russ

In other words, are there any potential pitfalls by getting married in the states and then following the marriage visa route?

Nope. Intent to marry is not the issue. Immigrant intent is.

What he said.

However, will getting married this summer be considered a visa fraud considering all the other facts?

More for the experienced posters here, if she comes into the US on the J-1 and they get married in the US while on the J-1 and then she leaves and they start the CR-1 process, won't the dates be in the system that showed they got married on the work visa?

It won't matter.

There is no problem getting married in the US, no matter what visa you entered on. It is a free country.

If a Frenchman with a B-1 visa marries a German with a J-1 in New York, no problem at all. My wife and I could have married when we were in Paris - it would still be just as legal. "Immigrant intent" is the issue here. FWIW, the only thing my wife was told the last time she had a J-1 was "don't get married." Also, make sure the visa states "2 year rule does not apply." Otherwise, there is a restriction that she must spend 2 years abroad before any other US visa type will be granted. (it generally does not apply to Russians)

If you end up getting married, an immigration lawyer may recommend not leaving the country until you had a green card, as you have more legal remedies available with a pending I130/I485 when you are physically here. I doubt there would be any problem going the K-3/CR-1 route either, just the time it takes. To stay within the "letter of the law," don't make a decision about getting married until this summer. Obviously, don't volunteer any information about this to USCIS or CBP. Since she is planning on returning to Russia (and will), there is really no issue of "immigration intent." As you said, she isn't planning on staying. In general, the longer you are married, the better. If she is leaving after the J1, nothing stops you from getting married in a 3rd country either. If it makes you feel better, spend a weekend in Paris or Rome on her way back to Russia and get married there. (I'm not a lawyer, this is in no way legal advice)

russian grammar is incredibly hard, so good luck...

Russian grammar is not hard. It is very regular, and very structured. You just need to learn the rules (cases, genders and number for every word). There are only a few spelling rules (memorize them, they don't matter for conversation though). If you spell with "и" where you should have "ы", or "у" where you should have "ю" - it is still readable. Just looks silly to a native speaker.

We have the same spelling rules in English, but they are much worse. The Russian ones can all be explained with the spelling rules, with almost no exceptions. English has millions of exceptions.

Without understanding cases and declensions, you will not have any prayer of understanding written or spoken Russian. I used the Golosa books - I thought they were pretty good.

On that note, she's wasting her time finishing up Uni in Russia. Get her over here ASAP, get whatever credits she can get transferred over and have her graduate from an American school. Remember, she'll be living in America, after all. Not that a Russian uni degree is worthless, but she'll still have to jump through a bunch of hoops to make it work in the States. Might as well save all that hoop jumping and apply it directly to an American degree, no hoops required. There are several highly-educated Russian women here on VJ and they can tell you how much "worth" their degree was when they got here. It's not like they can step off the plane and start their dental practice the next day. "Russian law degree? That's cool.

I wouldn't say the Russian degree is totally useless. My wife had hers certified, and it was enough to start a Masters degree here (which will finally be finished in 2 weeks). The US Masters degree is useful for getting a job here - the Russian one, not so much. One exception - a Russian degree in Mathematics, Engineering or Physics will be both very useful and well-recognized in the US.

As for waiting to file the K-1, don't wait. You can always ask them to extend it, which they will do almost automatically for another 6 months. I would just get married sooner though, and then have the ceremony whenever you want it. If you want to get married in FL, I'll marry you twice for free. I'm a FL notary, but I have yet to marry anyone. I'll even do the ceremony in Russian and English, if you like

We plan to speak both languages as she already knows English well and I want to become fluent

We tried that, lasted about 4 hours. Her (US) Masters in English trumps my 2nd year Undergrad Russian.

I was just wondering how many of you have started learning Russian, or have been or does you SO only know English?

I made it up to Russian IV at the local university. Would like to continue, but no time. I can get the gist of conversations in Russia, though I miss a lot of words. We'll see how much I have forgotten this summer

Anyway, my Russian is good enough for my needs (reading news, basic conversation, buying stuff at a store, ordering food, etc.) Basically, I can hold a conversation with a 10 year old. Unless I were to live there, I doubt it will ever get much better.

We only speak English at home, except to the dog. He is usually in enough trouble that he needs to be yelled at in at least two languages. The poor dog also needs to answer to 20 various Russian declensions of his English name. No surprise, the vet wants to put him on Prozac. He is easily confused.

Hey all,

Yep, it's been two, long, hard, happily married blissful years since she got that green card in the mail. We got the paper the other day "File the I-751 or else we'll send her back home."

Just filled out the paperwork today ourselves. At least the I-751 is only like 2 pages. Most of the work is just photocopying the mountain of papers we have around the house. A good excuse to clean I guess.

The solution is to find a Russian fiance whose name does not decline. Like mine, but that's because the origin of the last name is not Russian When you have a non-declining Russian name; both partners keep the same name by the

I agree - this is easiest... My wife has an in-declinable last name too. Further complicating things, I never know how to address letters (normally names delcine to the dative case).

I don't think it matters much at all, since Russians tend to use NAME + PATRYNOMIC in formal situations far more than a last/family name.

I would add the "a" to the name, as it would sound funny otherwise.

Best solution is probably have your husband change his name to something more "American," and then use that yourself too (or pick something Russian that doesn't decline for simplicity).

I would love to Skype or even use Voipcheap in reverse, meaning they call a US number from Russia. But my relatives do not have high speed interest, as a matter of fact there are no copper, fiber optic, or cable wires at their home, yet they live just a few kilometers from the city center. Because of that internet is not possible. They have interest access only through a cell phone tethered to the computer as a modem, and that runs $0.22 a MG, which is both very slow and costly if used with Skype or any other PC to PC program.

It is also worth pointing out that many ISP's in Russia charge per MB even for DSL, which would quickly erode your savings with skype. Plus, Skype is klunky, requiring you to be at your computer.

I have actual Voip telephones (Polycom), Cisco makes good ones too. The good ones are all expensive, but have much better quality. My phones terminate through XO (big company that does this), and costs about 7 cents a minute to most of Russia.

The best way to go would be to buy your own voip handset (I use these guys - http://www.voipsupply.com/ ), plug it into your router at home with a long ethnet cable, and signup for SIP termination (hundreds of companies do this for cheap.) I pay $1.49/month for a phone number in the US, plus $0.01/minute for US calls and about $0.07 to Russian landlines (Maybe 2 cents a minute to Moscow). This is cheap enough for me, and highly reliable.

Be patient, you should be able to find a flight for $700 (what we paid June last year).

Fuel prices are dropping, this will be reflected in prices soon. We just bought a ticket from Tampa to Moscow for $750 on Delta.

Why no Aeroflot? They operate US built aircraft (B767s) to the US. I would consider that "safe." (I'm a pilot).

Hi All,

I asked on the AOS forum, but got some conflicting answers, and I sent a note to the USCIS but haven't heard back. So, I figured I'd ask here since you guys always seem to be a knowledgeable group:

It would be either "c9", or "overstay."

I filed it as "c9" -- more than a year after we were married in the US. The only thing we were asked was whether we married in the 90 days required. I would put "©9," as it makes it clear you are adjusting based on a valid K-1, and no I-130 is required.

I even asked an immigration lawyer about this. You are still within the letter of the law, no matter when you file the I-485, so long as you married within the 90 days for the K-1. You can file as many I-485s as you want, forever, until USCIS approves one.

In practice, I doubt it would matter what you put there. And it isn't a K-1 overstay (it became void the second she entered the US), it is an overstay of the I-94.

But here is another question... On my AOS papers I used my married name and new sigature wich reflects my married name. My pasport is going to be on my maiden name because I didn`t change my last name yet (I don`t have EAD to chnge name on SS csrd or DL). So, what signature should I use to sign papers for passport and actual passport when I receive it??? Is it a big deal???

Thanks.

My wife still signs everything in Cyrillic script. My signature looks nothing like my name (though it is always roughly the same pattern).

And when she withdraws the money, have her be careful. I just heard a story on NPR last week that Russians were tripping over themselves to get their money out of the banks, only to be followed and robbed on the street.

Bigger issue is the exchange rate, where the dollar is trading higher on the street than it is in banks. The ruble will almost certainly weaken further, as the government will run out of money to be buying rubles to support the exchange rate. The drop in oil prices will worsen this pressure.

The ruble is managed against a basket of 55% dollars/45% Euros. The weak dollar made things easier on the bankers last year. With the Euro trading at more historically normal levels now ($1.19 when the euro started, it is $1.25 today), ruble weaknesses will be harder to hide.

I would not want assets priced in rubles now - the high interest rates are telling you that inflation and devaluation are being priced into the market here.

USD assets are a bargain though. I would expect an exchange of 35 rbl/dollar by next year.

I was wit Elena in St Petersburg and we were discussing the affordability of homes in Russia. She is presently renting, but she told me it is almost impossible to purchase a flat with present Russian wages.

From people I know, prices in Moscow or St Petersburg are higher than what you pay in San Francisco, Boston, or NYC. You get a bit more for your money in the US.

Over the next 5 years, prices will certainly drop in Russia. The fundamentals of the economy do not support such prices.

kick that up to say a 25-06, or a .220 swift, either one say a 4x16 scope or better, and you can go 600-900 yards or more.

A typical .223 assault rifle is meant for ranges less than 200 yds. Which is typical for combat, which is why .223 rifles were created (to make rifles lighter, and ammo lighter)

Has anyone noticed that we're loosing our russian members of VJ?

Haven't seen Jeff in a while. ( Kazan tiger....i think that was his nick)

I too am still here. Just working too much, not enough time to waste here.

Slim - I've actually been up in Ohio quite a bit (Cleveland). And Atlanta when not there.

San Fran, Austin, Atlanta, Boston, and London are next up on this year's travel schedule.

Sat - I guess you really have disappeared. How is the law treating you?

It is again that special time of year when we plan our trip to Russia, probably 2 weeks for me,

2 months for Mrs. Russ this time around. Her best friend from University has been back there

for 3 months now, I think she is getting jealous. I get 2 months of vacation a year, Mrs. Russ

gets none... I foresee some arguments here...

Galina has also reminded me that all paperwork for removing conditions will be ready the day it is to be

mailed. Which gives me 5 days to do the taxes come February -- (typically an 8 month ordeal for me).

So, what are the old timers (from '04-'05) up to these days? Haven't seen anything from Med since I

don't know when. (FYI - calling my wife baby bear is not very smart - baby bears are clumsy, ugly

things. Who knew? )

Historically, OPEC has not been very good at cutting production when prices drop. Record prices are about the only thing that will prod OPEC members to develop or exploit fields. When prices drop, the reaction is typically to produce more oil, since the petro-states are addicted to money, as much as we are addicted to oil.

After the oil shocks in the 70's, oil was very cheap for a long time.

I wish this was true. But in reality, when demand drops so will production both in oil producing and refining thus artificially maintaining a high price as demand falls. The oil folks aren't idiots and have now grown accustomed to the high profits.

Thank you everybody for great advice!!We were getting confused with so many web sites and different information..)

2 Slim: we are going to moscow first, will stay there for a week or so and then go to Kazan(my native city). in both cities we'll be staying at my relatives houses..we dont want any hotels...i know you have to give the information like what adress are you gonna stay at and how long. We are planning to leave late sept and be back late oct. What do you think?

Is it possible to get a visa without a hotel?

You can get a visa without a hotel, not a problem. The "invitation" should cost you about $20-$30. You will also need to register it both in Moscow and wherever you are going afterwards. It can be a real pain to do so in Moscow. When registering the visa, be careful what you say. Do not mention that you will be leaving Moscow - they will insist that you don't need to register the visa there (you do), and you will end up paying a fine when you register it in the next city. Also, as of last year, it was taking hotels more than 3 days to register a visa (you have 72 hours to do so). While the visa is being registered, you are subject to fines/bribes.

In any case, it is best to avoid train stations, bus stations, and the Kremlin, where the police generally go looking for bribes and fines.

Trans Atlantic tickets are usually cheapest October to May, as fewer people want to go. Airlines lower the prices to fill the seats (your $1400 loses less money than an empty seat does). On long haul flights, they don't have the option of using smaller equipment to cut costs during the off season.

Inflation adjusted, tickets are about where they were 20 years ago. Which is expensive. 4 years ago, the first time I was in Russia, I managed to go roundtrip on BA for $700. About $700 for us on Delta last year too. This year, I guess it will be frequent flier miles. (50,000 Delta miles is still a good deal, even though you get nickel and dimed - $50 booking fee, $200 in taxes, $25 telephone fee, etc)

Jet A was 34 CENTS a gallon 8 years ago, and about 4 DOLLARS a gallon now. The airport across the street from my house is charging almost $7! Ouch! Long Haul flights (like Russia) are inherently less fuel efficient, since the extra weight from the fuel means carrying yet more fuel. When oil gets to $200 a barrel, at least it should start cutting demand, and boosting output - which should in theory start to lower prices...

I called Delta this morning to make reservations for August to fly back to my girls and was a little surprised to find the tickets were only a little over $1400 from Atlanta to Moscow. I remember paying $1200.00 this time last year. My last trip a couple of months ago was about the same price of $1400.00. I went ahead and made more reservations for October and the tickets were $1200.00. This could be the end of that fare and it could explode even higher.

I highly doubt it will be a problem. I never registered my visa (for a month) the first time I was in Russia (paid one 1000 rub fine when I tried to register it -- we don't do that at this office, blah blah). Wasn't an issue last summer (2000 rub fine this time though, for registering 2 hours late).

Hey all, as I am getting ever so closer to going to pick up my fiancee, I had a troublesome thought. I had my Russian visa registered as per procedure, but as I went to leave Volgograd I did not have it with me. Well, we had it with us, but didn't know it. Anyway, I had to go to this little office, sign a form, then I was allowed to leave. I am now applying for my next visa, and is this going to come back and bite me in the butt? I am planning to go on 7/9.

Professional athletes often have all of these conditions in their contracts.

So I sign a contract to say that I dont over eat and am not above the recommended BMI but then for whatever reason I start to gain weight and go above the BMI for my hight... does that mean I have broken my contract and should be charged more for my insurance...

Or

What about people who drink in excess... should we be made to sign a contract with our employers to say we dont drink to much and if we do they can charge us more for our insurance...

Or

We are asked to sign a contract to say that we will not take part in any sport that could cause us injury and if we do we will have to pay more for insurance....

they are all area's that could be classed as self-inflicted illness or injury... should our employers have the right to dictate what we can and can not do outside of work??

Yes they can dictate what we do while at work ie: No Smoking, No Drinking, No Eating but outside of work should they be able to hold us to a contract???

Kez/Jwolf

Forcing anything on a company will simply lead to layoffs. Thus Zero pay..

What year does she think it is? 1925. What about more women going to college than men? Why don't we change this to ensure equal number of men attend college in the United States. The country is going bankrupt and people are still obsessed with rights issues.

As for the rights issues, I think we all have a right to negotiate our salaries. That carries the risk of making good and bad choices.

Well, I think much of the disparity is related to three things.

First, what you are paid mainly depends on what you negotiate before you start. My style is to figure out roughly how much they are willing to pay, and then negotiate as much as possible. Whoever says a number first loses. Every HR department in the US has the strategy of offering you just enough to take the job, and then raises that roughly trail inflation. My wife will basically take whatever she is offered, no negotiation.

The second issue is time out of the workforce. If you take a few years off to take care of a family, your pay is going to end up being lower than someone who worked and gained experience during that time. If I were to leave the workforce for the next 5 years, when I returned, I would not expect my pay to be as high as someone who stayed at the job, gaining experience and promotions. Companies mainly pay salaried employees for experience and their track record. This has the same impact on single fathers.

Education is the last one. While there are more women it universities than men now, they are not necessarily studying the higher-paying fields. There are very few women in Math, Science and Engineering programs, while these tend to have the highest salaries.

I think gender bias is a minor factor after these three.

Cool! Thanks. I'll definitely be more aware this time when I go looking. Before I've just basically looked at price then decided if the memory and stuff looked halfway decent. I've never really looked at the customer support aspect of it.

Dell is a safe bet. 2 GB RAM is a reasonable minimum these days, but memory is cheap anyway, about $30/GB. CPU speed really doesn't matter anymore. The "Pentium D" processors are actually the same chip as the Core2 duos, you won't notice any difference between the two.

A larger LCD makes a bigger difference in usability than anything else. (I have 3 19" LCDs on my computer, nice to have email plus 2 web browsers up. The LCDs were about $150 each). A single 24" wide screen is a reasonable minimum now.

maybe, they just started the habit up again and did not smoke when they sign the forms..like quit for a day

Depends on the wording of what they signed, but I don't think it is unreasonable that out for 1,500 people, 39 could have quit and subsequently started smoking again (quitting isn't easy).

THANKS ! My computer was already set up for this I guess I just assumed that it was not...Should have looked first. ! I appreciate your help everyone !

My wife and I both use a "phonetic" transliteration for typing in Russian. Macs do this by default. For Windows,

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/paulgor/kbd_e.htm

Personally, I think this way is easier to learn, and you don't need stickers.