Chris Parker

I just completed an exchange for BTC using Bisq (peer-to-peer exchange application with no KYC), and it worked fine using SBP on the Russia side. The only problem is it took one week for someone to take my offer, and in general there may not be many people using the application with Russian Ruble currency (not many open offers).

On the Russia side, we've been using bitget.com's P2P exchange, which has worked very well. The exchange is always Ruble <-> USDT. There are a then a variety of ways to get USDT to/from USA, including another P2P exchange using Zelle, etc. (though I haven't personally tried that one) or transferring the crypto to a US-based exchange like Coinbase.

This is likely one reason why the only way to transfer money to/from the crypto exchanges is via P2P in one form or another. The rubles never actually leave Russia, they are just transferred between random people within Russia. Russian law is very nuanced. This is a whole different topic. You are right to bring this up as a disclaimer, however, as what the law there actually means, when it is applied, to whom, and what the penalties are can vary from person to person and official to official. Nothing is ever black-and-white or crystal clear, there is always a murkiness. This is why corruption festers throughout the country. Another legal consideration with sending money out Russia that I should mention, is the Russian National Bank has repeatedly issued temporary limits on sending rubles abroad, in order to help maintain the currency's value. Small amounts for personal reasons like I mentioned aren't going to hit that limit, but something like selling an apartment likely would, if the limitation applies to personal transactions and not just businesses.

Apartment was retained and is being rented out. Others there have a Power of Attorney to do this and collect the money to send to us. Eventually apartment will be sold through them as well. Rent and state pension payments are thus the monthly remittances that we are now transferring from Russia to USA. This working via counterparty swap exchanges, either with another local family that we know which occasionally needs to send money the opposite direction, or most recently via the cryptocurrency exchange's P2P marketplace and a wallet transfer on the blockchain.

In my past experience, USCIS likes to disregard the marriage certificate as having any legal meaning until they approve the I-485, so they tend to keep using the premarried name until the time comes to issue the green card. You can get an SSN using the K-1 visa only during the 90 day period of authorized stay hat was granted upon admission. That's only because the K-1 visa automatically authorizes employment incident to status. They do this because many states ask for SSN on the marriage license application. If you're still within the 90 days, or you've received the work permit, you can apply for a SSN. However, I would not follow the earlier advice about saying you're still single (USCIS may later see that and deny your I-485 as a fraudulent marriage), rather I would indicate you are married but want the SSN issued or verified in your primarried name. SSA should be able to do that because a marriage certificate usually only authorizes, but does not require, you to change your name to your married name (i.e. you don't have to use it, but once you do, you can't change it back). You should get a SSN as soon as possible. You will probably need it for a variety of things, such health insurance, bank accounts, credit, taxes, employment, etc.

Does that also work in the opposite direction? Could she send euros from Raiffeisenbank to Schwab? That's what we're actually doing.

Nothing new from me. Ruble doesn't actually transfer, it's just swapped with other exchangers, be it for crypto or U.S. dollar deposits. More recently I've been fighting with ways of getting around the ongoing U.S. Mail suspension on even letter deliveries to Russia, but that's off-topic here so please don't reply on that.

See attached trading screenshot from Garantex: As you can see, they definitely seem to support USDC, and they even say so on their main home page before login or registration. Also, Coinbase is not the only U.S. cryto exchange with low-cost or free redemption of USDC. Gemini's fee schedule for Stablecoin (ActiveTrader UI mode only) provides 0.01% Taker Fee and 0.00% Maker fee for the USDT/USD, USDC/USD, and DAI/USD pairs. Note that USDT is currently not allowed in NY.

As we all know, the banks and transfer networks have all boycotted Russia because of the Ukrainian war. I realize this is intended to isolate the country and prevent foreign investment, etc., but it also causes a lot of practical problems for ordinary people like us with just a personal relationship connecting us to the country. How are people actually working around this problem? Looking for a solution, the only two ways that I see is either by having a bank account in a third country that can still transfer with Russia (ex: FSU satellite countries), or the more risky hawala system of personal exchanges (net transfer of $0). Both approaches require knowledge on the ground and connections...