accept Russian bank cards. Cash guarantees the exchange of rubles for tenge. The exchange rate for February 6 is 1P - 5.19 tenge. Public transport is cashless only - the driver does not sell tickets, Everything is done using a QR code (you give money to a local, he pays for you, you take a picture of the QR code from the payer's phone). There are checks on the route about the payment of the fare.
I came from Russia to get a visa. They gave me a visa! Hooray hooray hooray! But besides that, I would like to mention the very friendly attitude of the employees! Very warmly welcomed and even more warmly congratulated on obtaining a visa! She came out with a smile from ear to ear and a visa in her passport.