Tourist Visa from Russia to US

[Neonred 3,537]

I have first hand experience with obtaining visitors visa and J-1 visas from Russia, but unfortunately it is NOT positive experience. Everything you have read here so far is correct.

The visitors visa disaster ended a relationship I had with a Russian woman I had visited once. Looking back it was not really a bad thing, but...... When she was denied the visa and the denial stamp placed in her passport she was...very unhappy with the US government, and everything related to the US including me. Oh well. No loss there. (Of note here, this woman had 2 jobs and was making decent money, had her own apartment and a 15 year old son that she would return to)

Now that I am married, I had my step daughter come over with her mother on the K-2 visa. She stayed a few months but returned to Russia to attend the university. This summer she wanted to come over to visit and work and we thought the J-1 student work and travel visa would be perfect. We even used a company in Moscow that specialized in setting these up for students including air transportation and a health insurance package for the duration of the stay. They thought the fact she had been here before and returned to Russia would work in her favor, but they were wrong. She was denied the visa because she could not show close enough ties to Russia, mostly I think because her mother was now here and married to me. I had several conversations with the embassy and they assured me she could apply again (for $100), but no guarantees.

Of course it is not impossible, but unless she can show exceptional reasons for returning to Russia I would not expect to get the visa.

[russ 1]

I had several conversations with the embassy and they assured me she could apply again (for $100), but no guarantees.

This is purely anecdotal, but I have heard it from somewhat reliable sources. Apply several times often works out, on the 3rd or 4th time they sometimes realize that you are serious and not lying to them. It is worth trying at least a few times ( $100 is a bar tab or dinner here, not much lost).

Worst thing they can say is no, nothing else happens.

[Satellite 1]

It is worth trying at least a few times ( $100 is a bar tab or dinner here, not much lost).

It's a good plan only if you live relatively close to one of the four consulates in Russia. Russia is huge, right, spanning something like 11 timezones. Having to make a 3+ day trip by train, plus food, plus accommodations per interview, can be a much more costly endeavor then a $100 bar tab. Plus they have to go through Pony Express the courier that delivers the documents and those prices can reach $50+ depending on where you are sending from.

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/consu..._id=nivapplying

[mjoy61 0]

Still too many words from the same people and nothing pertaining to the information I am seeking. Unless you have a referral to an agency in Russia that can help then do not post to this thread. All I get are warnings and preachings from the 3 so called experts that have filled up 2 of my posts with useless information.

As I have already said once. Leave room for someone who may actually have relevant and useful information. I don't really care if you are offended. You took the thread that I posted and used for your own rantings.

Slim, Moxcamel and russ, I have already seen your opinions on the matter. I have asked for a simple referral. None of you have been able to supply that. I am not interested in hearing anything else so from now on please do not reply to my posts on this site.

[russ 1]

Slim, Moxcamel and russ, I have already seen your opinions on the matter. I have asked for a simple referral. None of you have been able to supply that. I am not interested in hearing anything else so from now on please do not reply to my posts on this site.

Sat, I hope you are not offended that you were not included! (Sat is probably the most qualified to offer opinions here)

Being serious for a moment. The regulars here (Sat, Russ, Slim, etc) all have been to Russia many times, we all speak and read Russian on some level, we didn't meet our spouses on marriage websites, and we try to offer information without judgement.

Why are you asking questions and complaining about the answers?

There is no "secret handshake" with the embassy in Moscow. You already know what is necessary for them to approve a tourist visa there.

My wife had a visa already (we met in the US), and our fourth date was in France (she got a visa there too, on her own).

Think about this for a momet. Honesty. If there were a way to get anyone off the street a visa to enter the US for less than a few hundred bucks, don't you think there would be about 2 billion more people here now? It is pretty clear what you want, but it doesn't exist.

Give us some more information - like who Masha is, where she lives, what she does, and we can help you. I'll even call her with some advice if you want - my Russian isn't that bad. Neither is Sat's

By the way, how did you like my poem? It really is one of my favorites - green eggs and ham is the other...

[groovlstk 0]

Some guys come here w/preconceived notions about stuff they desperately want to believe is true. I see it in poor saps who believe the marriage agency BS about long queues of "traditional" Russian girls who prefer guys twice their age and want nothing so much as to cook him dinner, wash his smelly socks, and please him sexually without a thought to her own needs.

This is pretty much the same situation. The guy who started this thread has been told repeatedly that no such agency exists in Russia, at least none that won't simply fleece him for as much as they can without producing tangible results, yet he continues to cling to false hopes Best to let him throw away a few hundred $ and learn the hard way that Russia just ain't Kansas.

[Neonred 3,537]

Still too many words from the same people and nothing pertaining to the information I am seeking. Unless you have a referral to an agency in Russia that can help then do not post to this thread. All I get are warnings and preachings from the 3 so called experts that have filled up 2 of my posts with useless information.

As I have already said once. Leave room for someone who may actually have relevant and useful information. I don't really care if you are offended. You took the thread that I posted and used for your own rantings.

Slim, Moxcamel and russ, I have already seen your opinions on the matter. I have asked for a simple referral. None of you have been able to supply that. I am not interested in hearing anything else so from now on please do not reply to my posts on this site.

Since you are determined to try this why not have your girl find the agency that will help? Since your girl is in Russia I am sure if she asks and checks around someone in Russia can give her a referral. Then you can give it a try and let everyone else know how it worked out.

[Emo 0]

I've spoken with lots of Russians on the phone that I've met online, Russian practice in exchange for English practice. Not once have I ever been asked about visas or travel to the US. That information is readily available in Russia, on the internet, in Russian.

Oh I've been asked about Visas. Usually it works like "I know this guy who can get me a Visa to visit you, I just need you to send me $500 to cover it." That will be followed closely by "I got the Visa, just need you to send $1,500 for the plane ticket. They have to be purchased here because the airline has to personally view my Visa." It's usually the same girl whose mother will die unless she receives $200 for an operation, and oh, she just lost her job at the factory and will lose her apartment and be kicked out on the street unless I send her $200. I think I've killed about 5 mothers and gotten 7 different girls kicked out of their apartment over the last couple of years. Also, I've left a couple of widows of deposed Nigerian Finance Ministers with absolutely no way to reclaim their $10 million in personal assets that she was going to give me a $2 million cut of, and all I had to do was give her a couple grand in "processing fees." I really am a heartless #######.

Look at this one:)

http://www.dumbentia.com/gallery_scammers.html

[mox 298]

Still too many words from the same people and nothing pertaining to the information I am seeking. Unless you have a referral to an agency in Russia that can help then do not post to this thread. All I get are warnings and preachings from the 3 so called experts that have filled up 2 of my posts with useless information.

Your question: Are there agencies that can get my girl a Visa to visit the US.

The answer: NO. There are agencies that will tell you they can do it, but you will be fleeced. There is ONE way to get a Visa to the US, and you only need to look at the answers other "jack offs" took their time to provide you with to see how to go about doing it. (You know, the jack offs who've spent months at a time in Russia, speak Russian, and have been doing the Visa process for years? Yeah, those uninformed "jack offs.")

I am not interested in hearing anything else so from now on please do not reply to my posts on this site.

I'll continue to participate in this discussion thank you very much, because hopefully someone else who might have the same question but is less close minded might find it helpful.

Look at this one:)

http://www.dumbentia.com/gallery_scammers.html

I love the scam-the-scammer sites!

[slim 1,519]

As I have already said once. Leave room for someone who may actually have relevant and useful information. I don't really care if you are offended.

You sure cared when your Masha was offended. Now, if you're going to care about her but not us, you need to go back to Kindergarten and ask the teacher what the Golden Rule is all about. And a little bit of "useful" information, they have the "Golden Rule" in Russia as well, so if you're going to "court" a Russian girl, you might want to keep that in mind.

Sorry to take up room on your thread, but if you go over to the Off Topic forum, you'll see threads there with like 346 pages, so believe me, there's no shortage of space for us or anyone else to rant. If you'd like to conserve space, try to not post two threads with the exact same topic. We're pretty good about answering stuff within the first page (usually the first couple of posts) here in the Russia Forum.

And lastly, thanks for getting us all fired up! It's been a while since we've had some popcorn thrown around in our forum. It usually takes a Canadian woman with an American fiance or an American woman with a British fiance to really raise a ruckus. But, a trolling troll is a nice diversion sometimes when we need to take a comedic break from helping people with first-hand information.

Sat, I hope you are not offended that you were not included! (Sat is probably the most qualified to offer opinions here)

Me too! And, I'll support the fact that Sat is our resident "expert" in visa matters. It's OK to disagree with him in principal and in theory and things of that nature, but it's hard to argue with the facts. And when it comes to Russia VJ process facts, Sat is like the Schwab... you're not going to stump him!

Being serious for a moment. The regulars here (Sat, Russ, Slim, etc) all have been to Russia many times, we all speak and read Russian on some level, we didn't meet our spouses on marriage websites, and we try to offer information without judgement.

You're giving me way too much credit, Russ. My Russian only works on drunk women.

Give us some more information - like who Masha is, where she lives, what she does, and we can help you. I'll even call her with some advice if you want - my Russian isn't that bad. Neither is Sat's

Mine stinks! Notice he didn't include me in that one? (See above)

Some guys come here w/preconceived notions about stuff they desperately want to believe is true. I see it in poor saps who believe the marriage agency BS about long queues of "traditional" Russian girls who prefer guys twice their age and want nothing so much as to cook him dinner, wash his smelly socks, and please him sexually without a thought to her own needs.

Can you send me a link to that website? I missed that one and it sure sounds nice!

you only need to look at the answers other "jack offs" took their time to provide you with

Now that's how to give me credit!

I love the scam-the-scammer sites!

Your posts about the fake Western Union numbers and motherless Nigerians had me in tears! I never even thought about taking the time to "pay back" those guys. That's really cool!

Here's a little something along the same lines from Andy Rooney:

Three Little Words That Work !!

(1) The three little words are: 'Hold On, Please...'

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off

(instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each

telemarketing call so much more time-consuming

that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Then when you eventually hear the phone company's 'beep-beep-beep' tone, you know it's time to go back and hang up your handset, which has efficiently completed its task.

These three little words will help eliminate telephone soliciting.

(2) Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end?

This is a telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone.

This technique is used to determine the best time of day for a 'real' sales person to call back and get someone at home.

What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system. Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer!

(3) Junk Mail Help:

When you get 'ads' enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these 'ads' with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.

When you get those 'pre-approved' letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.

Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right?

It costs them more than the regular 41 cents postage

'IF' and when they receive them back.

It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes.

One of Andy Rooney's (60 minutes) ideas.

Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express.

Send a pizza coupon to Citibank.

If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them.

You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 41 cents.

The banks and credit card companies are currently getting a lot of their own junk back in the mail, but folks, we need to OVERWHELM them. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it...Twice!

Let's help keep our postal service busy since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea !

If enough people follow these tips, it will work ---- I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore.

[russ 1]

(1) The three little words are: 'Hold On, Please...'

Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off

(instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each

telemarketing call so much more time-consuming

that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.

Even better, my telephone has a button that says "HOLD." When I'm feeling mean, I guess I could just say "Hold Please" and hit that button. They get to hear some crappy music, with periodic interruptions of "Your call is very important to us, please continue to hold..." Yeah, right, if the call was important, I'd be talking to you, wouldn't I...

I'm a softy though, usually I just hit the "straigt to voicemail button", where they hangup.

My phone has another option where the caller must state who they are if they call without caller id, or it hangs up on them. Perhaps I should turn that on too.

Staying on topic here - use some common sense. If there were a way for anyone to get a US visa for a few hundred bucks, without proving anything, don't you think everyone would have one by now? Would that really stay secret?

Even better, with the current Homeland Security situation, I'll give you several thousand bucks to let me know what Russian tour agency has a back door into the US State Department. I'm sure any newspaper will pay me a small fortune for breaking that story (wife is a journalism student, it would make her career). Terrorists could use that to get in!

For any Russian that wants to come to the US, it is pretty easy. Just to visit, have a good job. That's it - you need it anyway to afford to visit the states anyway.

Other ways are: Get a diplomatic passport (no interviews required), put USD 1,000,000 in a bank here and hire 100 Americans, become a doctor, become an engineer and wait for an H1 or L1 visa, marry an American or European (preferably one who is at least willing to visit you once..), get a job with Aeroflot or Delta, study in the US (J-1 or F-1).

But lets be realistic... I'd follow Peyton Manning's advice and buy bigger shirts, and give some cash to an obvious scammer.

[slim 1,519]

I'd follow Peyton Manning's advice and buy bigger shirts,

That was the best commercial on Sunday! I laughed my @$$ off when that one came on. There are several good ones he's doing with the MasterCard ads. The bigger shirts one is best so far though.

[russ 1]

That was the best commercial on Sunday! I laughed my @$ off when that one came on. There are several good ones he's doing with the MasterCard ads. The bigger shirts one is best so far though.

As good as Peyton is, I think he should spend a bit more time with his receivers and a bit less time making commercials.

I had money on the Chargers, worked out pretty well for me.

Fortunately for me, my Patriots have a cake schedule - Miami (0-9), Jets (1-8), Buffalo...

The Steelers game in Foxboro will be the only one worth watching. (Steelers are pretty lucky too, their next 3 games are against teams with a TOTAL of 4 wins). The will make the playoffs and get knocked out by San Diego or the Colts...

[Satellite 1]

You know, perhaps the OP is looking for an agency that specializes in making US visas, passports. green cards, and I-551 stamps? Or even in human smuggling. Kind of like in the movie BRAT2. Unfortunately, even I do not know where to go to find these places, although I imagine they still exist and many clients do manage to make it one way or another.

[slim 1,519]

The Steelers game in Foxboro will be the only one worth watching. (Steelers are pretty lucky too, their next 3 games are against teams with a TOTAL of 4 wins). The will make the playoffs and get knocked out by San Diego or the Colts...

Bengals are going to win-out as well (including beating the Steelers) and will be in the playoffs too. WHO DEY!!! (The Pats seem like they've had a pretty cake schedule the whole year!)

You know, perhaps the OP is looking for an agency that specializes in making US visas, passports. green cards, and I-551 stamps? Or even in human smuggling. Kind of like in the movie BRAT2. Unfortunately, even I do not know where to go to find these places, although I imagine they still exist and many clients do manage to make it one way or another.

I've heard there's one in Tijuana and maybe a few in Mexicali or other places along our Southern border.