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Online Purchasing Issues - US / Russia

By Valsu in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus

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Valsu Explorer

Valsu   1

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Ok, so, my wife's grandparents still live in Russia. We both live in the United States.

We want to purchase books from a website in Russia to send to her grandfather for his birthday. However, when we go to check out, neither my card or paypal will work and are declined because of originating from the USA.

Anyone have experiences dealing with foreign purchases? We cannot figure out how to make an online purchase from the US and have it shipped to his Russian residence.

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MrsCrabs Explorer

MrsCrabs   24

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
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Or maybe someone in Russia can help and you just transfer money? And transfer would need bank payment though...

Shawn and Olga married in Russia May 7th 2013

IR-1 process

USCIS:

6/11/2015: Filed I-130 petition

6/13/2015: Delivered to Chicago Lockbox

6/15/2015: Petition is accepted by USCIS (California)

6/17/2015: NOA1 received via email/text

6/23/2015: NOA1 received via mail

8/18/2015: USCIS approved petition online - 63 days from NOA 1

8/22/2015: NOA2 received via mail

NVC:

9/8/2015: NVC received the case

9/22/2015: got case number and invoice number via phone

9/22/2015: submitted DS-261 Choice of agent

9/22/2015: paid AOS fee $120 - IN PROCESS

9/24/2015: AOS fee shows PAID

9/28/2015: NVC Welcome Letter is received (issued on Sept 21st)

10/1/2015: AOS package sent to NVC

10/5/2015: AOS package delivered to NVC

10/5/2015: SCAN DATE for AOS package

10/6/2015: confirmed DS-261 over the phone

10/7/2015: email from NVC - husband is chosen as agent and IV fee is invoiced

10/8/2015: paid IV fee $325 - IN PROCESS

10/8/015: IV package sent to NVC

10/10/2015: IV fee shows PAID

10/11/2015: submitted DS-260 and got confirmation

10/13/2015: IV package delivered to NVC

10/13/2015: SCAN DATE for IV package

11/24/2015: Case Complete at NVC

12/2/2015: Case Complete letter from NVC

EMBASSY:

2/10/2016: Interview scheduled for March 15th 2016 :dancing:

Medical exam scheduled on March 14th 2016

2/10/2016: Interview Letter Received (P4)

2/16/2016: CEAC shows CASE IN TRANSIT

2/18/2016: CEAC shows READY

3/14/2016: medical exam passed

3/15/2016: interview - APPROVED! Status ISSUED - Your visa has been printed.

3/17/2016: call from Pony Express - visa is delivered to my town

POE:

4/19/2016: Moscow - New York - Atlanta

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vbtwo Rising Star

vbtwo   54

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Filed: Citizen (pnd) Country: Ukraine
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I tried using cards with some Ukrainian services. The only card that I have ever managed to get working is a Chase Freedom card. They require that your card have Verified by Visa (or whatever the MasterCard analogue to that is). The only ones that have that in the US that I know of are Chase cards. Not all of them have it either, but those are the only ones that I have every managed to work. If it doesn't have Verified by Visa, then they won't even try to charge it but come back as declined right away. I guess this is due to the amount of fraud that goes on there.

1/4/13 - I129-F Sent | 1/8/13 - Received by USCIS
1/10/13 - NOA1 to VSC | 1/11/13 - Text/Email | 1/17/13 - Hard Copy Received
1/16/13 - Alien Registration Number changed
5/24/13 or 5/29/13 - Case Transferred to TSC
7/2/13 - NOA2 from TSC! (173 days from NOA1) | 7/6/13 - Hard Copy Received
7/18/13 - Shipped to NVC | 7/26/13 - Received at NVC and case number assigned
7/29/13 - In transit to consulate | 7/31/13 - Received by consulate
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8/28/13 - Passport with visa ready to pickup from courier
10/17/13 - POE - JFK
10/28/13 - Applied for SSN and marriage license | 11/2/13 - SS card received
11/21/13 - Wedding


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1/3/14 - NOA1 to NBC | 1/16/14 - Hard Copy Received
2/4/14 - Biometrics
3/7/14 - AP and EAD approved!
3/11/14 - AP/EAD card mailed | 3/14/14 - Received
4/10/14 - Interview Waiver letter
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5/2/16 - I-751 Sent | 5/5/16 - Received by USCIS
5/6/16 - NOA1 to VSC
6/14/16 - Biometrics

4/19/17 - Approved! | 4/22/17 - Letter received | 5/4/17 - GC Received

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Dashinka Grand Master

Dashinka   24,493

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
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I have a similar experience every time I try to by airline tickets from S7. Like many areas around the world, they do not accept AMEX, and my Visa wouldn't work either even when doing the verification step. I am not sure if it is on our end, or in Russia, but the only way I was able to get the tickets was to call the airline and buy them over the phone. I am not sure if that will work for books, and of course you have the potential security worry and may need to make sure you have authorization from your financial institution, but it might work.

Overall, I agree with the earlier suggestion of buying them here and sending them. We do that for small gifts we send back to family in Russia. We usually use the USPS and over the last year, it has only taken 2-3 weeks to arrive in Krasnoyarsk. The Russian postal service even sends them to the local post office now instead of the main office in the center of the city.

Good Luck!

Visa Received : 2014-04-04 (K1 - see timeline for details)

US Entry : 2014-09-12

POE: Detroit

Marriage : 2014-09-27

I-765 Approved: 2015-01-09

I-485 Interview: 2015-03-11

I-485 Approved: 2015-03-13

Green Card Received: 2015-03-24 Yeah!!!

I-751 ROC Submitted: 2016-12-20

I-751 NOA Received:  2016-12-29

I-751 Biometrics Appt.:  2017-01-26

I-751 Interview:  2018-04-10

I-751 Approved:  2018-05-04

N400 Filed:  2018-01-13

N400 Biometrics:  2018-02-22

N400 Interview:  2018-04-10

N400 Approved:  2018-04-10

Oath Ceremony:  2018-06-11 - DONE!!!!!!!

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Valsu Explorer

Valsu   1

Posted
Filed: Country: Philippines
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Posted

We can't have it shipped to us if we can't pay for it in the first place. The sites are Russian and these books are not available in the United States. So purchasing them is the issue--not shipping.

My wife even set up a russian paypal, and i sent her the rubles, and she has a ruble balance in her russian paypal and the error message is the same on the seller's sites. There are 6 different vendors which have the books, and the same error message is on them all.

So annoying. The only option we have, I suppose, is sending cash to a friend in russia, but not even sure where to start on that process.

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Dashinka Grand Master

Dashinka   24,493

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
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Posted

We can't have it shipped to us if we can't pay for it in the first place. The sites are Russian and these books are not available in the United States. So purchasing them is the issue--not shipping.

My wife even set up a russian paypal, and i sent her the rubles, and she has a ruble balance in her russian paypal and the error message is the same on the seller's sites. There are 6 different vendors which have the books, and the same error message is on them all.

So annoying. The only option we have, I suppose, is sending cash to a friend in russia, but not even sure where to start on that process.

If you have a friend you can trust, the quickest way to send any money is through Western Union. They can get it fairly quickly at many banks in Russia.

Good Luck!

Visa Received : 2014-04-04 (K1 - see timeline for details)

US Entry : 2014-09-12

POE: Detroit

Marriage : 2014-09-27

I-765 Approved: 2015-01-09

I-485 Interview: 2015-03-11

I-485 Approved: 2015-03-13

Green Card Received: 2015-03-24 Yeah!!!

I-751 ROC Submitted: 2016-12-20

I-751 NOA Received:  2016-12-29

I-751 Biometrics Appt.:  2017-01-26

I-751 Interview:  2018-04-10

I-751 Approved:  2018-05-04

N400 Filed:  2018-01-13

N400 Biometrics:  2018-02-22

N400 Interview:  2018-04-10

N400 Approved:  2018-04-10

Oath Ceremony:  2018-06-11 - DONE!!!!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Corey-Mariya Enthusiast

Corey-Mariya   14

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
 Timeline
Posted

We can't have it shipped to us if we can't pay for it in the first place. The sites are Russian and these books are not available in the United States. So purchasing them is the issue--not shipping.

My wife even set up a russian paypal, and i sent her the rubles, and she has a ruble balance in her russian paypal and the error message is the same on the seller's sites. There are 6 different vendors which have the books, and the same error message is on them all.

So annoying. The only option we have, I suppose, is sending cash to a friend in russia, but not even sure where to start on that process.

Try to purchase those books on eBay. Anything and everything is sold there!

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