PJB

Re: New Russian laws for registration of dual citizens.......

Me...USA citizen

Hubby....Russian citizen with USA greencard

When hubby's Russian international passport expired last year he was not allowed to renew it until he was registered in the San Francisco Russian Consulate as a "Russian citizen living in America".

He still has an apt in Russia and is also registered there. So far no problems at passport control in America or Russia. (He travels to Russia 2x yearly)

We also have a lot of friends and family in Russia and worry that Putin's anti-western campaign will make it difficult or impossible to visit. Due to this new law on registering foreign passports in Russia we are holding off on his USA citizenship because it could be used to take away his Russian property or keep him out of Russia if Putin goes back to Soviet style laws.

My husband has a ten year greencard but his home country passport is due to expire this month. While on a visit to his country last January he got a new passport. He picked it up the day before flying home and found they had completely misspelled his name in English!!! He came back to the USA on the old passport but he's been here 3 years now and we want to apply for his American citizenship. Can he apply using the old expired passport? Or do we need to use the new passport with a name that no longer matches his green card (at least the photos match)?

He's here! My husband made it through the immigration process and is here for good! No more immigration paperwork until citizenship!!!

Thanks, everyone, for all your help along the way!

And, of course, you were right, POE was no big deal.

Hoorah Lesha!

And today you two will be in Los Angeles.

We're going to Disneyland !!!!!

Congradulations! We got approved on Aug 10 for Yuri's green card too but my post about the interview seems to have evaporated into thin air !

Our interview was fast and easy. Said the oath and as soon as we sat down the officer ripped the I-94 out of Yuri's passport and X'd out the K3 visa. At that point I knew he'd been approved before we even got there. Next came the questions which were only going down the biographics pages (our names, birthdates, places of birth etc) then the standard "root out the Commie/Nazi terrorists" questions. I did all the translating for Yuri who was baffeled by such questions as "Have you ever pretended to be an American so as to obtain benefits? and "Have you ever voted in an American election?" After I said the literal translation he gave me such a confused look that I just told him to go ahead and say "No" and I'd explain later

The officer then typed into her computer and handed us a printed "Congradulations" letter with a red stamp on it then said "Welcome to America!"

We were done so fast we had the rest of the day to celebrate!!!

We got the greencard approval on Monday! Our interview was a breeze, no nasty attitudes or tough questions. The officer was all serious and official for the initial 10 minutes, take the oath, turn over passports, EAD card and SSI card. Then she immediately ripped the I-94 out of the passport and crossed out the K3 visa (which made me think we had already been approved before we even got there). Next she opened our file to the biographics page and asked us each all the questions on it (name, DOB, mother's name, etc) checking them off as we answered. We told her that Yuri doesn't speak English well so I translated for him. She then asked the standard "dumb" list of questions (are you a communist?, have you ever voted in the USA?, have you ever pretended to be an American?). Next she asked if we had any other documents for her so I gave her the sealed medical report and 2 bank statements, 1 animal hospital receipt and an envelope all with both our names and our current address on them. Then she worked on her computer for about 5 minutes and suddenly turned all friendly and cheerful saying "Congradulations! Your Green card should arrive in 2 weeks to 60 days."

We celebrated all day !!!!

We have our interview on Aug 10! Hoorah!!! Now to start putting together our LAST (I hope) pile of documents.

I really miss sala. Russian sala is good but Ukrainian sala is to die for.......

Nope always read FSU as Former Soviet Union which is pretty silly by itself anyway since Russians and people who lived in the former soviet union dont refer to themselves that way.

We always say Sovietskee Sigh-yous.

Our favorite language joke turned into bad habit is to stick an English plural on the end of a Russian plural.........tooflees, noagies. Any Russian word that I find amusing to the ear I turn it into a joke and there we go, trashing the language. One of my favorites was garbageman which I found too long and difficult to pronounce in Russian. So I started calling him the "mooser man" and now it's stuck. Our neighbors in Russia thought we were a really weird couple

Second piece of advice, go to the toilet in your hotel or flat. In Sochi, it is 10-20 rubies for a toilet. Oh, but before you start saying that is only 33-67 cents; you need to experience this sort of toilet. The plastic box kind were so full they overflowed when you opened the door because of the flexion of the plastic-and I am not speaking of overflow of the blue tidy bowl type water used in American Port-a-lets. An Army NBC gas mask would not protect you from the horrid smells of this sort of box of horrors. Then there were the 20 rubies toilet rooms with the older babuska collecting money and giving you two squares of toilet paper for wiping. One there is no frickin toilet, only a couple formed pads in the base for your two feet and you hang it over the hole-and I am not speaking of hangin my 12 inches over the bowl but my buns. Just because you shelled out a couple extra rubies does not mean it is clean. I have been in autopsy's of 10 day old floaters that smelled better.

We spent a night in a tourist class room in Lvov once. Shared shower and squat-down facilities. Let's just say it was an adventure. And mox is right about the malls. The facilities were (marginally) cleaner than the regular public ones, though a few kopeka pricier.

My favorite toilets in Russia are on the overnight trains. The metal toilets are regular raised toilets but they have footpads ON the seat! They are open to the track below and the floor has a thick rubber mat on it that is dry only for the first 1/2 hour out of the station. Within a few hours one needs waders to enter which explains why all russian girls wear 4 inch spike high heels. But I can't figure out how they balance on the footpads when the train is swinging and swaying like a carnival ride.

^Actually often they'll want someone with a BA.

I found that the jobs that required a BA and a "certificate" paid the worst and worked the teachers to death. I did private classes in my home and taught at a preschool for super rich kids. Although my degree is not in teaching, Russians hire nurses and psychologists all the time for teaching children. I also have the benefit of years of experience teaching kids in various American programs which really helped me in creating lesson plans. But teaching English requires more than just teaching phrases and quickie tourist conversations. It is essential that you have a good understanding of grammer and know enough Russian to be able to translate words and concepts correctly.

This is true: ones which require a certificate are generally bad and farm you out to state schools (Language Link etc). But good ones like to see a BA anyway, I think, although they have no problems hiring people who are currently students at a Russian university. All schools say they want certificates, but only the bad ones make you take a course and get a certificate. If you present yourself as having an excellent grasp on the language and a solid understanding of grammar, they will hire you, no problem. Plus my BA is in Russian, so I think that helped me out somewhat, too, because I probably spent 20% of my undergraduate work just doing grammar.

Just knowing English, as you said, is really not enough to keep you employed. And a lot of Americans don't even have a basic grasp on English grammar themselves.

Were you in SPb? I seem to remember that... I was also offered a job at a preschool for rich kids there and it was probably the same one, but I turned it down because I don't work well with children.

I worked in Moscow but lived in Dmitrov (1 1/2 hours north by electrichka). I taught at a preschool near the Indian Embassy. My American coworkers who lived in the city were making $100 an hour (2 hour minimum lesson) doing private teaching for the rich kids at their homes. I lived too far away and had too many private students in Dmitrov to be able to take private students in Moscow. But I was paid $36 an hour for my time at school so I did quite well anyway.

^Actually often they'll want someone with a BA.

I found that the jobs that required a BA and a "certificate" paid the worst and worked the teachers to death. I did private classes in my home and taught at a preschool for super rich kids. Although my degree is not in teaching, Russians hire nurses and psychologists all the time for teaching children. I also have the benefit of years of experience teaching kids in various American programs which really helped me in creating lesson plans. But teaching English requires more than just teaching phrases and quickie tourist conversations. It is essential that you have a good understanding of grammer and know enough Russian to be able to translate words and concepts correctly.

I guess, more importantly, my question is how are you going to pay for going back and forth between the two and changing countries every six months? How do you maintain more than one household? I understand it's possible to rent the property while you're gone, but assuming you kick out the tennants when you return, where does the income come from?

We own our homes free and clear, we have retirement savings, we both are pretty lucky at getting quick jobs in either country, we are used to living well on very little and we have Aeroflot Bonus program in which we earn lots of discounts and free airfare.

There's already imported peanut butter.

We could not find it in Siberia or Eastern Russia; most we spoke with never tasted it but loved it.

You don't have to import it, I used to make my own. P-nut butter in and around Moscow was about $6 a jar for Skippy (Stockman's grocery) and $4-5 a jar for some funky tiny jar of "American Brand". I got tired of using up my luggage weight allowance to bring in stashes of the stuff so I started making my own. A 2 cup bag of salted peanuts is cheap over there, buzz them in the coffee grinder then add a few drops of sunflower oil. Presto! Fresh and chemical free natural p-nut butter.

But if you don't want to go into the food business (a lot of hassel bribing all the local thugs and government officials) Americans can make a good living teaching English. That's what I did for 5 years.

okay I gotta do this , here we go eh...

One thing we dont do in America is say Eh.....

Okay I wount say eh....

oops I said that word... I am Canadian what do you want... eh

In Russia a common and "no big deal" remark is "Knyeshna!" (Of Course!!) Which sounds very rude when said in English with the same intonation used for konyeshna.................

We still own our apt in Dmitrov (renting it out now) and our current home in Los Angeles. The only problem I see ahead is the constantly changing visa aquisition problems for me to enter and stay in Russia. Everytime the Russian government changes the rules for lengthy visas we have to look around for an agency that can get around the system of visa invitation and registration.

Just found this thread. We sent in our AOS April 20, biometrics done May 21 and EAD arrived June 5. No NOA for AOS yet. I would put us on the graph but can't figure out how to do it..........

This is our plan too, to someday be able to travel freely between our two countries and have a home in each. I lived in Russia five years with my husband and he has been here since early Dec. We like and enjoy both countries in spite of the negative aspects of each. The joy of moving back and forth would be that just as we start to go crazy from one country's drawbacks we can hop on a plane and go back "home" until that country drives us crazy!

My five years in Russia were spent trying to find room in our tiny apt for all of the boxes, bags and packing materials we saved. In Russia (maybe because we're older and Hubby lived through Soviet and Deficit times) we saved and reused EVERYTHING including washing and reusing grocery bags and ziplock bags. But here in America while we do recycle and reuse we can't possible use all of the copious amounts of disposables that come free with everything we buy! Though I do go into a terrible mental struggle everytime I have a pickle or p-nut butter jar to toss ("This is a Horoshee Banke! great for canning summer jams, storing leftovers, or making sugared lemons!").

We also have the leftover problems. But since I'm the kitchen Nachalnik I quickly cover and Tupperware any free floating foods. But I can't seem to convince Hubs that throwing out old leftovers is not a sin in America. I keep telling him that the hospital bills here are really expensive and trying to economize by eating rotten food is just not cost effective!

My hubby and I are dealing with the Russian culturisms that pop up daily as he makes the adjustment to American life. Thought others may like to share some of theirs too. Here goes!

Honey, we don't need to save ALL of the cardboard, boxes, plastic and other junk from everything we buy.

Honey, the pool house is not a сарай, people use it to change into their swimsuits. Please take all of the cardboard boxes, plastic and junk out of there.

Honey, please don't load up the grocery cart with 300 of everything. The store will have the same stuff next week, next month, and forever.....

The EAD card came in the mail yesterday (we're doing the Happy Dance ). I guess things are moving so I won't stress or worry about the goofy online system for now.

We have the receipt notice for our AOS with a notice date of April 29, 2009 but every time I try to enter the Receipt Number into our USCIS online file it gets rejected. A red note pops up that says I am trying to enter a file that does not exist! Hubby has already been to Biometrics and has already been approved for his EAD for which the online site says the card has been ordered and should arrive within 30 days. I mailed the applications for both the AOS and EAD together to the same place. Any ideas? Calling the USCIS phone number is something that I dread. Sitting and waiting forever for someone who will never answer just ruins my whole day. Has anyone had this experience?

I had always wanted to go on the TransSiberian until I actually traveled on Russian trains. Now the thought of spending a week on a Russian train, no bath, filthy toilets, stuck in a tiny 4 bunk compartment with creepy strangers (who also haven't bathed) just plain gives me the shivers!

Spitting 3X is an important tool in fighting off the bad luck. Never describe someone's illness or injury by pointing to your own body parts or you will find yourself covered in Russian spit!

My husband had to register me in his flat in Moscow several years ago when I was on a visa through a school. We ended up paying double the monthly bills on heat, cold water, hot water, gas and taxes. And even though I was only there for 6 weeks he had to pay extra on the bills for the whole 3 month length of the visa! After that I "bought" visas from agencies that registered me with "businesses" and never registered in our apt again!

In the US it is a standard health practice to test for TB by placing a PPD skin test as described above. The fluid that is injected is not actually testing for TB but for ANTIBODIES to TB. But antibodies to TB may have been aquired not just by infection but also by vaccination against TB. Many countries routinely vaccinate their children against TB. If you were ever vaccinated you need a chest Xray instead of a PPD to screen for TB because you will always have a positive PPD reading. I told the nurse at our medical exam that my husband was vaccinated as a child and that the PPD was both a waste of time and money, he needed only a chest X-Ray. But USCIS has their rules and there is no allowance for deviation. A PPD MUST be done whether it is indicated medically or not. So we had to waste the money and time on the PPD which was positive (Gee! What a surprise!) and follow it up with the $45 X-Ray which was negative.