Wife not allowed to leave Russia for U.S.

[kc456 0]

OMG, after reading this, I have a feeling I'm not going back to Russia ever!

[rushter 0]

Hmmm...

Now I know it was a good idea we didn't change the wife's last name.

[slimjimxpl 0]

Satellite.....Thank You for your very informative reply about Registration....

[javaman 0]

hello guys thank you for all information

i will never go back to Kazakhstan..to scary never return back..i carry now my husbands last name

my country has the same REGISTRATION (propiska) system as a Russia

i am happy here in free America!!

[slim 1,530]

Wow! What a complicated process. I remember Satellite going through the name change issue and subsequent passport issues, but I didn't realize the depth of the problems for Russians returning to Russia. And another good point... what about the kids?

Elena is still in Russia. She has a new international passport good for several more years, and I believe her internal passport is newer too. So, she's good there provided she keeps her last name. As for trips back to Russia, there should be no problems, right?

Would it still be necessary for her to register with the consulate here?

Or, if she wants to change her name (I'm leaving that up to her) then she should definately register to avoid the hassles upon re-entry to Russia?

Man. Now I really feel like it's easier for me to go to Russia than her. Kind of funny I guess, that when we go to visit her mom and sister that I'll have no problems just walking through customs and she'll be hassled!

Once again.... It's Russia!

[timelena 0]

By the way, if someone's wife gets pension in Russia, she should register at the Russian Consulate here, and they will pay her here. Not too much, though

It's also true about Russian father- and mother-in-law, or anyone with a green card, I suppose.

[Satellite 1]

I forgot to mention that in order to register at the Russian Consulate you need a green card. They actually care that you are truly a permanent resident in the US. But they will still do an amendment to a passport without registering.

[slimjimxpl 0]

Today I have sent my wife an official translation of marriage certificate into Russian and had both the original and translation "legalized" with apostile. Once she has these documents she will goto the ZAGS office and get her name changed on her internal passport... we thought this would be the best course of action to take for now.

I had sent an email to the U.S. Counsulate in Saint Petersburg and explained, as best as I could, what was happening with my wife... This is their reply:

Thank you for your e-mail. We are sorry to learn that your wife experienced the problem at the airport. Normally a valid Russian passport for Travel abroad and a valid Green card are suficient documents for travel. Your wife is welcome to telephone our office (M, Tue, Thu, Fr - 10am-1 pm, Wed - 3-5 pm) to provide more details

My wife calls several times a day, but the phone is always busy...she has all but givin up hope of trying to talk to them.

I will continue to update our progress as it happens...

Thank You All for your responses !!!

[timelena 0]

slimjimxpl,

I think you are doing the right thing. Hope your wife will get her new passports soon!

[kc456 0]

Hoping for good progress for you!

[slim 1,530]

Since she's stuck in Russia, why not have her go to St. Pete? If the phone is busy, someone must be in the office!

If that doesn't work, she can always go the Finland route.

[Turboguy 6]

slimjimxpl,

Russians are big on registration. For example in Russia all Russian citizens by law must register an address where they live with the authorities. This is part of the old Soviet control which has remained. For communal living the amount of people registered per flat determines the utility bill and the like. Also the registration in Russia is used for all sorts benefits including getting a job to buying a cell phone. Otherwise the Russian citizen faces burdensome fines at every juncture that registration is required.

Now in the US the Russian registration means nothing to US authorities. A Russian citizen does not have to register at a US consulate. But in this case the Russian citizen is treated as a temporary visitor and not a permanent resident in the US to the Russian authorities. Keeping a local registration back in Russia is one option, although it can be burdensome on the family members that are left behind. Having no registration is fine too as long as you stay away from Russia or are prepared to pay fines.

Now the greatest perk of registering at a Russian consulate in the US is that the Russian citizen gets a registration that is good in every city for up to 90 days while traveling on return "temporary" trips to Russia. Otherwise by law Russian citizens like foreigners must register in every city they stay in for over 72 hours. Moscow is notorious for stopping everyone to check their documents to check these matters.

Other benefits of being registered include receiving permanent resident recognition by the consulate for services like passport renewal and other citizenship issues concerning Russians. Once again, if you have no intention of ever dealing with Russia you can do nothing.

It's okay either way, if it is too difficult don't bother, it is not the most important thing in the world.

What if she went someplace like Ukraine where she can just go. She would be dealing with different authorities.

That registration thing sucks but I have to wonder if someday we won't be as bad. I have been around longer than most of you and have slowly watched our feedoms being taken away. IMBRA is the latest. Want to bet that 10 years from now anyone won't have to have a background check to go on any dating site. 1984 (the george orwell book) is coming, it is just taking a little longer. Our government does not always move as fast as they would like.

[slim 1,530]

Yep, we're going to have microchips in our wrists too. (No BS, they've already started offering this to parents for like $2,000 so they can locate their kids via GPS)

I totally agree with you turboguy. One of these days there will be no rights to privacy because of all the "threats" out there. Identity theft, terror, etc. We're going to have to id oursevles to everyone, all the time.

[Sweetgirl 0]

A short history first :

My wife is from St. Petersburg, Russia... She came here on fiancee visa, we married, she recently received Green Card. In mid April, she traveled to St. Pete to visit her family, last week May 15, she went to airport to come home here in Michigan. At the airport they would not let her take her flight to come back to the U.S.... She has a valid Russian Foreigner Passport due to expire this coming November....She also has a valid Russian Internal Passport.... and a valid U.S. Perminant Resident Card also known as Green Card and our U.S. Marriage Certificate with her. Her Russian Passports do not have her new Married Name in them... and it looks like it could take many months to get her name changed in these passports......What is going on ??? Why can she not come back home to be with her husband... This is not acceptable and should not be happening..........Can anyone shed some light on this or steer me somewhere that I can get some help for this matter... We do not know where to turn for help.... Please anyone..... ???

HI! I'm sorry to hear that.Thats awful! :

Thats defenetely nor her fault and thats the fault of the people who work in the airport are probably an idiots!

The thing she should of done for to be safe is that is before leaving to her home country ,while being in the U.S she should of call to her Country Embassy here in the U.S and ask them to put the stamp type of thing in her passport with her new married last name.

As i did this thing with my passport too and they charge a sort of fee for that.

The stamp says that The owner of this passport is also known as My name and new married last name.

I dont know .every embassy is different ,but she should of call them and done that for to be safe.

I have a suggestion for you as .

Number 1) Your wife should go to the American Embassy and talk to them about her problem over there,

they might help her.

Number 2) Much better idea is . She should obtain a Shengen visa for to go to Italy ,Spain or whatever...

After she obtains a Shengen visa ,she will be able to leave Russia without even showing her Green Card.

You guys can meet in Italy,Spain or whereever the country of her Shngen visa desrtination.

First of all,you guys can spend a great vacation on the seashore lets say for a week or so and then you can buy the plain tickets to the United States from there. Im sure that she is not gonna have any problem with them letting her to fly back to the U.S form there and especially if you gonna fly back together.

Think about that.

Best wishes !

Sincerely.

[Nick'n'Nat 0]

If I had known it was this complicated I never would have had Natasha change her name to mine, we will have to take a week long vacation to New York just to get a damn stamp in her passport. Might be easier and cheaper just to get her name legally changed back. Sorry to hear your in this situation.