"Closed" Cities

[BatmanUSA 105]

Hi..

Looking for advice, suggestions, information, about the closed cities...

My Fiance lives in one.. When I went to Russia, we met in Krasnoyarsk because I could not go into Zheleznogorsk.

so, now she is worried that after coming to USA, she could lose her pass for entrance into her city. She owns an apartment and currently works there, but she says she doesn't know if her pass will be renewed after coming here. Her parents live in the town, so they can apply for a pass for her. But who knows if it would be approved.. and then would I be allowed to go into the city as her husband.?? She said she can apply for a pass for me, but the decision is unknown...

She wants to keep an apartment in Russia... Which I agree with, I think she will feel more secure knowing she has a place to return if the marriage doesnt work out, and it would be great to have a nice place to stay when we go to visit...

So, I am asking if anyone has any insight about me eventually being able to go to this city..

Thanks..

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi..

Looking for advice, suggestions, information, about the closed cities...

My Fiance lives in one.. When I went to Russia, we met in Krasnoyarsk because I could not go into Zheleznogorsk.

so, now she is worried that after coming to USA, she could lose her pass for entrance into her city. She owns an apartment and currently works there, but she says she doesn't know if her pass will be renewed after coming here. Her parents live in the town, so they can apply for a pass for her. But who knows if it would be approved.. and then would I be allowed to go into the city as her husband.?? She said she can apply for a pass for me, but the decision is unknown...

She wants to keep an apartment in Russia... Which I agree with, I think she will feel more secure knowing she has a place to return if the marriage doesnt work out, and it would be great to have a nice place to stay when we go to visit...

So, I am asking if anyone has any insight about me eventually being able to go to this city..

Thanks..

I am not sure if Russia is the same as Kazakhstan. After receiving her K-1 Visa, my wife went thru the process of getting permission to leave her country--kind of like the AP's re-entry permit here in the US. This took about two months to get this stamp in her passport, but it allows her to return to Kazakhstan and keep her property there. Russia may have the same type of stamp and /or requirement for its citizens especially in closed cities. She might want to check this out before she leaves.

Good luck,

Dave

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hi..

Looking for advice, suggestions, information, about the closed cities...

My Fiance lives in one.. When I went to Russia, we met in Krasnoyarsk because I could not go into Zheleznogorsk.

so, now she is worried that after coming to USA, she could lose her pass for entrance into her city. She owns an apartment and currently works there, but she says she doesn't know if her pass will be renewed after coming here. Her parents live in the town, so they can apply for a pass for her. But who knows if it would be approved.. and then would I be allowed to go into the city as her husband.?? She said she can apply for a pass for me, but the decision is unknown...

She wants to keep an apartment in Russia... Which I agree with, I think she will feel more secure knowing she has a place to return if the marriage doesnt work out, and it would be great to have a nice place to stay when we go to visit...

So, I am asking if anyone has any insight about me eventually being able to go to this city..

Thanks..

We keep an apartment in Ukraine. It is paid for so why not? The annual expenses for maintenacne and utilitiesa are far below what we would pay for a hotel, and both the boys travel there also

Our son's girlfriend is from a closed city, Ozersk. She will be attending the University of Houston beginning in January and has no concerns about being able to return if she wants. What concerns does your fiancee have? I suppose if she surrendered her reason for being in a closed city (ie. she lives with her parents who are employees of a government plant in that city for example) perhaps it could be an issue, but then she could live somewhere else

[SMR 368]

Can she sell the apartment and get one somewhere else (Krasno maybe)? You're dealing with a big unknown here as far as the closed city thing. I see it as very similar to a security clearance in the US. That can become a bogey as you start to develop international ties. That's one of the reasons I've tried to stay out of security clearance industries. You'll become somewhat vulnerable to the tides of the ebb and flow of USA/RF relations and just general prerogative of the intelligence community, which can both be rocky.

I can't say that the closed city thing will be a problem, but I certainly wouldn't say it won't be. If her parents work in a capacity that is considered critical to national security, they will have to get specific permission to visit and may very well be denied. Hopefully she herself doesn't work in such a capacity as that could make things very rocky. The government might flat out refuse to let her leave for a certain period.

[FanTa 2]

I agree with SMR - it's a big unknown. Depends on the security level of the city, the occupation of her parents, and possibly the mood of the officer processing the application for a pass...

I have a friend who is from one of such cities (Sarov). He lives in the US for a long time and is a US citizen now, but he retained his Russian citizenship as well. His parents are both retired and still live in Sarov. While he had a Green Card, he was granted a pass to visit his parents several times with no issues. But after becoming a US citizen he was refused a pass for 2 years in a row with no explanation given. Yet he kept applying, and they granted him a pass again on the 3rd year. Try to make a sense out of it...

So selling the apartment and getting another one in a "regular" city close by might be a good idea after all.

[eekee 182]

Yeah, I would check into these things thoroughly. I've met people who couldn't leave the country because their PARENTS' work was considered too sensitive, and they were already adults and not minor children.

[BatmanUSA 105]

Thanks..

She is a teacher and her parents do not work in a high security field...

I think the best idea would be to get an apartment in another city. But she says to get an apartment in krasnoyarsk would be more expensive. Which I do not have a problem helping to pay for. And I think she is worried about the future. I think she could either rent her apartment or just close it up for now and keep it and wait to see if we can eventually get into that city or at that time she can look into selling..

[eekee 182]

Renting it out is a good idea. She can have a friend wire her the money every month, or you can use it to help support the parents if their pensions are tiny, etc.

[GelendzhikBelle 7]

Renting it out is a good idea. She can have a friend wire her the money every month, or you can use it to help support the parents if their pensions are tiny, etc.

We agree with Eekee, we do the same. My Wife is in Krasnodar Krai. Strictly speaking I was not supposed to be in this Oblast on my Visa because of large Naval base in nearby Novorsyissk. We never go to Novorsyissk and we are now married so this was much less of a question now. My Wife is not direclty in Military but she is within a Government job function. She will be allowed to have access to her homeland and home city even after her Immigration. The officials naturally evaluate each case as it comes, we go and ask her boss about this. He notify Moscow and they return letter to say no problem. When the time Mama needs to be nearer to medical services we are considering to purchase a home or flat in Krasnodar for her, and income of rental of her flat in Gelendzhik will make much better her small pension. If you have ownership in closed city same as resort area it makes better sense to keep this valuable property and rent. Think if you now owned apartments in Adler or Sochi!!?? Wow!! this is going to be a really good income for a while.