eekee

If you are married to a Russian citizen, you can get temporary residency and then permanent residency, and you will have the right to be an independent contractor. However, it's a question of whether you have skills in demand in Russia. Amy mentioned English teaching, which is always an option, but it's not for everyone. I, for instance, hate it. You could always start a business or something though. There is a lot of opportunity in Russia; it is just kind of a risky game to play.

Major cities have services that will register you; I don't know about small ones. But there's certainly no reason to spend the night at a hotel.

Also, although I don't recommend it, I have never been asked about registration when leaving the country.

What other kind of proof have you heard rumor of? I am not disagreeing, nor would I be surprised. With the Contracting to outside agency's of the Russian Visa process and the other recent changes this could be yet another "task" in the path. I am actually surprised they have not yet demanded a medical insurance coverage document of some kind! Do tell please.

It has always kind of been required, but they wouldn't deny you for not having it, generally. Basically, the same sort of stuff Russians would require if they wanted an American visa: proof of income, letter from employer, etc. But whether this is actually required, I don't know yet it. But remember that getting a US visa has always been difficult and the Russian consulate has always more or less just wanted your money. There is not much danger of Americans staying in Russia illegally, after all.

Tourist visa. No, it's not an official invitation. It's a basic document from a travel agency. My point is that it doesn't mention anything about a hotel. You may be right that everything may go back to the way it was, more or less. In general, I'm just trying to say that there is a change-up going on so any information that is more than a couple months old may no longer be relevant and the OP should be aware of that.

Right, that is NOT an invitation and should not be called such, since in a Russian visa context it has a specific meaning. It is the same BS document that everyone here has gotten.

From what I have heard, not much has actually changed in the process itself but there are rumors they might expect more documentation in terms of proof of income, etc.

I never had to get a voucher. I had to get an invitation. The quote states that now an invitation plus a voucher is required. As all have said, this will probably get all swallowed up into some paper you can buy for a little money, but it is different than it used to be. The invitations I used to get were from a travel agency but never mentioned anything about a hotel.

Did you get a tourist visa? I have honestly never heard of any getting an OFFICIAL invitation for a tourist visa. Invitations are only issued by the government and they take like a month to get. I think you got a visa support document http://www.waytorussia.net/Services/VisaSupport/Tourist.html but that is not an official приглашение issued by the Russian government.

So far, everyone says the voucher thing still holds true and you just get a paper with a fake hotel reservation like always.

Get a tourist visa, not a private one.

Ideally we are looking at a 6-12 month visit to Russia. What do you think would be too long with regards to her citizenship process here? We want her family to see the baby, etc.

it won't let me paste a url, but basically, less than six months is fine. Anything more than that and you are taking a risk.

No one knows yet; it's too new. But nothing indicates anything like only being able to stay 90/180 days or anything. But I do think it would not be wise to live in Russia until your wife is a citizen. You spent all that money to get her to the US; enjoy it!

But yes, reading what you said after that, SMR, I agree that it is pointless if you want to go back and forth, especially with the new visa laws. I can think of one person off the top of my head out of every foreigner I've ever met here who has permanent residency, and he has told me that if he could do it all over again, he wouldn't bother. Even with not needing a work permit and having the right to work as an independent contractor, a lot of businesses that hire foreigners come across people with permanent residency so rarely that they don't even believe your documents are in order and that you don't need a work permit and so on.

What are you planning on doing in Russia? If you just want to teach English, then I definitely wouldn't bother because no one ever bothers with work permits for English teachers anyway. If you want to start a business of your own, it doesn't help that much because you'd still need an actual citizen for some legal stuff.

The other thing is that you have to claim to the the Russian government that you wrote a letter to the US embassy stating that you want to have your citizenship revoked. That presents a problem to most. I would actually say it's more significant that the OVIR thing.

That's if you want citizenship, not residency. Residency does not necessarily have to end in citizenship. It is perfectly fine to have American citizenship and Russian residency, and it is a boon because you no longer need a work permit. The disadvantage is, as I said, wasting days of your life at OVIR.

Thank you

Crazy, lol. I'll have her mom do the invitation then. Also do you know where I can find legit info on becoming a Russian resident?

Check out the expat.ru forums. If you do go this route, be prepared to spend a LOT of time at OVIR. Very few people actually go through with it for that reason, and with three-year visas, there's even less reason to go through with it now.

So there is contradictory information on the new visas. This site: http://ruscon.org/visa_dep_ENG.html#privatevisa says that a homestay (private) visa is only good for 90 days. Is this based on whether your spouse, traveling with you, or her mother writes the letter?

For instance Olga is a Russian Citizen and a conditional Permanent Resident of the US residing in the US. If she writes the letter and we travel together to Russia can I stay 90 days or 180 days between entries?

It seems so. The other kind would be from someone living in Russia. I, for instance, could invite you guys to come for three years. Your wife can't. Weird, whatever, it's Russia. You can have babushka or really anyone invite you though if you want to stay for longer. Or just get a business/tourist visa.

No one knows yet, but it should become clear. Probably an overnight trip to Ukraine or the Baltics or wherever will do it. That seems to be the consensus among people I know.

Well, на implies region, as does "the". На северо-западе, in the Northwest. So yes, i do think the use of в or на would lend itself to either subtracting or adding the article. I am not sure that, historically/linguistically, that Stalin is responsible for the use of "на". They were occupied by Poland and the Russian Empire long before Stalin was even born.

Are our politicians any different? They may not overtly scam everyone, but they have no problem getting millions and millions of dollars in other ways.

I've always wondered why our politicians are millionaires.

It takes money to get elected in the first place, generally. Most people don't work their way up from, say, municipal government.

Yeppers. "The Ukraine" is a derogatory term as is "Malo Russia".

I wouldn't say it's "derogatory," exactly; although both "на" and "the" imply it's a region and not an independent state.

I have a full right counting their money if they earned them by taking bribes while seniors starve.

Yeah, I am going to agree with San Diego. There may not be totally 100% honest politicans anywhere, but Russia really takes the cake in this regard.

The first paragraph explains a lot. In your second, it looks like you are saying that foreign marraige is an accepted way to access superior economic opportunities in the EU?

Well, I don't know so much about economic, exactly, but there is a perception that things are going to get worse before they are going to get better. Sure, we have nicer things here than before, especially in Moscow and Petersburg--there has definitely been a VAST improvement in terms of "things you can buy" even since I started coming to Russia. But now you can't show basically anything on TV before 11pm, you will have to pay extra to have your kids take classes like physics in school, Putin is talking about building up the military industrial complex, 1930s style, rather than focusing on the modernization of Russian industry, the church is becoming an ever more influential force to the detriment of basically everything...

Again, very interesting. Here, kids from Ukraine and Russia are said to be high risk. Meaning that there is a pretty high incidence of health or mental problems in the kids that are adopted out overseas. Not surprising that foreign adoption is viewed negatively in Russia either. It is no secret that many states here do a terrible job even fostering out American kids, let alone adopting.

About foreign marraige, I was unclear about something you posted. There is more opportunity for what in Europe exaclty? You could have meant marraige, happiness, careers (although that wouldn't make much sense).

Orphans in Russia, at least, have to be available for adoption for Russian parents for a certain amount of time before they are allowed to be placed with foreign families. So there is an even greater chance of getting a child with some sort of issue if you are foreign.

Even though unemployment and everything is better here than in most parts of Western Europe, wages are lower and there is a view that there is not much room for growth. And even if things aren't great in Europe now, they probably will be in the future and it's just seen as a better life, with working formal institutions. Also now they are making medicine and education paid, which sucks.

I meant what do they think about marrying foriegners generally. What is the consensus on adoption?

Adoption by foreigners is viewed negatively because there have been high profile cases where Russian kids were adopted by American families and things went very wrong.

I think with the political situation now, dating/marrying foreigners is seen positively because there is more opportunity in Europe and the US.

Interesting. What about your Russian friends opinion about this stuff? I met Vika in person also, but we are pretty far apart in age. Her family was more concerned about her being so far away though.

I just wonder if the average Russian thinks these relationships are GC scams, or human trafficking, or just another way to meet your second half?

I've never heard anybody mention it. Opinions on Americans adopting Russian kids? Yes. Opinions on Russian "mail order brides"? Never been brought up.

I am not sure who the "they" is here, but from Gary's response I am guessing it means American women? What I wonder is what Russian/Ukrainian people think if they are not involved in the process. My Ukrainian family is a pretty limited sample, and i wonder if others are as open minded.

I don't know anyone here who has tried this. I know people who have mentioned entering into a fake marriage to get to, say, Germany, but no one who has looked online for an American man. I know a couple of girls who went over on work/travel, fell in love, and immigrated, but it's received differently, I guess, when you're marrying someone in your general age group whom you met in real life.

I was referring to how my relatives have reacted to the fact that one of my cousins of sorts is currently in the CR-1 process with a RUB woman 20+ years younger than him. Everyone is happy for him because he is happy, but there is also some lingering fear about her intentions among males and females in family alike.

Yes and ironically they will view Gay marriage as something between two consenting adults which is perfectly OK. For the record...so do I. Because I believe consenting adults should do what they want, whether they are gay/straight or American/Russian/Ukrainian, black/white whatever.

Always amazes me...same people who want minimum wage and job benefits try to protect illegal immigrants who are here so employers can avoid paying minimum wages and benefits...people who believe in gay marriage don't think I should be able to go to Ukraine and get a smoking hot wife 12 years younger than myself. And what is bad, exactly, about a Ukrainian woman looking to improve her standard of living for herself and her children? #######? Don't we all try to do that? How many Americans will move from Michigan to North Carolina (for example) to get a better job and buy a better house, improve their living standards and life? THAT's OK, but a woman moving from Ukraine to the USA is just some sort of slave? Bought?

They either think that the American man wants to bring over a slave, or that the RUB woman is looking for an easy target so she can move to the US and then dump him, green card in hand.

Yes, but only if they are registered as permanent residents of another country at a local embassy. most people keep their Russian registration.

right, you're supposed to do it but most people keep their Russian registration and internal passport.