RUSSIAN WOMEN
This page is for single men thinking of looking to Russia for a nice unspoiled woman. I did that, found that, and am very happy with my little Russian. There's lots of info here you won't find on other Russian singles sites; this homepage gives a lot of information, all free, about what Russian women are all about and what to expect. I met my Russian wife from a Russian women's ad on the internet. She is an incredible lady and this match turned out very well. We were married in '98 and are still on the honeymoon; 6 1/2 years later. We communicate with several of her friends that have made it here and have successful marriages also.
A great site from which to obtain INS (immigration and naturalization service) information can be found at http://www.new2usa.com/ This is the fiasco you have to go through to get her over here. You have two options - bring her over on a fiance' visa, which gives you some time to decide whether or not to marry her or send her back; AFTER you fly over there and stay with her first and take some pics proving you did that. Or marry her over there and bring her back on an immigration visa. This method is a lot quicker than the finace' visa route but has more risk involved should the relationship not be good. DO NOT, under any circumstances, try to bring her over here on a Tourist Visa thinking you can marry her here and then submit paperwork to keep her here because it won't work and can jeopardize your ability to EVER get her back here. I gambled and went the immigration visa route and had her over here less than a month after we were married over there. Some of her friends have taken as long as 6 to 8 months and more to get here by going other routes. In Moscow the US INS is in the same building as the US Embassy/American Consulate, which makes it convenient as you have to be interviewed and submit paperwork to both entities there. I cover some of this further down. My best advice is that when you find the gal of your dreams, you also find a good immigration attorney and let him prepare the paperwork for about $1500 and get it right the first time. Plane rides back and forth to play trial and error will chew that cost up in one trip.
Our Story with pics of our family.
Great Russian women sites to find Russian women on; actually
includes all eastern European women, can be found at http://www.singlesites.com/foreignbridesfs.html
Or go to www.singlesites.com for
a comprehensive listing of virtually ALL singles sites.
Another site to visit is Top
Dates;
another is www.someonesincere.com
another is http://bride.ru/ph/htcgi/ladies/in-all/index1.html
http://BeHappy.com.ua dating and marriage service, a fairly new site.
http://www.bestphotosite.com/ has a new twist in that YOU as a man fill out your profile and post YOUR photo and Russian women then email YOU.
http://www.worldsbestchoice.com/ same with this site, YOU as a man fill out your profile and post YOUR photo and Russian women then email YOU.
If you are in the market for a good woman, with marriage on your
mind, these Russian ladies are hard to beat. I saw a Russian lady's picture on the
internet in January of '98 that just had that "I'm a nice person" look about
her. I became attached to the picture after revisiting her page many times and then
bought her address and wrote her a letter and sent some pics. On my birthday all
these funny little symbols showed up on my computer and it was her on e mail. We
e
mailed every day for about five months and I flew over to Russia to stay with her for
a couple weeks in August of '98. I wasn't prepared for what I found.
These are some of the nicest, most down to earth, unspoiled, unmaterialistic, smart, Suzy homemaker type women I have ever seen. It took less than a day to fall totally in love with my wife and when I left Russia that first trip I was in grief. Literally in shock; I cried for 11 solid hours on the plane ride back home. I'm sure the guy next to me didn't know what to think. How all those people; she, her kids, her parents, and her friends got into my heart so deeply in two short weeks I will never know. I flew back a second time two months later to marry her in Russia as it was the quickest way to get her over here. I was going nuts without her and nothing else mattered except to be with her. If you are interested in the whole story , go to here ; it's a long tale of love and faith in our spirit helpers. Yahweh had a hand in this one. My marriage to this woman is nothing short of fantastic; God certainly looked out for me this time. The kids learned English quickly and adjusted to school rapidly. Now they are even learning a third language, Spanish, as we have moved to Mexico for good. They make their beds every morning, keep their rooms picked up, do dishes after dinner, do their homework without being told, and get good grades in school - pretty tough deal to beat. It's now 2005; we just celebrated our sixthth anniversary in Oct and we are still on the honeymoon.
This is a letter I received from a gentleman who had journeyed to Yoshkar-Ola (a 15 hour trainride east from Moscow) to meet the woman of his dreams. He has much information here, so I will copy it as it was sent to me. I based my initial interest in making this journey on this man's letter. I did that trainride and found my dream in Yoshkar-Ola too. Never been to a city before that had that many beautiful women in one place.
His letter:
"Sorry I did not reply sooner, Actually, I just returned from USSR last night, was gone for two weeks. Here is a ton of information I think you will definitely find useful. In my own case, my lady is coming to America in about two weeks. I am really excited.
Regarding the attitudes of the Russian Ladies, simply
put -They are the best! Regarding
the Russian Women, and in particular the gals from Yoshkar-ola, I have written to and
talked to gals from all over Russia. The thing that I like about the women from
Yoshkar-Ola, is that the region of Mari-El is one
of the poorest regions in all of Russia. Women over there are used to not having much.
Also, most of the men especially in Yoshkar-Ola are either alcoholics, unfaithful, lazy,
abusive, or all of the above. There is an
abundance of beautiful women there, and all over Russia, and apparantly no decent men
around. In many ways the women are very strong and self sufficient and very savy, because
they have had to be to survive, and yet, there is a certain naivete to them that really
appeals to me compared to the big city Russian women I have talked to. The big city gals
seem to be much more materialistic. The Yoshkar-Ola Ladies just want a good man to care
for them. Most of them earn 20-30 dollars a month when they get paid at all.
Most American women it seems only care how big your house is, and how much is in your
wallet. In contrast, Kate (my lady over there) told me that she didn't care where or how
we lived or how much I made, (or didn't make.) That is sooo refreshing! Also, Kate says
that she has never seen a mountain before, never eaten Chinese, Mexican, or several other
cuisines, never gone bowling, or to an amusement park, never ridden on a roller coaster,
etc. . Well, you get the idea. Being with them as they experience all of these things for
the first time is almost like it is your first experience as well. Every day, is suddenly
a new and exciting adventure as you rediscover life's little pleasures and relive them
through their eyes.
I think though, that if you do not speak Russian, definitely find a lady who speaks
english. Otherwise it can prove to be a frustrating experience. Believe me, there are
plenty of gorgeous Russian ladies who know
enough English to get by. If they are highly motivated enough, they will learn our
language.
AIRFARE-
Summers are definitely more expensive. (High Season)airfare can be expensive also, but
sometimes Aeroflot has specials, on "W' clas tickets, (extremely limited
availability. Their recent promotion was RT from NYC-JFK to Moscow for only 229 Dollars,
so keep in touch with your travel agent. Buy your tickets well in advance to get
the lowest rates and buy them on the internet for cheapest fares.
OTHER ADVICE
If you don't know how to say anything else in Russian, learn these three words-
Vwee Gavaritsi Pangleeski (Do you speak English?)
A surprising number of people in Russia Speak English, Particularily women who are say in
their twenties or early thirties. Many Women have become very motivated to learn English
in hopes of establishing a relationship with an American man.
Other useful words:
Spasiba (Thank you)
Spasiba Bolshoi (Thank you Very much) (The word Bolshoi means "big" or
"great"for instance the Bolshoi theatre...)
Pashowlsta (Please)
Izveneetya (Excuse me)
There are three types of Visas. Tourist, Private, and Business. Tourist Visas are
inconvenient because you have to have hotel reservations with a hotel that is registered
with the authorities, and you can only stay at
those hotels. When in Russia, you must register with either the local authorities or with
your hotel within three days of arriving at your destination. A private visa requires an
invitation or "Izveschenie" which
takes about a month or more to get. Personally, I think that the best way to go is to get
a Business Visa. With a Business Visa you dont have the problems with hotel Arrangements
that you would with a tourist Visa. That can save you a lot of money on Hotels in Russia
which surprisingly are more expensive than stateside.
Also, if you go, I can reccomend a place in Washington D.C. called Russia House. The can
get you a Business Visa good for 90 days with either single or double entry. Russia House
apparantly has the right connections, because they can offer 7 day turn around service.
plus they are in Washington D.C.
convenient to the Russian Consulate there. Russia House's phone number is (202)
986-6010. Ask to speak to Edward or Chris Poor. You can tell Edward that I referred you. I
get the impression that Russia House wants to keep a low profile, and so, I would
appreciate it if you don't distribute their name or number around on the internet or
usenet groups. Let's just say that they are a very well kept secret...
One thing about Russia, you can accomplish about anything or get out of about any trouble
if you either have a connection or have money. Money seems to solve all problems over
there. Keep some dollars handy If you ever do get in a legal bind over there, just play
stupid...
Food and Clothing are comparable in price to America and may be even more
expensive in the big cities.
Take Your Own Toilet Paper!!!
If you are fortunate enough to find a bathroom that actually has paper in it, you will
find that Russian Toilet Paper only comes in one grade. Coarse... Alright, its not quite
as bad as sandpaper, but you get the point.
Carry a roll with you in case nature calls, because I can almost guarantee that any public
facility will not have any. The Train to Yoshkar-Ola leaves from the Kazinsky Station at
around 2 pm and gets into Yoshkar-Ola the next morning at around 6 AM I think. You will be
in a coupe with up to three other people. There is a small table for eating on, and beds.
You will need to pay an additional fee for clean bedsheets once that the train gets going.
Private Coupes with only 2 beds are available but are more expensive. On the first stop
about an hour
or so East of Moscow you will stop at a town called Vekolvko (or something like that)
There is a glass factory there, and the locals who work there get part of their
compensation in factory goods. The people know exactly when the train comes through town,
and are there waiting outside the train when
it arrives. This is a great opportunity to pick up some absolutely beautiful glassware at
great Prices, for instance you can get a set of 8 crytal goblets for around 400 Rubles
($20.00) Maybe less if you don't act too interested too fast. There's a fine art to
waiting long enough for the locals to drop their prices, and yet still have enough time to
make your purchase before the train leaves.
Keep an eye on any valuables at all times if possible. Make at least three or four copies
of your passport and visa and put a copy in each of your bags. You lose your Visa or your
passport and dont have a copy, You WILL NOT leave the country until the embassy or
consulate can issue you another one.
This could take days, weeks, months... Who knows?
Also, Don't show your money or count it in public. Not only is this unsafe, but it is
considered to be bad manners in Russia. If you need to discuss finances with someone.
especially in terms of dollars, do it privately away from the public eye.
Prepare for a culture shock. The standard of living is far lower than in America. Most of
the Public Toilet facilities are pretty smelly and not the cleanest (Actually, they are
downright disgusting!). I reccomend using the facilities in your hotel room or at the home
of a friend if at all possible.
The one thing that makes everything worth the trip are the people. Russian people are some
of the best, kindest, people that I know. One thing to keep in mind, is that the typical
conversation between two Russians is a little louder than a comparable American
conversation. You see two Russian men conversing, and you think that by the way they are
talking so loudly at each other, that they are either arguing, or at least angry with each
other. In reality, this is a normal conversation.
Restaurants. They are very expensive especially in Moscow.Believe it or not, in Moscow it
is not hard to find yourself paying $100.00 or more for a dinner. Before you eat in a
restaurant,have a look at the menu. I reccomend eating in what are called cafe's. The food
is good, and is much more moderately priced.
ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY DO NOT DRINK THE WATER!!!!
I cannot stress this enough! The water is known to contain some bacterias including
Giardia. Even when you shower. Keep water from getting in your eyes, nose, mouth, etc. I
am serious! Even in the cafe's/restaurants some of the drinks are made using local water.
I reccomend drinking sodas or bottled juices.
Keep in mind, that much of the bottled water that you will find for sale is mineral water
(carbonated)If you want uncarbonated bottled water look for Spring water, and ask if you
are not sure if it's carbonated or not.
One last piece of advice. If you decide that you want to bring your Female lady to America
on a fiancee Visa, I recommend getting several pictures of the two of you taken in a well
known public place and have them developed in Russia to make sure that they develop OK.
This is a requirement for her K1 Visa. Also, you need to bring with you pictures of both
her and also of any children that she may have that conform to INS Guidlines. The best
thing to do is to stop by an INS Office and pick up a K1 fiancee Visa package BEFORE you
go to Russia. There is one form that she will need to fill out and sign. Since mail takes
from 3-4 weeks to get from Yoshkar-Ola to America, waiting for paperwork and/or pictures
can delay your processing by a month or more.
ALSO, Don't waste your money on an expensive Immagration attorney. (I made that mistake)
He can't do much for you that you can't already do your self, short of review your
application before sending to I.N.S.
P.S. The best piece of advice I can offer is to stop by an I.N.S. office and pick up a K1-
fiance Visa application package BEFORE you go to Russia. While in Russia take several
pictures of the two of you together and have them developed in Russia. I heard one horror
story about some poor guy who went
over to Russia to meet his Fiance' took a whole roll of them together, and upon returning
to America discovered that the film had not loaded properly, and not one picture of the
two of them together developed. He had to go back for a couple of Pictures. Also, take the
K1 fiancee package to Russia, because there is some historical information that your
fiancee will need to fill out and a form that she needs to sign. Finally, while you are
there, get Visa Pictures of your Fiancee and any children that she may have taken in
Russia and bring them to America with you.(This little "minor" detail has
delayed my bringing Kate and her daughter over by 3-4 weeks! These pictures ***MUST***
conform to INS Guidlines exactly! The picture guidelines are
contained in the k1 fiancee Visa package available at the INS office.
INFORMATION ON FIANCEE VISAS
By law, a fiancee petition can only be filed in the United States at an office of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The petitioner must be a U.S. Citizen.
However, U.S. citizens may submit petitions abroad (as opposed to filing with the
INS in the U.S.) for the following immediate
relatives: spouses, minor unmarried children, and parents.
Submitting a petition is the first step to receiving a visa for your fiancee. The Fiancee;
Petition (form I-129-F) can be obtained from the INS Regional Service Center in the U.S.
closest to your residence. When the INS
office sends you the petition, they will also include two G-325-A biographic
information forms. You must fill out completely both the petition and biographic
information forms. Please note that failure to mention any previous marriages on
these forms will result in the petition being returned to INS from the relevant Embassy
for re- adjudication. You should also receive an affidavit of support (I-134) form from
INS. If you do not, you may request one from them. Your fiancee can also forward to you
the one he/she will receive from the Embassy once her/his case is being processed.
When submitting the I-129-F form for approval, be sure to include all of the following
documents: a photocopy of your U.S. passport identification page (plus a copy of your
naturalization document if you are a naturalized citizen); a photocopy of your fiancee's
birth certificate with a translation; photocopies of any death certificates of a previous
spouse that you or your fiancee may have and photocopies of any divorce decrees
terminating a previous marriage that you and your fiancee may have, with translations; two
passport-size photographs of both yourself and your fiancee, attached to the bottom of the
G-325 biographic forms; a photograph of the two of you together to prove you have met; and
copies of birth
certificates of any minor children your fiancee may have, with translations. Question 14
on the I-129F asks you to list the names and dates of birth of any children your fiancee
may have. Children up to the age of 21 may accompany their parent to the U.S., or may
follow-to-join at any time up to one year after the parent receives his/her visa.
You may wish to enclose the affidavit of support with your petition. You will also need to
send INS a check for $80 for the petition adjudication fee. For an additional fee, the INS
adjudicating office will send a cable
notification of the petition's approval, called a "Visas 71", to the designated
Embassy overseas, cutting down waiting time by about three weeks.
The Embassy understands that INS will accept uncertified photocopies of documents. Please
do not take your fiancee's original birth certificate or proof of termination of any prior
marriages (divorce decrees or death certificates) back to the U.S. with you. Your fiancee
will need to present them to the consular officer at the time of the visa interview.
Once the petition has been approved, INS will notify you and forward the petition to
Moscow for all fiancees residing in Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia and
Azerbaijan. For residents of Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia, the petitions will be
forwarded to the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, and for residents of Estonia, to the U.S. Embassy
in Helsinki.
Once this Embassy receives an approved fiancee petition or cable notification of an
approved petition, we immediately send a set of biographic instructions and applications
known as "Packet Three" to your
fiancee. When your fiancee returns the required form in Packet Three back to us, we then
schedule him or her for an appointment and mail him/her the appointment letter and another
set of documents known as "Packet Four".
Packet Four includes documents regarding the required medical exam, a police certificate
request form, and an affidavit of support. You will need to fill out the affidavit of
support in order to show that your fiancee
will not become a public charge in the U.S. Please include copies of your most recent tax
returns or a letter from your employer noting your current salary and length of
employment. If you are still attending college or for some other reason cannot fill out an
affidavit for your fiancee, parents or siblings may do so for you. Attached you will find
an affidavit and the Embassy's addresses for mailing the affidavits directly to us. Please
note that the affidavit itself must be notarized. For that reason, we do not accept faxed
copies of that document.
Please be advised that the soonest an adult Russian citizen can be scheduled for a fiancee
visa interview is four weeks after receipt of the approved petition. The actual timing
will depend on how quickly your
fiancee is able to respond to our Packet Three notification. Given the uncertainties of
the post-Soviet mail system, many applicants find it easier to come straight to Moscow
once they know we have received their
approved petitions.
Applicants who live outside of Moscow and decide to come here to complete the visa process
all in one trip need to bring their original birth certificate, a statement from the
police showing whether or not they have a
criminal record, proof of termination of previous marriages, plus the birth certificates
of any minor children who plan to go to the United States. If your fiancee was previously
married and has any minor children, it is also necessary to provide a written statement of
consent from the prior spouse for the children to permanently move to the U.S.
Fiancees may come to the Embassy any afternoon between two and four o'clock p.m. to pick
up and fill out Packet Three, schedule their interviews and pick up Packet Four. Since it
takes about one week for the Embassy to receive the results of the medical examination,
some fiancees choose to remain in Moscow from the time they take their medical exam until
the date of their interview at the Embassy. The fee for the medical exam is $100.00 for
adults, and $75.00 for children, payable in rubles.
Once found qualified for visa issuance, your fiancee will receive a non-immigrant visa in
his/her passport, valid for one entry into the U.S. at any time within the next 6 months.
He/she will also receive a separate
immigrant visa packet to present to the immigration officials at the U.S. border. If you
decide that you do not wish to marry within the 90 days for which your fiancee will be
admitted to the U.S., you are obliged to ensure that your fiancee does not remain in the
United States. At this time, there is no fee for a K-1 visa.
The United States Embassy in Moscow hopes that you will find this information helpful.
Following are the addresses you may use to send information to us. The Immigrant Visa
Section direct lines are
011-7-095-956-4225 and 956-4241. For regular mail, which takes about three
weeks, use the following address:
U.S. Embassy Moscow
Consular Section
PSC 77
APO AE 09721
Attn: Immigrant Visa Unit
For faster service (about one week), using international courier services
such as DHL or Federal Express, the following address should be used:
121099 Moskva, Rossiya
Novinskiy Bulvar, 19/23
Posolstvo CSHA (USA)
Konsulskiy Otdel
Good luck!
Bob Hotchkiss "
Ber's comments:
Well, a lot of information there, huh. He's right about a lot of things. First the women of Yoshkar-Ola are very beautiful; I never saw so many short skirts and "10" legs in one place in my whole life. Second they are very unspoiled and unmaterialistic. My wife has been over here since Nov 22,'98, now and has not asked for one dime. I have to force money on her. I cannot get her to buy things in expensive mall shops; only after we have exhausted all the available Value Village shops and Goodwill stores will she consider buying things from regular stores. And they are workers - that's all they get to do over there is work and sleep - they have no recreational time or facilities like we do. My wife is a great cook, she sews, she gardens, she cleans the debris out of the pastures when I'm off working and cuts down the scotch broom to burn; unbelievable, really; and what a love. She melts the hearts of all that meet her. The kids are adopting very well and I have become "dad". It was not a hard transition. The 14 year old has surpassed both her older brother and her mom in spoken English as well as Spanish; we now live in Mexico. She had a vocabulary like mine was in Russian , about a dozen words. Now she's Miss Motormouth.
I'm not sure I agree with Bob on the Immigration Lawyer issue. When I flew over the first time to meet Irina I had no intention on doing anything other than obtaining a Fiancee' Visa for her to come over here on which gave us 90 days to determine if this was real and doable or not. First, I had not planned on giving my heart up on the first day over there like I did. But if you were to know Irina, you would see how easy that was to do. Secondly when I came back and submitted Fiancee Visa paperwork; I didn't do it just right and it came back to me three weeks later. I just lost three weeks. Then I discovered there was such a backlog of Fiancee' Visa submissions that it was going to be a six month process at the very best. I could see that it wouldn't take too many mistakes in this process to pay the $1000 to $1500 cost of a good immigration lawyer. One airtrip to Russia and back puts a pretty good hole in a $1000 bill. So I used an attorney who had been a consulate himself for many years before switching sides of the fence to get it right the first time. If you would like to consult with him, his name is David Merrell and his e mail address is dwmerrell@seanet.net He did a good job for us. I decided I wasn't going to wait six months for Irina so I flew back over to Russia in Oct'98, married her there, and brought her home in November '98 on an Immigration Visa. Since both the American Embassy as well as INS is in the same building in Moscow, petitioning the Embassy and submitting for the Immigration Visa can be done at almost the same time. David prepared all the paperwork, we submitted it as instructed, and everything went fairly smoothly. I know all the above sounds a little scarry but the procedure isn't that bad and if you have a little patience it all happens.
The language barrier was not the big problem I thought it would be. Irina knew some written English but not a lot of spoken English. On our first meeting we discovered soon that if we wrote things out on a tablet, we could communicate. Then we discovered if I talked real slow, we could communicate. And she had a Russian to English dictionary and I had purchased a Russian-English translator type calculator (model ER486T - from ZEM software at webmaster@zem.co.uk) that both wrote out as well as spoke both languages. Between all four methods we broke the barrier. I also purchased a translation software program ProMT from ibtusa@home.com to translate my letters to and from her parents and friends with. It works good; I still use it when I write letters to mom. The language barrier does not have to be a big issue.
Well, I guess that's about it unless you want the full story about Irina and I . If you want the complete details go to Our Story ; it's almost a novel in itself.
Good luck! Ber
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