Requesting Advice for Purchasing Flight

[dogspot 90]

This question is for all of you out there who have already had their second half arrive to them from Russia. My fiancee's interview is on 3/24 and she has told me that she would like to leave to come here as soon as 3/29. Of course, I would like to spend as little $ as possible, while still making it comfortable for her. I know if I buy her ticket now, I will likely save a lot of $. So my question is, should I buy her ticket now or wait until after her interview? How many days after the interview did it take for your fiancee to receive her visa? Did anyone request for DHL to hold the visa for their fiancee to pick it up in person? OK, that was more than one question. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

(BTW, if I purchase her ticket today, one way from Moscow to Los Angeles, it will cost me as little as $680 after taxes. That's tough to beat.)

[Jasman0717 9]

Its better to wait until the visa is issued. You can't always count on the embassies doing what you want them to do.

[mox 298]

Never buy your tickets until tickets are in hand. Just don't do it unless you have money to burn on re-issue fees. Only about 6 months ago we had someone here on the RU forum buy tickets in advance and wound up having them re-issued twice, which turned a good deal on tickets into a terrible deal. Delays can and do happen. You have the rest of your life to be together, so holding off a few days or even weeks isn't so bad.

[Neonred 3,517]

My wife had her interview in March a few years back. The interview was on a Friday and we had the passport with visa held at the DHL office. We went back to her city for one week and on our return to Moscow we picked up the visa package at the DHL office. I think it took about 3 days to be issued and arrive at DHL. Since the 24th is a Tuesday, I would be a little worried about flying out on Sunday the 29th, or even the 30th as I think you would probably want to pick up the package on the 30th.

It IS a risk, as there is no guarantee that it will be issued without some delay as others have said. I took the risk and it worked for us.

[John24689 0]

I agree, don't buy the tickets until she has the visa in hand. I understand your wanting to get the tickets now, but things happen. Good luck.

[Brad and Vika 129]

My only thought is that a week might not be long enough, just in case there is a delay in assembly or something. We interviewed in Kiev, and I bought my ticket way in advance. I did have to change the date once because of the interview date being later than I thought, but we also got the visa by picking it up in Kiev in about two days. Our tickets back were for two weeks after the interview. Maybe Russia interviews are different, but that was our experience. I also attended the interview. Good Luck!

Edited February 2, 2009 by Brad and Vika

[mox 298]

My only thought is that a week might not be long enough, just in case there is a delay in assembly or something. We interviewed in Kiev, and I bought my ticket way in advance. I did have to change the date once because of the interview date being later than I thought, but we also got the visa by picking it up in Kiev in about two days. Our tickets back were for two weeks after the interview. Maybe Russia interviews are different, but that was our experience. I also attended the interview. Good Luck!

Do you mean you flew to Kyiv for the interview, or you actually attended it with her? I haven't heard of that happening too often, although Ecuador seems to actually require it these days, according to one of my friends.

[dogspot 90]

Thank everyone for your replies. I have decided to wait until she has visa in hand before buying the ticket. I noticed that some carriers are currently offering the same rates whether you buy the ticket for the following day or for a flight 2 months out. Maybe this trend will continue. Now I need to convince Yulia that it is a good idea to pick her passport/visa up from the DHL office.

[PJB 0]

My husband got his K3 visa within one week of the interview. But we waited until he had the visa in hand before buying a ticket. He found that the nonrefundable round trip within 30 days tickets were the cheapest, then just blew off the return ticket after he got here.

[Satellite 1]

It depends on how much of a risk taker your are.

(1) If you buy in advanced you are betting to have the visa in hand before you must fly. Which in most case is a saving of X dollars.

(2) If you are buying the tickets after you may lose some money on a lost deal but it will serve as insurance and piece of mind. Let's call that an overpayment of Y dollars.

(3) If you buy in advance and no visa is in hand at the time of the scheduled flight, what kind of loss will you experience in (1) changing the tickets or (2) refunding them, let's call that Z dollars lost.

So now do the math and take the option depending on what level of risk you feel comfortable with.

When I did this in 2004, I gambled and went with the first option and won. Other experiences have varied. Most cases are success based on VJ stories.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Satellite

[Neonred 3,517]

Thank everyone for your replies. I have decided to wait until she has visa in hand before buying the ticket. I noticed that some carriers are currently offering the same rates whether you buy the ticket for the following day or for a flight 2 months out. Maybe this trend will continue. Now I need to convince Yulia that it is a good idea to pick her passport/visa up from the DHL office.

I do think the number of people receiving their visa a few days after the interview far outweighs the number that have some type of delay. If you have decided to wait then there is no point in picking up the visa at the DHL office in Moscow unless she is living in Moscow. In fact it could be a problem if she decides to go and pick it up the day before her flight and finds there is something wrong that needs correction.

[Corey-Mariya 14]

This question is for all of you out there who have already had their second half arrive to them from Russia. My fiancee's interview is on 3/24 and she has told me that she would like to leave to come here as soon as 3/29. Of course, I would like to spend as little $ as possible, while still making it comfortable for her. I know if I buy her ticket now, I will likely save a lot of $. So my question is, should I buy her ticket now or wait until after her interview? How many days after the interview did it take for your fiancee to receive her visa? Did anyone request for DHL to hold the visa for their fiancee to pick it up in person? OK, that was more than one question. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

(BTW, if I purchase her ticket today, one way from Moscow to Los Angeles, it will cost me as little as $680 after taxes. That's tough to beat.)

My wife recieved her Visa in 5 DAYS she lived close to the Ural Mountains! So she had to take a train to Moscow which was quite a long train ride. The problem if you request DHL to hold the visa, it can take a day or two days for them to recieve it from the embassy because they have to pick it up. If your interview is the day before a weekend it can take even longer! So for someone who does not live in Moscow it usually is not a good idea, however if she lives in moscow she will get to pick the visa up to 1-2 days sooner. There have been extremely rare cases where the visa has been lost in the mail, but its like the chances of getting struck by lightning right now. Also if there is no hurry there is no reason to have dhl hold the visa, the visa will be safe in the mail in my opinion. The general timeline by area for recieving the visa in the mail varies by location. Moscow area usually takes two to four days after the interview, then over toward the ural mountain its generally four to six days, and far eastern section can take 6-10 days, this can also vary if the applicant lives in a city or a town. I was paranoid that my fiance's visa was going to be lost in the mail, but everything worked out! She went back home said goodbye to family and friends for two weeks and then I picked her up at JFK!

[dogspot 90]

Thanks Corey. Yulia lives in Moscow and her interview in on Tuesday. I am thinking that if she has DHL hold her visa, she won't have to wait until after the weekend to receive it. She is anxious to leave Moscow and does not want to wait any longer than she needs to.

Edited February 7, 2009 by dogspot

[slim 1,514]

Here's the bottom line.... if she lives in Moscow (or near enough) or has family or friends to stay with FOR FREE, then it doesn't really matter. Buy them, don't buy them, doesn't really matter because the only possible fee you could incur is to change the tickets.

That said, if she has to pay for lodging in Moscow, then you're taking a big chance on her staying there to wait for the visa. It's almost always ready in 3-5 days, so you could do that, but lodging, even for 3-5 days is something that is more expensive than airfare now.

You could make the whole trip work. But..... keep in mind where she'll stay if she doesn't get the visa right away or has to wait an extra couple days.

[L179 1]

Definately after, but you can talk to a travel agent and maybe keep a weeks or twos times back and forth