ONA

dump the lawyer

Before you assume it is better to ask and clarify what the status really is. I do not think OP thinks CO's are idiots nor is there any fraud in her post.

This thread makes me think about one thing...
Don't, please, don't think about your future/current spouse as a "Russian" or "American" man/woman. Remember that first of all they are another person, a human being who you care about.
Yes, there could be some cultural differences, but in reality it depends on the upbringing, the family in which they grew up, their age, and a lot of it depends on their personality, on whether they are ready and willing to adapt to change. And it's also possible that you may have more differences with somebody from your country.
Back when my husband and I had a long-distance relationship going on, he read a few articles online about "why you should marry a Russian woman". And then he said "all these articles talk about how quiet and caring Russian women are, how much they love housework like cooking and cleaning etc., so I was wondering how I found the only one who is just the opposite". I don't know maybe being half-Ukrainian has something to do with it (although I doubt it), but I am a very career-oriented, strong and stubborn person (Why he still lives with me - I don't know ). No, I don't iron all of our laundry (God forbid!) - in fact, I barely ever iron anything, and my husband cooks our dinner on most of the nights - he even learned how to make some Russian dishes. Not to mention that he likes "herring under fur-coat" way more than I do (to be completely honest, I cannot imagine how anyone can eat it).
So... stereotypes exist, but it doesn't mean that you should focus on them. Focus on the person you're about to marry instead.

Congrats recent approvals !!
Billlove, wow I don't know what to say... I hope everything is sorted out for you...!
Sorry to hear that... Updating Kevonlw's RFE...
California Service Center (27 applicants, 22 approved - 81%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved
REEPICHEEP............06/28/14......07/01/14......08/07/14......10/30/14
SHOOLI................07/02/14......07/07/14......08/01/14......10/29/14(RFE received 10/17, responded 10/22)
SUNNY123..............07/02/14......07/07/14......08/04/14......--/--/--(Rescheduled for a later date)
GB6435................07/02/14......07/07/14......08/02/14......11/05/14
JULIE B...............07/03/14......07/16/14......08/15/14......--/--/--(RFE received 10/25, responded 11/13)
MYMARRIAGEJOURNEY.....07/07/14......07/10/14......08/01/14......08/14/14(Early Bio 07/25/14)
TINA&KIERON...........07/07/14......07/09/14......08/06/14......10/21/14
LINDAC1990............07/07/14......07/08/14......08/05/14......10/10/14(Early Bio 07/30/14)
ASHWNZL...............07/10/14......07/16/14......08/15/14......10/22/14
JMD8800...............07/11/14......07/??/14......08/08/14......10/16/14(Needed to redo bio on 09/02 due to unreadable)
AVOKADO...............07/11/14......07/16/14......08/06/14......10/14/14
AMANDA & JUAN.........07/15/14......07/24/14......08/18/14......10/24/14
EL_RIDDO..............07/16/14......07/21/14......08/20/14......10/16/14
JARTA.................07/17/14......07/18/14......08/14/14......10/20/14
ABILA.................07/17/14......07/21/14......08/21/14......11/13/14
CANANNER..............07/18/14......07/21/14......--/--/14......--/--/--
AKIHON................07/21/14......07/22/14......08/22/14......11/05/14
GOATHERDER............07/21/14......07/22/14......08/20/14......11/04/14
BLENIL14..............07/22/14......07/24/14......08/21/14......10/23/14
RANDYN................07/22/14......07/24/14......08/19/14......10/22/14
KKK1234...............07/23/14......07/28/14......08/28/14......10/30/14
CHELSEA09.............07/23/14......07/24/14......08/20/14......10/23/14
JENNIFERJONES101......07/23/14......07/25/14......08/18/14......--/--/--
MARYAMM...............07/23/14......07/25/14......08/18/14......--/--/--
SHRANJAN84............07/23/14......07/25/14......08/22/14......10/21/14(Early Bio 08/12/14)
GRAYL.................07/25/13......08/02/14......08/28/14......11/07/14
LOVE BLOSSOM..........07/29/14......07/31/14......08/29/14......11/05/14(Early Bio 08/15/14)


Vermont Service Center (43 applicants, 20 approved - 47%)

VJName..............Date of I-751...NOA1 Date....Biometrics.....Approved
LORNEAVO..............06/28/14......07/01/14......--/--/14......--/--/15
DANTEINFE.............06/28/14......07/01/14......08/06/14......01/20/15
TOUCH OF TREBLE.......06/30/14......07/02/14......07/30/14......01/06/15
LEN TAYLOR............07/01/14......07/07/14......08/13/14......01/15/15
BILLLOVE..............07/01/14......07/08/14......08/05/14......01/17/15
OLE7..................07/02/14......07/07/14......08/05/14......--/--/15
OPERATOR..............07/03/14......07/07/14......08/13/14......01/12/15
ADRYAN................07/03/14......07/07/14......08/06/14......--/--/15
RECENTGUY.............07/05/14......07/09/14......08/05/14......01/22/15
LADYSARABI............07/07/14......07/09/14......08/13/14......01/26/15
MRS.JHH...............07/07/14......07/14/14......08/15/14......--/--/15
VIKY&DEL..............07/07/14......07/09/14......08/11/14......--/--/15
HUNDREDQUESTIONS......07/07/14......07/??/14......08/06/14......--/--/15
S_R...................07/08/14......07/11/14......08/08/14......11/20/14(Early Bio 08/01/14)
ME&MYLOVE.............07/08/14......07/11/14......08/05/14......01/07/15
STEBEA1...............07/08/14......07/10/14......08/14/14......--/--/15
KOHEI.................07/08/14......07/15/14......08/19/14......--/--/15
KEVONLW...............07/09/14......07/14/14......08/11/14......--/--/15(RFE received 02/04)
MTOTOMWAFRIKA.........07/10/14......07/18/14......08/05/14......--/--/15
BJMYRNAJOURNEY........07/11/14......07/--/14......--/--/14......--/--/15
PANKYELLUS............07/11/14......07/14/14......08/11/14......--/--/15
JUNIOR11..............07/14/14......07/18/14......08/22/14......12/17/14
ADRI & JASON..........07/15/14......07/21/14......08/18/14......--/--/15
BLAKE AND CHERRY......07/15/14......07/??/14......08/28/14......--/--/15
ANGELINA75............07/15/14......07/21/14......08/19/14......01/06/15
YASJUN................07/15/14......07/21/14......08/21/14......--/--/15(Early Bio 08/12/14)
RAMSEEKER.............07/16/14......07/21/14......08/19/14......01/29/15
USER22................07/16/14......07/21/14......08/20/14......01/16/15
FLORUJA...............07/17/14......07/21/14......--/--/14......--/--/15
TRIXS.................07/18/14......07/--/14......--/--/14......--/--/15
ONA...................07/18/14......07/21/14......08/22/14......--/--/15
IMWITHU...............07/21/14......07/--/14......08/20/14......01/08/15
HIGHHOPES.............07/21/14......07/23/14......08/21/14......01/06/15(Early Bio 08/13/14)
TRINIBOY03............07/22/14......07/29/14......08/29/14......01/14/15(Early Bio 08/21/14)
KALEIGHA..............07/22/14......07/24/14......08/22/14......--/--/15
JAMES & TARA..........07/22/14......07/25/14......08/25/14......01/23/15
PAULA_C...............07/23/14......07/28/14......08/28/14......--/--/15
YITO..................07/25/14......07/29/14......08/26/14......01/29/15
ERIC AND ANUM.........07/25/14......07/29/14......08/26/14......12/30/14
SEANDAKE..............07/25/14......07/29/14......08/26/14......01/20/15(Early Bio 08/18/14)
2001GRAD..............07/25/14......07/28/14......08/26/14......--/--/15
SQUASHGUY.............07/25/14......07/28/14......08/22/14......--/--/15
JENIFFERRICIO426......07/25/14......07/28/14......08/29/14......--/--/15


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Ask the same question of Russia, see what response you get.
You obviously didn't the article I linked to, or you wouldn't have made the opening statement of your post. The USS Vincennes was in active pursuit of hostile Iranian craft at the time of the incident. And, with a recent air attack on US Navy assets resulting in 35 fatalies fresh in his mind, the captain of the Vincennes made a judgement call. The world now knows it was wrong, but, in his circumstances, with the information he was given, would you have done anything different?
And ask yourself this. Who, in the Ukraine conflict, has already used SAMs, very successfully? Poorly trained? Only if their Russian instructors haven't done their job.
In addition, why would the Ukrainian government forces need to use a SAM? The rebels don't have any air assets to shoot down.

Just like any other government

Yes, but only if they are registered as permanent residents of another country at a local embassy. most people keep their Russian registration.
Neonred, you didn't even have to call anybody... ALL information you might have needed can be found on the website of the embassy. ALL OF IT. They also tell you what to do if both of your passports expired or you don't have your internal passport with you. How do I know? I looked it up a couple of weeks ago, because my travel passport expires in December. Luckily, my internal passport expires in 22 years, so I have nothing to worry about.
It's just like with the immigration process: read the guides.

The police and birth certfcates do have to be translated into English. The good news is that if your fiancee's English is good, she can do the translations herself - I did my own translations.

If your husband wants to study here the degree has to be evaluated regardless of whether the university is accredited or not... the same works for certain jobs (my degree is from one of the oldest and largest Russian universities, but I still had to go through an evaluation agency).
It was already mentioned that a Master's degree from a non-accredited university might become a Bachelor's in the USA. The good news is that work experience can be more valuable than formal education.

Where is this absence of personal freedom you speak of?
When my wife (from Russia) got here she was shocked how we had to petition the government for the right to do things like start a fire in the park for shashliki, get a permit to change our house around, get certified to work certain jobs. In Russia, people are FREE to do things like that without their government's permission.
I lived in a few countries in the Middle East and visited several others. What I saw there was normal, every day HIGH STANDARD of living similar to what we have here. Were there poor people? Sure. Do we know their regimes to be oppressive? Absolutely. But, the average person there is free to do stuff just like we are here and they can in Russia.
How many rules and regulations do they have? How many do we have?
The United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world. I didn't say "developed country" I said "country." For a culture that is so free we sure do have a lot of government involvement in our lives. From the moment we wake up in the morning (slept on a bed that has a warning label on it - CDC approved as hypoallergenic) and punch the alarm clock (cheap import inspected by government upon entry - regulated and inspected by FCC so as not to cause interference with other electronic devices) and walk to take a tinkle (in a porcelain pot that's water is regulated by the EPA so we don't use too much) and brush our teeth (with paste inspected by the FDA) ... and I'm already tired of typing and I've been up three minutes.
Our system is different. But it's no better or worse than anyone else's.
When was the last time a "regular person" won an election?
Our representatives very seldom represent us. A good measuring stick for that is the BILLIONS of dollars spent on campaigns each year. And then look at their salaries. The median household income in my state is $47,000. A state rep makes $60,000 per year.
The Obama campaign spent over 700 million dollars to win a job that pays $400,000 a year. Don't tell me our government isn't corrupt.

Yes, but only if they are registered as permanent residents of another country at a local embassy. most people keep their Russian registration.
Neonred, you didn't even have to call anybody... ALL information you might have needed can be found on the website of the embassy. ALL OF IT. They also tell you what to do if both of your passports expired or you don't have your internal passport with you. How do I know? I looked it up a couple of weeks ago, because my travel passport expires in December. Luckily, my internal passport expires in 22 years, so I have nothing to worry about.
It's just like with the immigration process: read the guides.

In reading a lot of threads, I noticed that there were a lot of questions that are related to state services. Since each state handles things like driver's licenses, certifications, etc. differently, one needs to check out their specific state to get the relevant info.
To assist with that, I've put together a spreadsheet listing information for the 50 states plus DC: http://bit.ly/IbtIHE
For now, I've only included links to the following: the state government site, info on driver's license/state identification, teacher certification, state bar association, and lists of the colleges and universities in each state. If there's other info that folks feel would be helpful to know -- at the state level -- feel free to make a suggestion and I'll do what I can.
Enjoy!

I started with the degree evaluation, and my degree transferred as a Bachelor's in Secondary Education and an M.A. in English Linguistics.
My EAD was approved in December (right before Christmas), I started looking for a job in January and in May I started working as an ESL teacher at a language center in Washington DC. Not bad for a non-native speaker of English
It's a part-time job, but I absolutely love it (plus the pay rate is really good).

I spent 3 months looking for a job, although some of my American friends looked at my resume and helped changing it... I had some interviews, but not many... Then I read an article online, which explained how a person could change their resume, so it would stand out. I actually changed it according to the format mentioned in the article and I started getting more and more calls back! I actually got a pretty decent job a month ago and I absolutely love it!
So, I did the following to my resume:
I listed my skills first;
Then I listed my work experience and instead of just listing the description of each position, I tried to mention my achievements at work and the contracts I worked on (i.e. I have some experience working as a freelance translator, so I mentioned which companies I worked with and what types of translations I did for them, then I have some content writing/translation experience, so I mentioned that some of my articles were chosen as the top story of the day/week etc.). I don't have a lot of work experience, so I listed my internships too (and it turned out to be very helpful).
And my education was the last thing I listed on my resume. If the first thing you mention on your resume is your education, HR managers might think that you are a recent graduate with no work experience.
Anyway, those little hints helped me. I hope they will help you too.

I spent 3 months looking for a job, although some of my American friends looked at my resume and helped changing it... I had some interviews, but not many... Then I read an article online, which explained how a person could change their resume, so it would stand out. I actually changed it according to the format mentioned in the article and I started getting more and more calls back! I actually got a pretty decent job a month ago and I absolutely love it!
So, I did the following to my resume:
I listed my skills first;
Then I listed my work experience and instead of just listing the description of each position, I tried to mention my achievements at work and the contracts I worked on (i.e. I have some experience working as a freelance translator, so I mentioned which companies I worked with and what types of translations I did for them, then I have some content writing/translation experience, so I mentioned that some of my articles were chosen as the top story of the day/week etc.). I don't have a lot of work experience, so I listed my internships too (and it turned out to be very helpful).
And my education was the last thing I listed on my resume. If the first thing you mention on your resume is your education, HR managers might think that you are a recent graduate with no work experience.
Anyway, those little hints helped me. I hope they will help you too.

Why?
one of our friends is a tattoo artist, and even he thinks that THAT MANY tattoos on a woman look kind of trashy...

This country and its getting offended at every other word is getting sickening...

At first I though, I wouldn't be able to come up with anything except for my husband.
But actually there are some things that I like...
I like how cheap clothing is here. Anything from discount stores to the most expensive stores sells clothes 2-3 times cheaper than the same type of stores in Russia. The same thing with cameras, laptops, cars...
I love some local food, seafood mostly. I am absolutely addicted to crab cakes
I also think that once the economy picks up, there will be more career opportunities for everybody than, maybe, anywhere in the world.

That sounds very funny to me, since I hear a lot of Russian women complaining about Russian men for the same reasons that you did not like American men.
That's exactly why I hate all kinds of generalization by national origin. While there are certain differences in mentality and mindset, it's completely different when it comes to who is more marriage material. There are decent Russian guys and there are decent American guys. And there are worthless guys anywhere as well.

That sounds very funny to me, since I hear a lot of Russian women complaining about Russian men for the same reasons that you did not like American men.
That's exactly why I hate all kinds of generalization by national origin. While there are certain differences in mentality and mindset, it's completely different when it comes to who is more marriage material. There are decent Russian guys and there are decent American guys. And there are worthless guys anywhere as well.

That sounds very funny to me, since I hear a lot of Russian women complaining about Russian men for the same reasons that you did not like American men.
That's exactly why I hate all kinds of generalization by national origin. While there are certain differences in mentality and mindset, it's completely different when it comes to who is more marriage material. There are decent Russian guys and there are decent American guys. And there are worthless guys anywhere as well.

While I don't quite like the idea of celebrating RFD by people, who are not Russian fighters, I think that if a family is multicultural, traditions of both cultures should be respected. It doesn't delay the adaptation, a lot of times it helps people through culture shock (something that any immigrant experiences) - it's good to have something that is familiar and talk to somebody in your native language once in a while.

Speaking as a linguist, I should say again that keeping some ties with your own culture helps a new immigrant to live through the stress of culture shock and that, once you're older than 12 (+/-2 years), total immersion is only helpful if accompanied by language classes, where you will learn language structure, grammar, phonetics and learn the difference between your native language and the language you're trying to study.

While I don't quite like the idea of celebrating RFD by people, who are not Russian fighters, I think that if a family is multicultural, traditions of both cultures should be respected. It doesn't delay the adaptation, a lot of times it helps people through culture shock (something that any immigrant experiences) - it's good to have something that is familiar and talk to somebody in your native language once in a while.

The bad decisions of the leaders of the FSU do not diminish the nobility of service of those individual men who made up their military forces. As a Vietnam vet you, of all people, should understand the difference between the mistakes, lies, and deceptions used by the leaders to get us into war (Vietnam, Iraq, etc) and the nobility of service of those who gave their time, their blood, and sometimes their lives in service for their country! This is something that I think most of us can appreciate even in the face of those who we were told were our enemies. I, for one, consider the service of those who served in the red army to have been an honorable thing. And I certainly consider myself a patriot as well!