AmyWrites

Meh, all countries support or ignore dictators and repressive governments as long as it's practical for them.

You do understand that evolutionary mutagenesis is one where reproductive fitness over thousands of years is something very different from, say- a mutation right in the middle of a gene that allows those brain cells to communicate properly in one individual, right?

^^^ That, again.

Some people didn't take first year uni science :-(

This thread is hilarious.

But well, the men who only talk about their women as little more than whores?

Remember back in high school, when you'd make out with a guy and he'd tell his buddies he had hours of sex with you and that you let your friends join and all that??

I think it's the same thing. But then again I never believe men in regards to sex. Women divide what happens/who they do, men multiply what happens/who they do.

Sorry if this was already said, but just change your language settings for the keyboard and buy some Cyrllic keyboard stickers on ebay. Russian-English keyboard FTW.

DO NOT get married on a tourist visa... it can be considered fraud if there was intent of marriage. Let's hope they don't fish for your internet posts because if they do, you're out of that option.

Get a K1 visa and don't risk fraud.

There are a number of other qualifying criteria which a country (Russia, in this case) would have to meet before it qualified for VWP. Here is the one I believe Russia would have the most trouble meeting at this time.

Section 217 ( c )( 2 )( A ) of the Immigration and Nationality Act

... a country may not be designated as a program country unless the following requirements are met:

(A) LOW NONIMMIGRANT VISA REFUSAL RATE.--Either--

(i) the average number of refusals of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country during--

(I) the two previous full fiscal years was less than 2.0 percent of the total number of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country which were granted or refused during those years; and

(II) either of such two previous full fiscal years was less than 2.5 percent of the total number of nonimmigrant visitor visas for nationals of that country which were granted or refused during that year; or

(ii) such refusal rate for nationals of that country during the previous full fiscal year was less than 3.0 percent.

Maybe I was hallucinating but I can remember reading the refusal rate for nonimmigrant visas in Russia was like 9%. Is that enough to consider it a high fraud country?

That'd be awesome but I very much doubt Russia is going be in the VWP.

Now you tell me! Where were you a couple of years ago? Never mind, too late now! I have met and fallen in love with a terrific woman . If people want to consider her a MOB that is their issue!

I have never said that there were NO american women that I could be happy with, I just never had the good luck to connect with the right one. But now that I have gotten interested in a certain FSU lady I wouldn't have it any other way. Sharing the same values and interests/goals in life but from very different backgrounds only enriches our relationship!

Yeah, I had a lot of problems finding someone in the US too. But like you said having different backgrounds while sharing the same goals and values makes everything all the more interesting.

My god if you all are gonna fight this much do it in a chocolate pudding filled pool; it'll be sexier that way.

Thanks and happy women's day to all of you (or your wives).

Where I live in the US it is just a little warmer than where most Russians live. I had great difficulty on US internet dating sites due to where I live. Never mind it is one of the most beautiful places you will ever see. The cold and the distance from major population centers made it near impossible for me to connect with the right woman here unless I was willing to move. So where do you think a successful American family-oriented male might find an attractive, intelligent woman willing to consider moving to a place like this?

Aw, I'd move to a place like that for a good man. A lady who cares so much about that isn't worth it. Get a nice coat and it's bearable.

Oh, and risking my inner-nerd pouring out in the internet.

Anything by Carl Sagan.

*hides*

I read it in 9th grade and was meh about it. I think the point of the racialicious article is that it's a book that focuses on white people swooping in to save black people, therefore portraying black people as more or less helpless.

I just liked it because Atticus represents how lawyers "should be", and that the American legal system isn't meant to be unfair.

I didn't find it racist... if it would've been about Tom Robinson winning the case it would've been vastly unrealistic, even more so than a lawyer having defended him in the first place.

I didn't like it when I first read it (grade 9 I think it was?), but I read it again last month and found it nearly perfect. And if all else fails, the writing itself is quite good.

Yeah, I also recommend, like another poster said, the Outsiders.

I'd say "The Scarlett Letter", but you might die of boredom.

I didn't expect the men to be as romantic (you know, after those fourteen layers of coldness peel off). Seriously, I'll never date a man from my home again.

And I didn't see the high fashion ultra-sexiness in the women I expected. Naturally beautiful... they don't need to overdress, anyway.

The food was pretty good. I expected to hate all of it.

Oh, I drank the tap water and didn't get Montezuma's revenge. That was wonderful.

But the worst... the cold. Having lived most of my life inconstantly 80-100 degree weather places, I didn't think it would be humanely possible to be so cold.

If I were you, if your English isn't excellent, I'd get a high school/first year college anthology of American short stories instead. That way you can see a wide range of authors in a shorter amount of time and get a broader perspective and not just on a specific time frame/social class/etc.

I like this one. Has some essays, poems, short stories and a few plays too.

But if you really want novels, I'd say To Kill a Mockingbird is absolutely essential to understanding American history and maybe small-town culture.

Aw how sweet of you all to remember.

My man better give me some flowers that day...

As a sexy feminist, I take offense at some of the posts in this thread

What's so wrong with women choosing to be part of these contests or be involved in sex trade or having a good career or anything? If it's her choice, let her do it. Feminism should be about allowing women to do whatever the hell they please with their lives, not about putting some societal pressure or anything worse on them in order to ensure they do the "right" thing. So if these "feminists" (or paid actresses according to some people here, I'm not familiar with the organization), want to protest and make a fool out of their own cause, let them.

IMO, most feminists want women to fit into a specific mold as much as patriarchal societies do. In one, if you're not a career oriented woman who refuses to be sexy, you're submissive, and in the other, if you have any interest in having your own life outside of husband + kids, you're a crazed feminazi.

And as for those who think having an FSU wife is easy (not saying anyone here has said that, but just the stereotypes)... clearly they haven't seen an FSU woman angry

I have a better solution: when someone commits a crime that involves hurting others, put them in jail for life. Regardless of citizenship.

Congrats! That's wonderful news.

I've thought of going through the K-1 visa route, but the problem is I'll be living in Moscow for the next three or four years, so we thought it'd be easier to get married over there and then get the CR1 visa.

I've love my parents to visit us instead, but my mother has a fear of flying so badly she can't even see an airplane on TV.

I think we'll give the tourist visa a shot. We're thinking of applying for it by next december/january, so hopefully we'll have enough "proof" by then.

I petitioned about a year ago (we didn't marry though, didn't work out), and it was time consuming but this site gave all the info I needed. Don't waste money on a lawyer :-)

Many people in the DR use the English FB. I wouldn't take it as "proof" it wasn't real.

And I'm trying not to be judgmental, but my family is of a similar culture (Puerto Rican... and I don't know if you're aware of this but a common scam among Dominican men is to "fall in love with" and marry a Puerto Rican, who is a US citizen, and eventually split), and yes, if I were you I would really, really believe this to be true. The fact that your sister said he'd benefit would raise a huge red flag for me as well.

But if you've known him for years and trust him, well at most have a talk with him about it and ask the person for "proof"... and get a prenup, just in case.

Oh he's not gonna lie, we know it's a dumb idea, especially since we do want to apply for a marriage visa later.

He does own a car and a good amount of savings in his bank account. I didn't think of that.

Does having a return ticket also constitute of proof that he'd be coming back?

And is there any type of petition based non-immigrant visa he can apply for?

I didn't know if to post this thread in the tourist visa or regional forums (newbie!) so I apologize in advance if posting it here was wrong.

I'm a USC and I'd like my Russian boyfriend to visit me here as I want my family to meet him and for him to see my country, etc. By the time he'd apply I'd have lived in Moscow for some months so he'd come with me back home, ideally, to visit. We don't want to get married any time soon (and if so, it'd be there, and not here, since I don't want to go through the K1 visa process) so that's not the intention. He has a good job, his own flat (well, rented, granted, but still), family over there in Moscow.

I've heard it's difficult (or nearly impossible) for young single people to get tourist visas to the US so I'm just wondering whether it's there's a good chance at least or if it's not even worth trying. I'm worried that if he says "I'm visiting my girlfriend's family" in the interview, he'd be denied immediately.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.