mendeleev

I should have searched on MEEST here. It looks like a few folks here have used them and in those threads you can find some information. They have a US presence in Elizabeth, NJ. I glanced at their website, which is in Russian, and didn't notice if there was an English version. Good luck.

Has anyone here used MEEST?

We haven't, but know this company is out there.

You're right, it is very foreign. Registration is a practice that dates back to czarist times. However, U.S. permanent residents have to tell USCIS -- or at least they are supposed to -- every time they change residence, too. That surprised me when I learned about it a few years back.

It is possible to register with a Russian consulate here in the USA as a Russian citizen living abroad. Search this forum and you'll learn more about that. It has come up in the past. Russia seems like a country always in flux. My wife keeps her registration in Russia and maybe at the margin or more it helps her maintain ties to her homeland that are important to her. The importance of those ties have not diminished over the years.

Russian citizens, to my knowledge, do not need special registration abroad if they are permanent residents but only if they take up a second citizenship abroad. And that will be the case regardless of where one has one's registration or propiska.

@Pooky: I read your link. It did not deserve response.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655

The Vincennes was in "hot pursuit" in Iranian waters of Iranian craft shooting at invading American assets that were in Iranian waters. The Vincennes was in the wrong in more ways than one can count. But no acceptance of responsibility from the USA and no apology to the families of the bereaved.

Is the proverb "Rules are for servants" applicable here?

If Ukrainian rebels shot down this airplane, it was likely an error committed by poorly trained individuals. Presumably the warriors on the USS Vincennes were not poorly trained when they shot down Iran Air 655.

Those Ukrainian separatists are indeed in a situation different than our naval vessel that was operating illegally in another's countries territorial waters when they shot down that country's civilian airplane in that country's own airspace. Ukrainian rebels seek to protect themselves against a government attacking their their cities with heavy artillery, armor, and attack aircraft. It is regrettable that a revolutionary government, confronted with citizens of their own country using tactics of their own revolution, react in the violent militarist way that defines Kiev's current actions.

We condemn the Assad government for using similar weapons against Syrian citizens. It is interesting to hear no condemnation against Kiev.

TEN QUESTIONS FOR THE UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES

1. Immediately after the tragedy, the Ukrainian authorities, naturally, blamed it on the self-defense forces. What are these accusations based on?

2. Can Kiev explain in detail how it uses Buk missile launchers in the conflict zone? And why were these systems deployed there in the first place, seeing as the self-defense forces don't have any planes?

3. Why are the Ukrainian authorities not doing anything to set up an international commission? When will such a commission begin its work?

4. Would the Ukrainian Armed Forces be willing to let international investigators see the inventory of their air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles, including those used in SAM launchers?

5. Will the international commission have access to tracking data from reliable sources regarding the movements of Ukrainian warplanes on the day of the tragedy?

6. Why did Ukrainian air traffic controllers allow the plane to deviate from the regular route to the north, towards "the anti-terrorist operation zone"?

7. Why was airspace over the warzone not closed for civilian flights, especially since the area was not entirely covered by radar navigation systems?

8. How can official Kiev comment on reports in the social media, allegedly by a Spanish air traffic controller who works in Ukraine, that there were two Ukrainian military planes flying alongside the Boeing 777 over Ukrainian territory?

9. Why did Ukraine's Security Service start working with the recordings of communications between Ukrainian air traffic controllers and the Boeing crew and with the data storage systems from Ukrainian radars without waiting for international investigators?

10. What lessons has Ukraine learned from a similar incident in 2001, when a Russian Tu-154 crashed into the Black Sea? Back then, the Ukrainian authorities denied any involvement on the part of Ukraine's Armed Forces until irrefutable evidence proved official Kiev to be guilty.

It was no accident for sure, but I don't think it was deliberate either if that makes sense. I don't think someone or some people knowingly made the decision to blow a civilian jet liner out of the sky. I think it was problly a perfect storm of poor command and control, Mission lock, having shot down a couple of planes recently and got trigger happy, poor training. A highly trained crew on board a US naval missle cruiser shot down an Iranian airliner in Iranian airspace in 1988. It killed 290 on board. I think it was much like that incident.

And let's keep in mind that the USS Vincennes was also illegally operating in Iranian territorial waters when they shot down an airplane in Iranian airspace.

The USA never really accepted responsibility and never apologized.

It is interesting to see us, once again, holding those we define as our opponents in the world to a standard very different than one to which we hold ourselves.

I remember that Russia used to want certification of HIV negative status for a multiple entry visa. That was then. Earlier this year I got a 3-year multiple entry visa and I did not come across a HIV testing requirement.

I remember waiting for AP to finish was the most frustrating part of the process. But it did end.

I just got (another) multientry visa to Russia. Over the years, I've gotten many more than a dozen. This one is good for three years. Turn around this time seemed about normal relative to experience over the past five years and probably faster than before that.

The ATM card my step-son has still works fine. He's in Novosibirsk.

Another option is to get a short term rental on an apartment. There's an American ex-pat, the guys name is Rick and the moniker is Moscow Rick, who runs a service called Moscow STAR that we've used a half dozen times over the years.

We've been happier with the flats we've rented from him in Tverskaya although he used to have less expensive ones too elsewhere in Moscow. His prices were competitive with hotels further out. The accomodations were fine and you couldn't beat the location.

Mr. Color blind also posted when Mr. Rangel called some people white crackers and when the Dem compared the Tea Party to the KKK. And called it out. I'm consistent.

Anyone who hates an entire demographic for the actions of a few is an idiot and a racist. I've yet to find an intelligent racist.

Apparently you've never heard of William Shockley, inventor of the transitor, arguably a key creator of the modern computer age, who was a racist and believed blacks were genetically inferior to whites. I'm gonna assume you'll agree claiming that one race is genetically inferior to another racist and that, if you look at his achievements as a physicist, that Shockley was brilliant. Looks like you've got some homework to do.

No worries, southernman, I've been around here long enough to know that highjacking occurs and thought it was 50/50 that someone outside RUB, who cannot know RUB-specific consular matters, would highjack the threat. Highjackings need not last forever, though.

I remain interested in learning whether other RUB-folk have addressed these questions in recent years. It is clear that there's been a very substantial liberalization of both tourist and business visas form FSU citizens in the past four or five years compared to the previous US regime. This leads to my interest in learning what RUB folks, especially those with Russian relatives, have had with these issues. In particular, I'm interested whether the previous differences in approval rates between Ekaterinburg and Moscow continue, since this might influence where we decide to apply.

(I remember needed to have a rather eminent Russian research chemist whose work in Russia I sponsored and paid for get denied three times under the Bush regime until he was inexplicably approved the fourth time when I needed him to visit my R&D labs here in the States to transfer technology we had paid for to our domestic laboratories. The Bush regime had a real problem with Russians in general and with supporting us utilitizing them to advance US business interests that we seem to have gotten over these days.)

So, we would like for kids and grandchild to come to the US to visit us. (I wasn't able to sponsor my stepson because he was over 21 when we started our visajourney.)

They tell us that we should send them an invitation letter. As I understand it, such a letter has next to no utility but we'll write one if it will help them feel more confident. Both the step son and his ex-wife, both of whom we would be please to have visit us have traveled abroad in recent years. But one of the current (brand new) passports has no foreign travel stamps. The young grandchild has traveled abroad (Bulgaria, Turkey, that sort of thing) with parents and Russian grandparents on vacations.

Here are the questions:

1. Have any of you written invitation letters to facilitate visits from relatives and, if so, what did you say? I imagine including text on providing for their full support and ensuring their return to Russia so that they can legally visit us in future.

2. Are any of you aware of tourist visa denials for individuals with a history of foreign travel (and associated return to Russia) but with no such travel on the current passport?

I'm definitely not, but I have noticed it, you're right.

I'm definitely not conservative and the Americans I know personally who have RUB spouses -- all initially met through work experiences in the FSU rather than over the web -- are not either.

Where in Jersey?

Somerset county, north of New Brunswick.

How come you left Colorado? Just curious because I'm thinking of taking us to Denver.

Edit:

I realize if you read earlier i was talking about Boston Vs. Buffalo, but i've expanded our horizons to a few more places that we will decide together. So far on the list is: Burlington, VT - Portland, ME, Charleston, SC (spent my childhood days here), Virginia Beach, VA, and Denver, CO. Aye they are all kind of all over the map, but each place offers us something we are looking for.

Colorado, specifically the Denver-Boulder area, is a wonderful, pretty cosmopolitan place to live.

I am a research chemist and moved to Colorado to work in a green energy start-up. It failed. I was unemployed for a bit in 2010. Not pleasant. I got a job with another green energy start-up and, after a while, realized that I had seen the movie. So I got up and left in the middle and went to work for a real company with real customers serving real markets but, alas, not in the area (at this moment, working on it) of sustainability. After I left that second start-up, it also failed, so I my interior movie critic was right. But the move meant I had to leave Colorado.

If I found myself independently wealthy or something, I'd probably move back. Maybe it'll be a retirement location, though the wife urges us to retire in Russia and that has its attractions, too. There's just very little work in that state for a chemist and practically none for ones interested in the environment or sustainability.

i sent packages to Russia (Moscow and Vladivostok) using USPS express, and they arrived 4-5 weeks later in Russia.

Until this year, I had the same experience. Things seem different now.

We now live in New Jersey. Before then, Colorado.

We've been using this service for nearly ten years to mail parcels to relatives (and to my wife when her status was fiance) in different part of Russia. While not fast, over the years we've successfully sent over 30 parcels over there.

Seems like the Russia postal service has gotten a lot worse lately.

In June/July, it took them over a month to deliver a parcel to elderly relatives, but it did arrive eventually.

A month ago I sent a parcel to relatives in Novosibirsk, and it has not yet arrived in Russia. In response to a search, the Russia authorities, for the first time claim no knowledge of it. In the past, a search request led the authorities to notice it was in queue to be processed through Moscow customs. Not this time. We may have to file for damages, which will give us a refund of postal fees and the $100 declared value for the parcel.

Have others noticed any significant decline in the Russian postal service?

Does anyone have any news on this? My wife tells me the head of the post was sacked earlier this year because of poor performance.

I can't wait to see my wife's reaction next time she's mad and I tell her it's all a big game.

Fuel + fire =

Could be entertaining ...

There have been some very good comments here already. I won't reiterate them.

Your fiancee is leaving a family behind that will stay a part of her.

It seems like a lot of spouses here make a clean break of the Motherland and family and personal connections there, but some do not.

Are you prepared for it if your spouse needs to spend a lot of time back in her homeland? If it needs to be an option for her, can it be practical to fulfill that need? Can the household budget withstand expenses associated with occasional, or even rather frequent, trips back to Russia? Can you cope with her absences, if she needs to be away? It may be important that those answers are affirmative.

Life here is really different, mostly easier, but in some ways not as easy. And it may be very foreign for your fiancee for a very, very long time. It isn't always something to get over.

I'm able to be a sole breadwinner and my wife has opted not to try to enter our lousy job market. For some couples this isn't optional. Is it optional for you? Does she know about this, either way?

My wife spends a great deal of time in Russia. Just now, she's on her most recent trip there and has been away for 12 weeks. Since she encountered a very close relative with a terminal illness; she is staying put indefinitely. Indeed, I need to get myself over there as soon as reasonably possible. These are matters that may be before many of us, unpleasant though it can be to contemplate it.

Mrs. D.

Did you try to attach sometime to this thread? (I don't see it.)

I'd go a little further than eekee and simply say that Aeroflot is on par with essentially any domestic US airline, and better than most. While it can't hold a candle to the best overseas airlines, it puts its domestic partner, Delta, to shame in offering better service, better baggage handling, better food in flight, and better on-time-performance.

Then again, Delta currently does set a very low bar ...

The trajectories are also different. Aeroflot is getting better and Delta is getting worse. Same, but not as severe, for Sibir vis-a-vis American Airlines, who now share membership in the same club.

I went to a job interview earlier this year and they flew me on Delta.

The outbound flight was terrible. It left over an hour late because the previous Delta flight refused to push off. I missed my connection and was stuck for five hours in Memphis.

The return flight was terrible. The airplane that was to take me to Atlanta was delayed over an hour in Atlanta. I would have missed my connection. They routed me instead through Mpls. That flight arrived late and I barely caught my connection. They closed the door right after I ran in.

All in all, my arrivals were delayed 8 hours in the domestic round trip. All delays were due to mechanical problems.

For international flights, I've had no trouble with Delta. (Well, there was that time when they pushed off from my point of departure, so they could claim a bogus on-time departure, but wouldn't take off because of a ground halt in Atlanta due to a hurricane. I had to fight to get re-routed onto an American flight so that I wouldn't miss my international connections. That was back in '03 or '04, though.) For domestic flights, they have been terrible for a few years now.