ONA

In Ukraine you can spend up to 90 days without the visa.

Does that put you up on higher ground?

No, it doesn't and I didn't say that it did.

Maybe you used that J Visa to best advantage...or not.

I already mentioned here before what I got this J-1 visa for... I always wanted to travel... I always wanted to go to Britain (to Manchester), than to Spain, I still do - I'm a huge soccer fan. getting a British visa is tough - you need to travel somewhere else for that, going to the USA was the easiest thing. then I met my husband and I kept coming here for the summer to see him, so it pretty much screwed my traveling plans Oh, well, hopefully, we'll be able to travel together in a couple of years.

But I see your husband still did his pilgrimage to Russia like the rest of us.

If he didn't, I wouldn't have come here again. He never had a problem with women here, so it meant a lot for me that he went all the way across the world for ME

No one knows intentions. We're are all just putting out our stories...abridged, edited, embellished, twisted and spray painted. But good for you that you can be so legitimate and clean and separate from us scoundrels and peasants.

I didn't say any of that, nor did I edit our story.

I proudly own my station in this Russian MOB milieu...I'm a full-on fat, bald, horny, old guy who pathetically lusts after Russian women through the lowly mail order bride business. Too bad I can't put in "rich" to that list. Maybe that's why things went bad?

My husband is a handsome, fit, 25-year-old guy. When we just started dating I had to fight over him with his American ex-girlfriend. OMG, she is hot.... To be honest, she is hotter than me. She did my hair for the wedding

My husband is not rich, but he is doing very good for his age. I'm definitely proud of him.

Being rich or not rich is not critical... What really counts is the certain personal qualities, that might make you more or less successful.

You complain a lot though, VV. Too much.

Financial documents from the petitioner – a US citizen: please note, that Affidavit of Support (form I-134) is not required, but may be requested. Please submit financial documents to show that the applicant will not become a public charge in the United States. Such documents may include, but are not limited to:

Most recent year tax returns (form 1040) or tax transcripts from IRS

Copy of bank account

Earnings and leave statement

W-2 forms

Letter from employer

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/fiancee.html

It's better to submit I-134, they actually seem to always ask for it.

Income requirements are the same as for any other country (I believe, you can look it up on USCIS web site).

What I really would be worried about is providing for your fiancee after she gets to the USA and about having enough money to file for AOS. My husband makes way above poverty line - we're not struggling, but we're unable to do everything we want - at least before I get a job (be prepared to provide for your fiancee until she gets her GC or at least EAD).

We dated for 3 months, then spent 2 weeks in Russia, lived together for 2 months in the US, 2 more weeks in Russia, lived together in the US again - for 3 months this time, 2 more weeks in Russia - and then I came to the USA on a K-1 visa and we got married.

No, I was not willing to move to the States, I made my husband to wait for me for 3 years. In fact, it messed up all my plans.

No, we were not looking for a relationship - we met in the USA, when I was here on a J-1 visa. the rest is our history

So it's unrealistic to think they would issue it on the same day?

In Moscow - yes.

maybe she thinks her phone is tapped....

meh... who cares... Navalny only spent 15 days in prison and took part in the rallies afterwards.

eekee is right - a lot of retired people tend to like Putin. Young/middle-aged people - not so much.

I don't think one person's experience can be taken as evidence. I'd look and see why you ended up with women with such negative personality traits and unhealthy attitudes toward relationships in the first place. As the saying goes, water seeks its own level. Something about you attracts and is attracted to these kinds of women.

I've been thinking that for a while. And the more VV's posts I read the more confused I become... It's like his wife is pure evil, but if you think about that - we only hear one side. Maybe his wife is complaining about American men all over Russian forums...

No offense, VV, I just believe that if there is a conflict - both sides are to blame.

But you can say the same thing in Russian; you just wouldn't use ебать or a derivative form every time.

There might be even more options in Russian...

I used to have a big Russian-English dictionary of swear words on my computer back in Russia. I even learned some Russian words I hadn't known before

My husband was so proud when I taught him how to say "b*tch" in Russian - he was telling everybody: "I know how to say "b*tch" in 3 languages!" (English, Spanish, Russian). I don't usually teach him that stuff... Also my friends taught him a bunch of Russian swear words

THEN (and this is where I get to you, ONA) Pasha takes me aside and says, "Y'know that is a Donetsk region slang word for clothes hanger, if you said that in Kiev or Moscow no one would know what your are talking about anyway"

ALLA!!!!!! You are teaching me regional slang???????

SMR is right, the regular Russian word for "hanger" is veshalka. Sometimes it's called "plechiki" (from "plechi" - "shoulders"). I know what you're talking about "тремпель" is the word they use in Donetsk and Kharkov. I know a lot of Ukrainian slang words and they are actually widely used in my city too, because the region I'm from borders Ukraine.

So like un-blatting-believable! Is that what you mean by a link word?

Almost What I actually mean is that some people talk like "And then blat I told them blat to come over tomorrow blat".

I believe it is roughly equivilent to "#######",or "#######". Basically a dirty woman that just wants sex.

It is.

But when you're mad it's used as the "f-word". Slim's wife seems to be using it like a link-word, which is also possible

I believe that Russian mat is very strong. I once sent an article about Russian mat to my husband and it was written there "if English curse words are like beer, Russian mat is like vodka"

Don't forget T-Bone. He's like another RUB member to me, da man

Hello, Marina!

Are you the beneficiary?

Welcome to the RUB forum

The funny thing about Russian women...they're so beautiful and sexy (well, mostly) but looking at the mommas, they don't age well. What I see in older Russian women is what we Americans thought ALL Russian women looked like during the Cold War...the term was "bovine." Cow-like. Well, the mommas I've seen are bovine...large and ugly as sin. Even women in their mid fifties look like hell.

How can they look so good at 40 and so bad at 55? What a turnaround!

Theories?

Have you ever seen a picture of Kip's MIL? That can prove you wrong. And there are plenty of women like that in the FSU actually.

It depends on how you look at it. In my case I wanted my fiancee and her kids here ASAP. The significantly lower ticket price by buying well in advance, divided by the risk of not getting the visa as soon as expected, still figured out to be a wise 'gamble' compared to paying a much higher price to get tickets once the visa was in hand. And, in my case at least, it all worked out great! She had the visa only 4 or 5 days after the interview and that was in a city hundreds of miles from Moscow.

The delivery itself doesn't take that long - usually 1 day only, even if they have to deliver it to Vladivostok, but it takes them a while to print the visa. I had my interview on July 28, my visa was printed on Aug. 2 and was delivered to me on Aug. 3. As soon as I got the visa, I got my ticket - I flew to the States on Aug. 9 and the ticket cost wasn't that much - it was about $900 - a pretty decent price for the summertime.

MIPT had a highly competitive selection process for UKRAINIAN students to attend. In fact he had to win a regional math competition to qualify to apply. Alla took him to Moscow several times during the period we were processing the visa for exams and interviews. He got accepted that summer before we got our visa so obviously after all that, he was not going to just leave and hope he could go back the next year. Maybe not so competitive for Russians, I do not know, but I think yes. Sergey could not get a scholarship for a bachelor's degree, we had to pay cash in advance, though it was very reasonably priced, I am not complaining about that. He did get one of very few scholarships for a master's offered to "foreign" students and he is actually registered as a citizen of Ukraine but a resident of the USA. That complicated things a bit but we had to do so to protect his green card.

And they do assign a GPA there but it is based on a 5.0 scale rather than 4.0.

They don't assign GPA in most schools in Russia. They only have an "honor" diploma (a red one) or a regular one (blue).

MIPT is a state university too. It's not as competitive as the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, but it is a pretty good school (as most State universities in Russia are). Private Universities and Institutes in Russia are bad places to study in. A State University is a place to go.

It should be possible to pick up the visa in Moscow...

It usually takes from 2-3 to 7 days anyway...

You should always remember that buying tickets before the interview might result not in saving money, but in losing money. You never know the interview result - there might be some documents missing, or you can get stuck in AP. I always say that you only should make plans like that in advance if you're ready to spend MORE money, than you originally planned.

Young punks

Alla insisted on BOILING the sheets when she first arrived. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"that is how my mother did it"

She got over it and uses the washing machine now.

What? People still did it in XX century? I thought it was old medieval stuff... I only saw it in some movies.

I should have prepared a speech!

I wash everything in the washing machine, dry everything in the dryer. I just divide the clothes by colour and fabric.

You do not get a paid scholarship at MIPT with a 3.5 average, it is true. You won't even get a scholarship at State U with that. You MAY get admitted.

You do get a scholarship in Russia if you was admitted to a STATE funded program (you should score well in admissions tests for that) and if you don't get any C's. That's it. You don't have to have strait A's. Plus in Russia the whole concept of a State University is different - State Universities are the best schools in the country like Moscow State University and many others.

I have no idea what my GPA is (we don't have GPAs in Russia), shouldn't be that high at all - about 3.3 or 3.4. My bad - I skipped classes to be able to work (it was impossible otherwise, because we usually had classes from 9.30-11 am to 5-7 pm - usual working hours). That was entirely my decision - high GPA and an honor diploma by itself doesn't mean anything, I chose a lower GPA + work experience.

Our grandson is almost three now. (and another is 6 months) He always has to show me what the "new" thing he can do is. "Let me guess, it involves running"

that makes me smile We have a little niece (my sister-in-law's baby), she'll be 2 in March. We all speak her language too: "boom-boom", "bad-bad!", "ugh you" (love you) etc. She says the whole sentences too, but there is no way I can understand that - toddler's English seems like a whole new language to me

I think this is a valid point... Most of my Russian friends are around my age and weren't even in school yet when the Soviet Union fell, grew up with the same movies and TV shows I did, etc. I don't see much difference in talking with them versus talking with my American friends, except that my Russian friends are less PC. And even if you're dealing with someone older who did grow up under the Soviet regime, if you have someone like Gary's Alla, who is well-educated, sophisticated, well-traveled, etc., I think that makes a huge difference.

travelling definitely makes anybody more open-minded. It's true about Americans too.

And yeah... I was 2 years old when USSR collapsed.

I think people, who grew up in 1980-s are different too. My parents finished school in 80-s, they differ a lot from my friends' parents, who went to school in 70-s.

Our case was transferred to CSC on Nov. 18, was received in CSC on Nov. 28 - I received notifications for both of those actions. I did my biometrics on Dec. 6, so it is possible that a case can be transferred before biometrics.

EAD approved on December 23! Yay!

I know what your saying. RUB people tend to speak a lot louder than we do in general. I thought the same thing at first...that they were arguing a lot until I found out later they just tend to speak loud, and use a lot of expression during a convo that we don't use.

Really? I always thought Americans were a lot louder than Russians. Actually I think that Americans are louder than most Europeans and Asians.

Who said we won?

Frankly, the world seemed better with one enemy...rather than dozens. The USSR kept the smaller rogue countries in check. These little countries figured we wouldn't nuke em...but the USSR was another story...better not test them. China remained second fiddle behind the Kremlin too.

I don't know... There are some enemies you created yourself... Like Afghanistan...

And now there is a huge China debt and everything is "made in China"... So the USA is sponsoring China, while China supports the regime in North Korea. That's kind of sad.