Planning my 3rd trip to Russia since January

[Jason-Sasha 1]

I've been to Russia many times before but never 3 times in one year. I've never had any problems with customs or passport control. never even any questions asked. Weird, huh? Well, I'm going back to Moscow for one last visit before Sasha gets her visa. On September 27th I'll leave from Richmond. I don't see why it would be bad for the American fiance to visit the Foreign fiancee, but so many times might get close attention. Is this bad? Should I say i'm going to see my fiancee or say I'm visiting my girlfriend again. Surely, they will ask me what I'm doing this time. My passport is filled with Russian visas. They even know me personally at the office for www.russiavisa.com by my first name when I call them. Crazy, huh? I swear I think there's only 3 guys that run that office in D.C. and they're all foreign, but not Russian....go figure! Anyway, thanks for your time.

[Turboguy 6]

I don't think you need to worry about it. I was going every 5-6 weeks at one point in time. They won't think anything of it.

[Thomas-n-Elena 0]

Every trip is additional evidence for your interviews for visa and proof that you have a true relationship. If the border guards and immigration officers start saying something like "Its nice to see you again Jason, I hope the weather at home is nice, did your mothers flu get better?" then you have made too many trips, other than that just relax its all good.

[Milenka 0]

I'm not sure how they look at it when you apply from the US for a Russian visa, since I only did that twice with student visas. Since I finished studying in Moscow, I've been going to Russia every three months, usually on tourist visas since it's the fastest and easiest for the short trips I make. I have been applying recently only from Poland. Last week when I applied for my visa to go to Russia Aug 22-27, they were asking me all sorts of questions (in Poland you have to apply in person), and were curious why I kept going so often, using a tourist visa and not a homestay visa from my family or friends. In the end it worked out, but you should keep in mind that they could start to get suspicious. Hopefully you won't have any problems though...Though it's true that the more trips, the better, as far as evidence of your relationship goes.

Milena

Edited August 7, 2007 by Milenka

[L_n_O 3]

should be ok

good luck!

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Cool! Thanks all. I figured it was no harm. Just wanted some more input.

[*JG* 2]

I've been to Russia many times before but never 3 times in one year. I've never had any problems with customs or passport control. never even any questions asked. Weird, huh? Well, I'm going back to Moscow for one last visit before Sasha gets her visa. On September 27th I'll leave from Richmond. I don't see why it would be bad for the American fiance to visit the Foreign fiancee, but so many times might get close attention. Is this bad? Should I say i'm going to see my fiancee or say I'm visiting my girlfriend again. Surely, they will ask me what I'm doing this time. My passport is filled with Russian visas. They even know me personally at the office for www.russiavisa.com by my first name when I call them. Crazy, huh? I swear I think there's only 3 guys that run that office in D.C. and they're all foreign, but not Russian....go figure! Anyway, thanks for your time.

I went once a month for over a year to visit Andre. Never had any issues. You have a bonafide reason to be going that often.

[payxibka 10,047]

As long as you are within the rules for the visa(s), I would say "what's to worry!!"

[slim 1,533]

From a visa standpoint, no, you're not going too much. You can go as often as you like.

From an American household standpoint, I don't know if you realize it or not, but all the money you're using to go to Russia is going to possibly be needed in the near future. I'm sure if you're flying to Russia three times a year you have a little bit of money saved up. But, once you get your "household" established, you may say to yourself "$#!T dude, maybe I should've saved that $3,000 I used for that trip and bought her a car so she could go to work and see her friends and have an independant life."

Just food for thought. If you're wealthy enough..... don't even worry about it.

[rika60607 215]

Tickets from US to Moscow are not all that expensive.

Rika

From a visa standpoint, no, you're not going too much. You can go as often as you like.

From an American household standpoint, I don't know if you realize it or not, but all the money you're using to go to Russia is going to possibly be needed in the near future. I'm sure if you're flying to Russia three times a year you have a little bit of money saved up. But, once you get your "household" established, you may say to yourself "$#!T dude, maybe I should've saved that $3,000 I used for that trip and bought her a car so she could go to work and see her friends and have an independant life."

Just food for thought. If you're wealthy enough..... don't even worry about it.

[Chuckles 0]

Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it either. You all must be retired or lottery winners

Seriously though, I'm jealous of you people getting to travel so much. I am not nearly 'rich' enough, nor could I miss that much work. You are very fortunate people, and I wish you all the best!

[russ 1]

I've done lots of international travel. Most of it for work. It is not as glamorous as it sounds, since after that Sunday night redeye you need to be at work at 9:00 AM, 2 hours later. When you are logging 100,000+ miles a year, the miles end up covering most of the trips you would ever want to take.

The cost of travel 'for fun' is mostly the lost income from work, not from paying the airfare. Taking a month off for us was a struggle - not from the cost of the trip, but the month of no work.

Travel is a great experience, but only for a while. I tried to find work out of college that would have me on the road all of the time. It was great for the first 6 months. When you *have* to do it, it is a real pain, and begins to interfere with the rest of your life.

Just my 2 cents.

Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it either. You all must be retired or lottery winners

Seriously though, I'm jealous of you people getting to travel so much. I am not nearly 'rich' enough, nor could I miss that much work. You are very fortunate people, and I wish you all the best!

Take a job that involves being on the road. Petroleum engineers, emerging market investment banking, state dept, journalism, aviation, and specialized engineering disciplines are examples of people who are frequently working overseas. If it is something you want to do, it isn't that hard.

[workin4somethin 0]

Jason,

I had heard or read somewhere about flags being raised if traveling three or more times to Russia in a year; however, I used to go more often than that before Ksenia moved here, and I was never questioned about it. Slim has a point, but I say - go if you can afford to. It is a lot of money, and you want to be smart in that regard, but you also want to develop your relationship as much as possible before she moves to the USA - for your own benefit - not necessarily for the US Embassy interviewer to notice. Best of luck to you.

[CityCat 0]

Cool! Thanks all. I figured it was no harm. Just wanted some more input.

Traveling to Russia so often is not gonna raise any American flags. But if I were you I'd think what the Russian side might suspect... I know it's not Cold War times any more but the guys watching Russian homeland safety only changed their name, not the matter of their job. I don't know though, maybe three times is not enough... Just an idea...

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Thanks everyone for the input. Slim makes a great point. One that I have thought about many times. True, would be wise to set that money aside and keep stashing it away for us later. But we see this as a neccesity. While we're apart, we dont care too much about money. Only each other's company. I'm not a rich man, but I am living comfortably. And Sasha will never need to worry about having a car. She's already got one here. I usually save enough for my trips in a month or so from my earnings. I'm quite fortunate to have a hard working fiancee. She has offered to buy the ticket this time. And since we share everything, I figured...why not?? Besides, she's got a great job translating for Sony Pictures in Moscow. makes what I make here in the States, nearly. I'm a waiter in Williamsburg. Doesn't sound that great, but in fact its one of the best places for tipped workers on the East Coast. Not only can i control my income, but I can easily set aside money, hiding it from myself. You know, its funny. So many college grads in Williamsburg, yet they all still seem to earn more in restaurants and resorts. Sad, really. Anyway, I find it quite affordable to travel to Russia very often. I just wish I would've used the same airline each time. I'm a miles member for three different companies and if I were to combine all those miles I'd have my next two trips for free. Should have thought about this years ago. Oooops.

I think its very important to keep our love fresh and frequent visits are really what keeps us counting the days with smiles on our faces. Was only concerned that someone would stop me and seriously question my motives. Or maybe even make our visa process troublesome. i didn't know. But if it can't hurt, I'm going. In 50 days from now to be exact!

Edited August 8, 2007 by Jason-Sasha