eekee

Everything is possible but we know nothing for sure. I can share that recently my wife (USC) was denied homestay visa to Russia and we don't know why. She had no violations, even minor ones, during past visits to Russia, no criminal records in the US, no obvious red flags I can see. She was approved for the same visa to Russia twice back in 2011 with no issues when conflict because US and Russia didn't start yet but now they don't let her go there. We were thinking about trying to apply for a tourist visa instead but if she just got denied homestay visa we don't think there is a good chance to get a tourist one.

- Victor from Russia

My suggestion would be to try for a tourist visa and go through a different consulate using a visa service. There's no real reason to get a homestay visa anymore unless you want to turn it into permanent residency, since there is the three-year tourist visa now, and that may have been the issue. They've been deporting people who are living/working on the wrong visa, but AFAIK only in Kazan (their FMS guy must have an agenda), and I haven't heard of anyone having an issue getting a tourist or work visa.

I feel like you would know better what he wants than we would... just get him something he, as a person and not a part of the monolith that is Russian Men, would want, like you would for an American man.

Tourist visas for Americans are three years. You can stay for 90 days of out of an 180-day period. I've never heard of a three-year private visa either.

TV leave at the house. Computer he can take some of the components out of the tower and just buy a new tower and stick them in.

It might be easier to set up a US bank account and give her an ATM card for that, rather than deal with wiring money into a Russian account. For now, at least, there are no issues with withdrawing money from US cards using Russian ATMs.

I hadn't heard of that, but obviously it's not something they're discussing in Russian media so it's no wonder.

What I have read is that it applies to Russians who have kept their registration in Russia. So if you keep an apartment there where your citizen spouse is registered, or if they're registered at their parents' apartment, it counts as "living in Russia." No one really knows exactly what to do, though, and who needs to do it. But if your wife doesn't figure it out over there in time, I think she should be able to do it through the consulate in the US.

http://www.newsweek.com/ukrainian-refugees-flood-russia-rebels-are-squeezed-263166

No, I mean Ukrainian citizens. I'm in Russia, and my friends who have gone to OVIR for various reasons have said that the line is 90% Ukrainian refugees now. If they were Russian citizens, they wouldn't be at OVIR.

Russians fleeing for Kiev? What are you talking about?

yes, there are plenty of refugees from Ukraine in Russia, but not the other way around.

http://www.fontanka.ru/2014/05/28/120/ it says those who live abroad permanently are exempt here, as did the Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/russia-targets-traitorous-dual-citizenship-holders/501163.html

I know people who have gotten Russian citizenship, and they didn't lose their original citizenship. They did write a letter, but it's hard to lose citizenship of your country of birth in most cases.

There are Americans who own business and property in Russia. The climate is going to become tougher and tougher, IMO, but not exactly because of this law in particular.

I agree with neonred--just think logically about this. The articles I have read state that yes, they want to be able to keep track of people better, especially people with citizenship from countries like the US--but if your wife is a regular person with no real business interests or governmental ties in Russia, then she has nothing to worry about, I think. She always has the option of renouncing her citizen if it seems necessary, but for now I think it would be not that big of a deal to just follow the law and write a registered letter to whomever saying she has been an American citizenship since x date. They are not going to care about someone who is living a normal life with her husband in the US and not doing anything that would be detrimental to Russian interests. That is what I think is the impetus behind this law and things I have read have said as much.

Hmm this is interesting. I guess that "There have been several instances..." means some people have just been lucky enough to get through with out problems but occasionally some did experience issues. I'm not Russian. Haven't been yet (hopefully will be for the interview then again to bring him to the US) so I'm just going off of what people have said on here. But you're right about what the consulate says. Honestly, I wouldn't risk it. But I've also seen that while you're still a Russian citizen, you can't apply for a visa to Russia. Totally confusing information. On that second post I put, it mainly is discussing calling the actual airline & seeing what their policy is. I would recommend doing this. You might fight that some airlines are more lenient for this than others. But that does require getting past security with your US passport, anyway. I'm not expert! Just sharing what I've seen/read.

I see people who have two passports all the time while getting on/off the plane. The important things to remember are 1) not letting your passport lapse while you're there 2) not losing it. Pretty basic stuff.

I wouldn't risk it, because you don't know what the check in person would do. If they say three months, that's their policy.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Aeroflot. It is a LOT nicer than Finnair and has newer planes. I flew on a Helsinki-JFK flight that didn't even have TVs in the seats. Aeroflot's fleet is newer than the other carriers, and they have upped their customer service. Going through Europe, you also risk delays and strikes, which seem to happen a lot there. If you have to go somewhere else in Russia, it's a lot easier to go through Moscow than try to find a way from Paris or wherever. Aeroflot is now my favorite airline.

Is this at a retail location? From checking their site they charge different fees depending on the amount you want to send (some sort of percentage scale).

Yes, this is at Walmart. An ATM ate my bank card, so for a while I was getting lots of money sent. Unless it's changed since February, it's a flat fee from Walmart.

I wouldn't use Western Union because you have to pay a percentage, whereas Moneygram's fee is a flat $7.

Seems like it's probably Walmart's bank blocking it. I use a US ATM card all the time with no problems. I would also suggest money gram though; you can send it all Walmart and she can pick it up at Sberbank.

I believe in Ukraine, you can get a certificate of no father or something along those lines. It is not an uncommon practice in Ukraine, from what I know, so it is strange they are so suspicious.

Have you tried talking to ZAGS (or whatever the Ukrainian equivalent of ZAGS is) to see if they could get you some apostilled proof she has never been married?

Mail to Russia interrupted? What? Mail to Russia has always stunk. I agree with Victor. Nothing happened during the Georgia war. This has the potential to be worse, certainly, but I wouldn't panic prematurely.

Did you change because of marriage, or just changed it? I think if you changed because of marriage, you can bring your marriage certificate.

Victor, people involved with customs and whatever were complaining that they had so much more work but were getting no extra money for it. And the new laws, besides the increase in customs tariffs, only affect private companies, not Pochta Rossiya, and most online stores use DHL, FedEx, etc. And obviously people are ordering because it's cheaper and aren't going to start buying Russian-made products, but it's still money staying in the country if you buy something at the mall instead of ordering online.

As said above, this only applies to packages. Russia has made it difficult for private carriers to send stuff from international internet stores to make more money from customs and to encourage domestic consumption. There are absolutely no problems with FedEx documents--I just got something last week and it only took a few days and there were no problems.

Seems to be Kazakh - http://look.tm/content/blog/kz-style-aika-zhaksybai

Everything else I've heard has cautioned against it. Like, if you were in Russia and messed up big time, the USA would not be able to intervene diplomatically on your behalf.