Well, it's a done deal. She's here and we all survived. A few scrapes with the local authorities but WTF it's Russia. In a nutshell, the interview went well. Only a few minutes and a few questions(I posted a short review) . They did take the completed I-134 but paid little or no attention to the supporting documentation. The DHL arrangements for delivery of the Visa were made at the office about a block from the Embassy. The office is located on the ground floor in a small upscale shopping Mall that had some old Bentleys and Jags parked on the side near some resturant named the White Elephant, Pink Elephant or some s*&$. We arranged to pick the Visa package at the DHL office in Moscow center. They have later hours and it is easy to get to. The Visa was issued 2 days after the interview. The DHL fee was 973 rubles.

My fiancee was asked a few questions by the Russian passport control people as we left Russia and they paid very close attention to the K-2 Visa and Daughters documentation. We had about 300lbs of luggage and a carefully placed 1000 ruble note got the baggage on the flight to JFK without any hassle.

The entry into the states was a piece of cake. I went through the visitors line with my fiancee and the agent was overly helpful. All-in-all a very good experience. An experience none of us will ever forget. I am especially moved by some of the people I met and the places in Russia that I experienced. In 3 trips to Russia, I literally met all of my fiancees family and friends from Moscow to Vladivostok. Totally cool!

The one thing I would tell anyone who embarks on this endeavor would be to tell the truth about EVERYTHING to EVERYONE and that TOO MUCH documentation is NOT ENOUGH. And I would be remiss if I did not add that this site provided some very useful info.

Best of luck!! Have fun!!

Congratulations, glad to hear that everything went so well. Good luck to you both!

-Milena

I like good, easy stories like this! Congratulations!

Congratulations! And the hardest part is about to begin for you... Good luck!

Congrats !

Congratulations and best wishes!

That is impressive! What airline? Normally airlines allow 32kg (70lb) per bag (assuming you flew economy class), and two per person. You mention a K2 so I figure there was at least three of you. So that brings you up to 422lb for six bags. So in reality the bribe was unnecessary if your baggage was properly packed and the weight properly disbursed. Different story for Russian airlines flying within Russia which limit you to 20kg (44lb) total including hand baggage. And then start charging you something like 100 rubles per Kg over. Twice I have paid over 2000 rubles for what was normal baggage on an international flight and became excess baggage on a Russian flight inside of Russia. Of course I got billed at the check in counter which forced me to go to the cashier's office to pay up and return. Not sure exactly where to bribe in this position, becuse the checkin lady refuses to take the money. The Russian airlines must make a fortune on this, because that is a significant difference from many other airlines.

Delta allows 50lbs on all flights, max of 2 bags. So for 3, with evenly-distributed weight, 300lbs plus carry-ons is the most you could take for 3 people.

On a flight from Russia, you are actually getting a great deal from Delta or Aeroflot. They will allow 50lbs excess for $100! KLM charges EUR 30/kilo for a similar flight! 50lbs costs and airline much more than $2/lb for a flight that long. KLM would charge you $900 for a 50lb overweight bag.

The surcharge for weight depends on the airline. Depends on the flight too. Long Int'l flights (Amsterdam-Tokyo for example) will often have much higher surcharges, since the weight is much more expensive for the airline. Fuel cost per pound of cargo is much higher for longer flights. More of the useful load on the aircraft must be used for fuel, so there is less room for luggage. On short flights, this isn't a big deal - as the aircraft only carry enough fuel for the length of the flight plus reserve.

Most airplanes cannot carry a full cargo load and full fuel tanks. For smaller airlines, this is a big consideration. The Cessna 402's for instance fly with almost empty fuel tanks. It has a useful load of ~2,400lbs. With full fuel tanks, 900lbs is used for gas. The 1500lbs left over is not enough for 10 people and luggage.

All three don't really offer travel within Russia. Delta and KLM are definitely out beyond Moscow. And Aeroflot tends to only hit the biggest of cities. If you are trying to reach smaller cities with small airports you are forced onto smaller and local Russian airlines. There are more of them than you think. I have mentioned a few in the past. Siberia, Pulkov, Transaero, etc.
These guys, especially Siberia go out of their way to charge you for excess baggage beginning with an astonishing 20kg per person period. Regardless of amount of bags. And having the nerve to weigh carry on luggage to add to that total!

Although your logic makes sense, I have experienced quite the apposite. Small domestic Russian flights as well as within Europe and even within the US, allow much less baggage allowance per bag then long haul international flights. I am sure you are right about the price for excess baggage being more expensive on long haul flights, but the free weight is much more on them.

The flight was Aeroflot Moscow to JFK. The problem was the 2 bags that weighed over 70lbs. We had those and 2 others that weighed over 50lbs. And 2 carry-ons that were quite heavy + 2 backpacks with the breakable items. (We left the cat in Russia.) I do not know the method to the madness they use to charge for overweight luggage. I have had/have not had to pay from JFK to Moscow for bags that were excessive and have had to pay for flights w/i Russia. This time I we went to the Far East (Belogorsk) where my Fiancees parents live and on the return to Moscow had to pay 2100 rubles (Domodedovo Airlines). They also gave me some problems with my Migration Form, but after a short discussion with my Fiancee they let us go (no $$). I had registered in Moscow and the passport control people at Blogaveshensk airport tried to say I should have registered again in Belogorsk. The registration procedure also has a lot of disparity in its application.

The 1000 ruble payment was actually made after a discussion between my Fiancee and the woman at the check-in counter. After weighing all of our baggage, they had a few words and the $$ was slipped into a ticket folder and left on the counter. By the time we reached this point in our travel I was happy to see Moscow in the rearview mirror. We had quite the trip between her and the daughters trip from the east to Moscow and my trip from the US and our travels w/i Russia, and the pending trip and arrival in the US. It was a total of 50k miles and 14 time zones.

I have also traveled on US Airways to Western Europe several times and the limit was 70lbs but in the past few years that has been changed to 50lbs or 23kg. I think I paid $50 for excessive weight once on a flight from PHL to AMS. But was ultimately refunded this $$ after a call to the US Airways customer service people.

I really do appreciate the opportunistic spirit that the check-in/baggage people possess. It makes the trips amusing and challenging. I have also begun to find some humor with the passport control people. I was a little worried this time because my Fiancees friend had to pay the passport control agents to leave Kazakstan with her son. They knew she was imigrating to the US and really made it a miserable experience for her to leave.

Oh, you want to fly First Class? Look at the First Class section when you board and if it is not full, cut a deal with the flight attendant and your wine glass will never be empty ;-))

I would only expect this to get worse if Jackson-Vanik is lifted for Russia. The Kremlin wants it gone to join the WTO, but it is really the only thing preventing a return to a corrupt system of exit visas.

CONGRATULATIONS! I love the happy posts!

Great News

That is great news.
And about the "Too much information" you are correct, there is no such thing as too much evidence.
Wish you all the best with the next step.
Best wishes to you and your family
David

Hey there!

I have been wondering how things went. I logged on just to check on you.

Congratulations!

My Elena has her interview Aug 21st, so I hope things go just as well.

Congratulations

Thanks for sharing your happy ending with us----it's a great encouragement

Congrats, and good luck on your new Journey!