Moscow was a breeze!!!

[NavarreMan 10]

Thanks all for your invaluable information. Tanya picked up the visa's a few minutes ago at the DHL distribution center in Moscow and will be on the plane tomorrow arriving in Atlanta at 4:30PM!!!

I know that there is much more to come in the process but this seems like the end of a very long road and I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted. I have today to decompress before driving to Atlanta tomorrow.

[irish44 0]

I'm very happy for you both!!!

You probably won't be sleeping much tonight!

[NavarreMan 10]

Here is the best info I received on the DHL proceedures in Moscow: (Thanks Igor & Elina!)

Hi Bill,

There are only three ways to get your visa fast after the interview. One is to have DHL deliver to their central office in Moscow and pick up from there in person. Second is to have DHL deliver to your home address, but instead intercept it at their sorting office in Moscow. And the third way is to actually pick it up from the embassy, as far as I know, this one only works for special circumstance. Below is a quote from my earlier post on the subject.

There are two DHL offices in Moscow that you can get your packet from:

"Tverskoe"

125047, 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya str., 11

Telephone: 7-(495) 956-10-00/ 961-10-00

Mon-Fri: 08.00-24.00

Sat-Sun: 10.00-16.00

"Moskovskoe"

127083, 8 Marta str., 14, bld.,1

Telephone: 7-(495) 956-10-00/ 961-10-00

Mon-Fri: 08.00-21.00

Sat-Sun: 10.00-16.00

To get it from "Tverskoe" office you will need to address your airbill to them and then go and pick it up from there about 3 work days after the interview. You will be able to track online when they get it.

To get it from "Moskovskoe" office if a bit more tricky. This is the "intercept" version. "Moskovskoe" is their central distribution office in Moscow that all the packets get routed through. So, you address your airbill to any address you want, like your home, then you track it very often. Usually it will be picked up from the embassy on the second work day after the interview. That same evening it will arrive to the "Moskovskoe" office and if you time it right you can get there before they close and pick it up. If you miss it, it'll get sent to the address on the airbill that same night.

Yes, it is possible to pick it up from the embassy (Elina did it), but it can only be done in special circumstance and, again, only on the second work day after the interview. Elina had the interview expedited and under the same circumstance they've allowed her to pick it up directly from the embassy. We were on pins and needles though, cuz we weren't sure it would work.

The special circumstance in our case is that my, now wife, Elina is pregnant. If her interview were to be scheduled following normal timeframes, she would have been due to give birth at about the same time as the interview, thus we would have had to delay the interview for later and then file for the birth abroad and all the other mess related to this. So, after I've bugged the embassy about it and also had my senator and congressment bug them as well, the embassy agreed to expedite the interview and also allowed us to pick up the visa packet directly from the embassy, skipping the DHL.

Good luck with the interview! Or did she already have it?

--Igor

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Прекрасно!

NavarreMan da man! I will be sooo happy when I will be in your shoes.

Thanks all for your invaluable information. Tanya picked up the visa's a few minutes ago at the DHL distribution center in Moscow and will be on the plane tomorrow arriving in Atlanta at 4:30PM!!!

I know that there is much more to come in the process but this seems like the end of a very long road and I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted. I have today to decompress before driving to Atlanta tomorrow.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

This is the word for "Wonderful" and yours is "Excellent". Close... but a little different mindset.

Прекрасно!

Because it's my mission in life to drag every thread off-topic, I have to ask: Is this a synonym for отлично? Seems like I've run across it before, but my dictionary doesn't have it.

[irish44 0]

Прекрасно!

Because it's my mission in life to drag every thread off-topic, I have to ask: Is this a synonym for отлично? Seems like I've run across it before, but my dictionary doesn't have it.

Whether it is really correct or no.. my dictionary defines Прекрасно! as "It is Wonderful", and отлично as "It is Excellent".

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Yes, it helps!

This is the word for "Wonderful" and yours is "Excellent". Close... but a little different mindset.

I need to learn how to read a dictionary...found it.

Thanks!

[eekee 182]

With words that are so straight-up slavic these kind of wonderful/excellent distinctions are kind of superficial. It's much better to look at the roots: lichniy has to do with personal/unique/different, ot can mean either origin or completion but usually has a positive connotation. So something which is otlichniy separates itself from the pack in a very positive way. With prekrasno, pre means excessive and krasniy means beauty, so it's sort of like something which is just soo amazingly beautiful and wonderful. That's partly why russian/english translation is so difficult--slavic words are built upon building blocks that are so specific and meaningful and english doesn't really convey it fully. Like excellent doesn't really carry this notion of separation that otlichniy does.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

Good points Eekee! I try to look at the root too. It really helps. When I saw Navarreman's news. I thought wonderful, as in this is a beautiful thing and прекрасно came to mind. This is why I chose the word I did.

With words that are so straight-up slavic these kind of wonderful/excellent distinctions are kind of superficial. It's much better to look at the roots: lichniy has to do with personal/unique/different, ot can mean either origin or completion but usually has a positive connotation. So something which is otlichniy separates itself from the pack in a very positive way. With prekrasno, pre means excessive and krasniy means beauty, so it's sort of like something which is just soo amazingly beautiful and wonderful. That's partly why russian/english translation is so difficult--slavic words are built upon building blocks that are so specific and meaningful and english doesn't really convey it fully. Like excellent doesn't really carry this notion of separation that otlichniy does.

Edited April 7, 2008 by Kazan' Tiger

[NavarreMan 10]

Whatever the words are, tomorrow I hear them straight from her mouth. Yoose' guy's are way ahead of me in the Russian dept. LOL I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind words and support to get us to this stage.

For those of you that are interested, below is a link to the DHL page showing the times involved. May not be the same in every case but I would imagine that unless they have one of their numerous holidays, it should come pretty close to this. Keep in mind that the interview was on Thursday with delivery to DHL on Monday and delivery to Tanya via their office in Moscow on the same day.

DHL Moscow

[Bobalouie 0]

Whatever the words are, tomorrow I hear them straight from her mouth. Yoose' guy's are way ahead of me in the Russian dept. LOL I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind words and support to get us to this stage.

For those of you that are interested, below is a link to the DHL page showing the times involved. May not be the same in every case but I would imagine that unless they have one of their numerous holidays, it should come pretty close to this. Keep in mind that the interview was on Thursday with delivery to DHL on Monday and delivery to Tanya via their office in Moscow on the same day.

DHL Moscow

Our interview was the day before yours, and our visas went out on the same day at the same time! I think ours will be in Sochi probably on wednesday or thursday.

[NavarreMan 10]

Whatever the words are, tomorrow I hear them straight from her mouth. Yoose' guy's are way ahead of me in the Russian dept. LOL I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind words and support to get us to this stage.

For those of you that are interested, below is a link to the DHL page showing the times involved. May not be the same in every case but I would imagine that unless they have one of their numerous holidays, it should come pretty close to this. Keep in mind that the interview was on Thursday with delivery to DHL on Monday and delivery to Tanya via their office in Moscow on the same day.

DHL Moscow

Our interview was the day before yours, and our visas went out on the same day at the same time! I think ours will be in Sochi probably on wednesday or thursday.

I wish ya'll the very best. Glad to hear this phase of your journey is nearing an end.

[slim 1,534]

I wish ya'll the very best. Glad to hear this phase of your journey is nearing an end.

The real journey is just beginning!

[Kotenochek 0]

congratulations!Its the best time for you guys:))I kind of miss my first month here,but at the same time i am happy i been here a while now:)))

[slim 1,534]

congratulations!Its the best time for you guys:))I kind of miss my first month here,but at the same time i am happy i been here a while now:)))

I kind of miss my wife's first month here too. That's back when she was "blissfully unaware" of the every day hardships and the agony of the dull, daily life here in the U.S. That, and she was actually chasing me around the house instead of the other way around.