Coming to America

[wissooner 0]

It seems to me that even in the last two years that I have been involved in this international dating thing that fewer Russian ladies are emigrating to the US (or anywhere else) I can't put my finger on it, but it just seems to be true. Am I just imagining this? What does anybody else think?...

Edited March 21, 2007 by wissooner

[Satellite 1]

I doubt it.

Russia has still sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the US in the past five years thus they do not qualify for the diversity lottery:

http://travel.state.gov/pdf/DV_2008_Final.pdf

But then again the Russian economy at least in Moscow has greatly improved.

[wissooner 0]

Yes, I know that the volume of immigrants from Russia is large it just seems, anecdotally at least, that the volume of late is dropping off...

[1HappyGuy 45]

I think you have to look at the various former Soviet Union countries for a better perspective. A lot of ladies are coming from Ukraine, especially since the easing of entrance requirements for Americans (no visa required). Also, the process in Russia has slowed down some because of background checks. But as far as overall numbers, if VJ is any indication, there are still quite a large number of fiancee visa's being applied for.

[wissooner 0]

A lot of ladies are coming from Ukraine, especially since the easing of entrance requirements for Americans (no visa required).

Hmm,...yes, true enough. I also wonder if the shear size of the 'scamming industry' is scaring people off as well...

[slim 1,525]

I believe that as long as American guys have the opportunity to "shop" for gorgeous women, they'll do it.

It doesn't seem to me there is a decline at all. I'm sure IMBRA has slowed the process, but when I first started on VJ, there were a couple guys finishing, a couple guys starting. Now, I'm finishing, and there are a couple guys starting. There are a couple gals getting started too! (That's an increase!)

If anything, the overall immigration process has slowed because increased enforcement on illegals is taking a toll on those legally immigrating. Plus, what was the go-to immigration story for the media to cover before, i.e. mail-order-brides, has now turned into "what should we do with all the illegals?"

[wissooner 0]

Yes, maybe it just seems Russian immigration is slowing. But I can't help but think IMBRA and the scamming industry are taking their toll...

[Turboguy 6]

We had a little survey on a site I go to. What it showed was that about 65% of the married guys had wives from Russia. The other part of the survey showed that about 70% of the guys looking to find a wife were going to Ukraine. I think a big factor is when Ukraine dropped their visa requirements for Americans. If the numbers of Russian brides are dropping it is likely the visa situation that has had a big impact.

I am starting to plan a meeting with my fiancee who is of course from Russia. We are going to meet in Prague and a big part of the reason is that I don't feel like fooling with the visa and it's registration. I definately don't see a drop in the number of guys looking for a wife in the former Soviet Union.

[wissooner 0]

I suppose that there isn't any appreciable drop, but I wonder if more and more men are getting scammed from Russia and the republics than ever before...

[bruc 0]

This topic has been a regular conversation piece with several of my buddies and myself. At the present time I'm the only one out of seven of us that actually has a fiance in Russia and bounces back and forth over there about every three to four months.

The other six have been to Russia and Ukraine, all saying it would take an awsome girl in Russia to get them to go back because of the frustrating visa process and the rediculous prices for hotels and resturants. I personally can't speak for Ukraine because I've never been there but they all say Ukraine is the place to go now.

Only once in the last 12 months, on my flights to and from Russia, was there an American man going to visit a girl...most were younger couples going for adoption, the rest was a plane full of Russians.

My fiance has two close friends that at one time were wanting to marry and relocate to America, now they don't because of the increase in their salaries, the economy is impproving in their city, and they always had problems with the guys making promises and not keeping those promises. Thye're both gorgeous girls but are giving-up because of all the broken promises.

They told me on my last visit that they know what they have there, they know that things are beginning to stabilize more in their personal lives there and they aren't sure of the risk anymore in marrying a foreign man and relocating and leaving their familes behind.

It seems everytime I fly to be with my fiance and future little daughter things get more difficult with the process of visiting Russia, the increase in prices, and a few times the frustrations of getting out of SVO2 to fly back home.

I'm flying back in May for 12 days to finish-up the paperwork on the adoption of my future little daugher .

This time I'll be going on a tourist visa, not a Homestay, and gotorussia.com tells me I will have to register my visa at the post office in their city because I will not be in Moscow on a business day to register with their office in Moscow.

My fiance asked her post office about it and they had no idea of any of this but told her they will try to find out what to do before I get there..wow ! another exciting trip to Russia with unknowns waiting on me!

I"ll give a report when I return home, if I'm allowed to leave Russia,

I'll also file the I-129f when I return this time.

bruc

[wissooner 0]

The other six have been to Russia and Ukraine, all saying it would take an awsome girl in Russia to get them to go back because of the frustrating visa process and the rediculous prices for hotels and resturants. I personally can't speak for Ukraine because I've never been there but they all say Ukraine is the place to go now.

Yes, if I had to do this all over again, I would stay away from Russia. SVO is a hassle (although there is major construction going on there) and the visa registration is a hassle too. But, things have worked out for me so far, so I really can't complain...

[slim 1,525]

This topic has been a regular conversation piece with several of my buddies and myself. At the present time I'm the only one out of seven of us that actually has a fiance in Russia and bounces back and forth over there about every three to four months.

The other six have been to Russia and Ukraine, all saying it would take an awsome girl in Russia to get them to go back because of the frustrating visa process and the rediculous prices for hotels and resturants. I personally can't speak for Ukraine because I've never been there but they all say Ukraine is the place to go now.

Only once in the last 12 months, on my flights to and from Russia, was there an American man going to visit a girl...most were younger couples going for adoption, the rest was a plane full of Russians.

My fiance has two close friends that at one time were wanting to marry and relocate to America, now they don't because of the increase in their salaries, the economy is impproving in their city, and they always had problems with the guys making promises and not keeping those promises. Thye're both gorgeous girls but are giving-up because of all the broken promises.

They told me on my last visit that they know what they have there, they know that things are beginning to stabilize more in their personal lives there and they aren't sure of the risk anymore in marrying a foreign man and relocating and leaving their familes behind.

It seems everytime I fly to be with my fiance and future little daughter things get more difficult with the process of visiting Russia, the increase in prices, and a few times the frustrations of getting out of SVO2 to fly back home.

I'm flying back in May for 12 days to finish-up the paperwork on the adoption of my future little daugher .

This time I'll be going on a tourist visa, not a Homestay, and gotorussia.com tells me I will have to register my visa at the post office in their city because I will not be in Moscow on a business day to register with their office in Moscow.

My fiance asked her post office about it and they had no idea of any of this but told her they will try to find out what to do before I get there..wow ! another exciting trip to Russia with unknowns waiting on me!

I"ll give a report when I return home, if I'm allowed to leave Russia,

I'll also file the I-129f when I return this time.

bruc

This is further proof of my personal theory that women go for financial and long-term security and stability, and guys go for the hottest piece of @$$ they can get with the least amount of work.

Plus, the Russian government (men) is growing tired of it's best asset leaving the country. Their population is declining, and a portion of that is because they're losing some of the best of their gene pool. (There was a related thread on this a while back.) So, basically, Ukraine is looking for money and tourist dollars from the international marriage trade, and Russia is looking to shut it down. That's not going to stop anyone that wants to go through Russia, but bruc does bring up a good point that most gentlemen will go the easier route. I still haven't seen a reduction in Russian fiancees though. (Maybe we will.)

bruc, you should be able to go your whole trip without even registering your visa. Nobody will check it, and when you leave, if there's a problem, all you have to do is call gtr and they'll sort it out for you. There shouldn't be a problem though, when you register your visa, all they do is give you a little piece of paper that says you're registered. The airport guys could care less if you've registered or not, they just want to see that you're still within your valid window. Registration now is basically just a relic from the Soviet era that only serves to ease the money from your pockets when militsa stop you and a way for tourist companies and hotels to get you for an extra $20 or whatever. In reality, there is no real federal level "registration" check done. (At least not when I was there, and from what I've heard from everyone else, there's never been a problem with it at the gates.) It seems like it's a local thing.

[etripke 0]

I am so glad my fiancee is Ukrainian. Kyiv is far from perfect, but the dollar is welcome and you are typically in and out of Boryspil within 45 minutes of landing. Leaving is a bit longer, you still have to run the "gauntlet" for passport control, but overall it is pretty easy. I think the best thing Yuschenko has done in his term as president is to drop the visa requirement for us Yanks. Ukraine is now offering the opportunity to "Buy" citizenship as well. All you need is a mere $100,000 and you become one.

Like Russia their birth rates are declining, but unlike Russia, their economy is not moving very fast. Add some of the inflationary issues like Putin and Gazaprom screwing with energy supplies and reneging on gas prices, and you have some unhappy, difficult times.

I do like reading about some of the journeys that those of you travel with the Russian Fiancees. I never met mine through a dating service, and some of the discussions you guys have had are invaluable. (Especially from Slim).

Thanks Guys, I'll go back to lurking now.

[Turboguy 6]

I have a feeling the only reason the Russian economy is growing faster than the Ukrainian one is one thing, oil. Without that I think Russia would be hurting.

[slim 1,525]

Same reason any economy grows or stalls. Look at China. If they would've had more oil 20 years ago, we'd be speaking Chinese!