Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Flights from Russia to the US	Try a lot of different websites and try for different days. Some websites will show the travel costs for a range of dates to give you an idea which are cheaper. My favorite sites are Kayak and BookingBuddy. Both check with a number of consolidators including Orbitz. Your best fare will probably be though Aeroflot and they seem pretty good with prices on one way tickets. Some airlines are tough on that. You might also find it is a lot cheaper to book Omsk-JFK and book JFK seperately to Detroit. My wife is flying to Barnaul RU on Wednesday. The price on Aeroflot Barnaul to Pittsburg was much much higer than booking Barnaul to JFK and Jet Blue seperately from JFK to Pittsburgh.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2011-05-16 12:24:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Wife's Mom coming here?	If she has a flat, a job and family she is leaving behind she should have an excellent chance of getting a tourist visa. Tourist visas usually are one or two year and multi entry so she could visit a lot and usually once she gets one, getting another is nearly automatic and doesn' require an interview (if the old one has been expired less than a year.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2011-11-06 06:36:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Name change and Travel to Ukraine	My wife is in Russia visiting her Mom right now. What we have done on every trip so far was to book the domestic part of her trip in her married name and the international part with her maiden name which is the name on her passport. If you are booking everything at one time go with the name on the passport. My wife also carries a copy of our marriage certificate when she travels. The question you are asking is one that many of us run into. One thing that caught us by surprise was when we took a vacation to Aruba. We booked the tickets in her married name and since that was not the name on her passport they would not let her board with that ticket. They did however rebook her using the name on her passport at no charge so it was not a big deal, just a small hastle.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2012-07-01 13:06:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Anyone with a RUB spouse been through JFK here?	The information everyone has give is pretty correct. If you are with her you go to the citizen lines and she goes to the non citizen lines. They will pull her out and send her to another office where they will review the information on her K-1 visa. Typically it takes about 45 minutes for her so you should be fine with that layover but it never hurts to check out back up flights.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2012-07-01 13:00:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Did you buy a ticket for you and/or your S/O in advance?	Having done the K-1 visa process twice. Once for my first fiancee and once for my wife I could have selected either of two options. The first time, with my first fiancee, I was totally confident that we would get the visa, I went to Moscow to be there for the interview, infact as far as I could tell I was the only one out there waiting for his fiancee. I had booked a ticket for both of us for a week from the interview and we planned to stay in Moscow and pick up the visa. Well, we didn't get the visa. We got a dreaded 221-G instead. I ended up with the money for her flight being wasted. I thought I would at least have a little extra room on the way back with an empty seat beside me but even that didn't happen. Three or four weeks later she did get the visa, came here for 89 days and returned to Russia. With my wife, I did not buy the ticket in advance. My wife wanted to return home to say her goodbyes and to finish her affairs so once we got the visa then we got the ticket. She came about three weeks after the interview and that was almost 5 years ago. She is actually back in Russia right now visiting her mom and heads back here tomorrow. So there were two options I could have selected. # 1. I was totally convinced my first fiancee would breeze throught the visa process and wasted a lot of money. # 2. I had learned my lesson and would not have considered buying the ticket in advance.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2012-08-02 08:15:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Marriage in Russia	Thanks for the answer Moosescape. I think you are going about things in the right way. I would talk to her when you are there and give her the advantages both ways and let her make the decision. Sometimes what we think they want is very different from what they really want.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-10 21:05:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Marriage in Russia	This is probably a stupid question but just to cover all bases. Have you discussed with her what she would like and what is important to her and the advantages each way. My wife had never been married and I assumed she might want a nice wedding but in reality she would have been happier just going to the courthouse. We had a small ceremony with 35-40 people. I think we both would have liked less but some of the friends and family wanted a wedding to go to. Thanks for the nice comments and good wishes. Yes, I got lucky and ended up with a terrific wife. Just a little over 5 years since we married.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-10 17:31:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Marriage in Russia	I have to agree totally that the actual wedding is more important to the woman than the man. I know in my case I would have been happy the just go get married at the courthouse with no one there more than needed but many women have a lifelong dream of a fairy tale wedding and when a couple gets married here there can't be much participation from her friends and family. It is nice to know I wasn't forgotten. Yes, we had some troubles with Administrative Review and wondered if we were ever going to get her visa. At the time I talked to lots of people who spent years, 8 years in one case in A/R. We were actually scouting out a place to live together if we were not able to get the visa but while we were in Grenada we came out of A/R I do see too many who don't know their fiancée well enough when they do a K-1. I recall one young guy who was posting on VJ when I first arrived and he had done a K-1 with a gal after one visit and felt he could not afford to go back for more visits. Later she seemed to be getting cold feet and wanted to cancel the visa so he did make a second trip and things were back on. She arrived and about a month later he came home from work unexpectedly and found she had been doing naked web cam with about 20 different guys. My wife was actually my second fiancée from Russia. I made enough trips to visit the first to be worried when I did that first K-1 but didn't realize just how wacky that girl was. She came of as the most wonderful woman you could imagine but very moody. She stayed here for 89 days and then went back. After she went back she wrote me and told me she had made the biggest mistake of her life and her keys were covered with tears and wanted me to do another K-1. I started the paperwork and ten days later found she was planning a trip to Germany to spend a couple of weeks with another guy she had been writing. I canceled the K-1. I did get some follow up on her since she stayed friends for a while with my secretary. After she went back she met another guy. They did a K-1. When the appointment was scheduled she decided not to go. Then she did a K-1 with a guy from Texas. She arrived and decided she didn't want to marry him. According to her, he said she had to that he wasn't buying her a ticket home (I am not sure I believe that). She married him, stayed with him 6 weeks and left, divorced him and filed to stay as an abused wife. As far as I know she is still here. Sometimes you think you know someone but really don't. The more time you can spend together the better. Edited by Turboguy, 10 February 2013 - 10:12 AM.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-10 10:08:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Marriage in Russia	Amy, I agree with you that the 90 day period should not be used as a trial period to get to know each other and I am sorry if my previous post came off that way. You should always be sure you want to marry BEFORE doing the K-1. I do think however that having a chance for a woman to see how her future husband lives and what his life is like before taking the vows is a good thing. She may have visions of him living in a mansion when her really lives in a shack. She may find his family is half nuts and opposed to a foreign bride. She could arrive from a major city and find he lives 50 miles from the nearest Walmart. I don't think the 90 day period should be a trial but it is good for her to know what the realities of his life are. With my wife we spent time together twice in Russia, made trips to Egypt and Thailand and spend nearly the whole summer together in Grenada and Barbados. We spent close to 4 months together before she arrived. I think making one trip for a short time and doing a K-1 is a mistake. Edited by Turboguy, 09 February 2013 - 09:03 PM.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-09 21:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Marriage in Russia	Might be more practical to get a big engagement party in russia, and do all legal things in US That is probably a great suggestion but if you do don't use any of the photos as part of your "Proof" of meeting during your K-1 interview. It can give them the impression that you are already married and trying to work the system to save time. One of the best advantages of going with a K-1 and getting married here are that it gives you an extra 90 days together, it gives her a chance to see what your life and her future life will really be like and gives you more of a chance to see what she will really be like as part of your life. As much as we all want this it is far better if things are going to fall apart to have it during the K-1 than after marriage.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-09 11:57:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Time: First meeting to Proposal	It was 6 1/2 years ago so I could be off a little on my times but I would say we started to communicate in July, met in October and got engaged on our second meeting in December. I filed the paper work right after I returned from that trip. The rest of my timeline is in my signature.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-12 00:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Did I screw up?	I sort of remember reading somewhere on SVO's info that a transit visa is not required if your time there is under something like 12 hours but I wouldn't want to bet much that I recall that correctly.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-12 00:53:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Did I screw up?	I can't help a lot with that one but I can say that I am pretty certain that she would not need one for Germany or for the Netherlands. I think as far as England goes if she doens't have to change airports she may be ok. Canada I have no idea about but I would be concerned about that one. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful but check the websites for the airports and countries in question.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-09 20:51:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Did I screw up?	Well, I hope you have not bought your tickets or if you did that they can be canceled. I can tell you with absolute certainty that she can not transit through the USA. Transit visas and transit sections of international airports in the US were all done away with a little bit after the September 11th attack as a way to beef up security. There are direct flights to most destinations in the Caribbean through a number of European airports but it might be easier to have her book the flight there. US travel agents and web sites tend to pull up connections through a US airport. If you can find the flights and there are a lot of them US travel agents can book the tickets but it is hard for them to find them. You would be ok with flying her through Frankfurt and or Paris (or Cuba on Aeroflot) but be careful about connections through London. London connections require change of airports and she would need a transit visa there which can be done but Paris and Frankfurt require nothing. Sorry for the bad news. I almost made that mistake myself and some of the info you can get can be confusing.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-02-09 11:47:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Flight tips	I haven't done the JFK to LGA thing for a while but there used to be buses that ran between the two airports about every 20-30 minutes. Check out the airports website and you should be able to get info on that option if you want. Aeroflot is usually the cheapest on the JFK-SVO run. We just bought tickets for my MIL for a May to June visit for around 800 if I recall correctly. Some days are a lot cheaper than others and Kayak's site will show a calendar with the fares for each date.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-03-19 14:22:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	ukraine passport	We have been married for over 5 years now and have never changed my wife's name in her Russian Passport. When she flies home for a visit we book her international flights in her maiden name so the ticket matches her passport and that lets her get into Russia. When she returns to the USA she uses her green card to get back into the USA so it isn't a problem. If we make an international flight such as we did when we went to Nassau in December we also make her ticket in the maiden name but any flights in the USA we book in her married name and use her Drivers Liscence for ID. When it is time for her passport to expire we may look into changing to her married name but may just leave it as it is. We will be applying for citizenship for her in a few months and when she gets a US passport I would expect it will be in her married name but I think to avoid the visa that would be required without her Russian Passport we probably won't change that.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-03-19 14:34:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	A Visual Tour of my trip	Great photos.  It brought back a lot of memories from my two trips there.  It is a great city to visit.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-05-30 15:23:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	NOA2 Issued	Great news, congratulations.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-05-30 20:28:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	One way or Connection Flights from Rus to US	Your mention of Buffalo or Pittsburgh makes it sound like you are not too far away from me.  I think you will find the best prices and service with Aeroflot.  It is probably cheaper and easier to pick her up at JFK.  We have my MIL visiting right now for a few more weeks and there are good connections from JFK to Pittsburgh but you do have to change terminals.  My MIL doesn't speak English and was not comfortable with changing planes at JFK so we picked her up there but to fly her to Pittsburgh would only be another $ 250.  You may find it is cheaper to book MOS-JFK & JFK-PIT separately.  When we have tried to book them as a package it adds a ton of money compared to doing them separately.  There is a bit more risk if a flight would get delayed however.  It used to be there were very few flights from JFK to PIT but that has changed a lot.    I don't have any experience with JFK-BUF.  Good luck with it whatever you do.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-05-30 15:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Tourist Visa For Mother-In-Law - Requirements For Interview	My MIL is here right now for her third visit.  It sounds like there should be enough proof of ties to her homeland that she should do fine.      When this subject comes up I always think back to my MIL's first visa interview and suggest you be precise with the travel times.  The lady in line before my MIL was called to the window and showed proof of ties and then was asked why she was going and how long she was staying.  She told them her daughter was having a baby and she wanted to help with the baby and would be staying for a couple of months at least but wasn't sure exactly.  She was denied.  My MIL was called to the window and asked how long she planned to stay and she said she hoped to leave on June 30th and return on July 29th.  She was approved.  You did mention 3 weeks and I do think she wants to be fairly precise when they ask her that question.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-05-30 15:37:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Where is everyone from in Russia?	Barnaul seems to be a popular place.   My wife is from Barnaul as well. I haven't been there for quite some time but it seemed like a nice place and we found lots of things to do there.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-07-23 21:26:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Why would a Russian be denied K1 visa at interview?	They can't get a visa without meeting in person.  I didn't say or imply that they can.     Actually that is not correct.  You can get a K-1 visa without ever having met in person.  There just has to be a really good reason for it.   Let me substantiate that with the following from the VisaJourney guide to a K-1 visa   "U.S. citizens who will be getting married to a foreign national in the United States may petition for a fiancé(e) classification (K-1) for their fiancé(e). You and your fiancé(e) must be free to marry. This means that both of you are unmarried, or that any previous marriages have ended through divorce, annulment or death. You must also have met with your fiancé(e) in person within the last two years prior beginning the K-1 Visa petition process (filing the I-129F). This requirement can be waived only if meeting the non US Citizen's fiancé(e) in person would violate long-established customs, or if it would create extreme hardship on the US Citizen."	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-08-09 12:35:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	approved!	Congratulations.   I am sure you are sleeping better with that behind you.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-08-21 20:49:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	MIL Freaking Out - Tourist Visa Employment Check	You don't have a lot to lose.  It isn't that expensive and when we applied for my MIL it was approved without any problems.  Once you get the first one behind you it is a piece of cake.  My MIL has been here 3 times.   MIL of my cousin constantly tells them to move to Russia and live there. She did get a US visa and has visited them here a few times, and every time she comes all she does is complain about how horrible everything is here and how great it is in Russia. She is probably a natural born grouch.  If she lived here and visited there she would be likely talking about how great it is here and how terrible there.  Some people live to complain.  I have seen lots of cases where someone moves here and complains then goes back and realizes how much better it really is here.   I like Russia but can't say my list of what is better there would be very long between the weather, the corruption, and lots more.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-10-03 15:57:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Where is everyone from in the states?	I'm from an incredible tiny town called Warren in Pennsylvania (we have Amish!), but Erie, PA - Pittsburgh, PA - Buffalo, NY are all within a 2-3 hour distance. My fiancee and I will call this place home for a few months then we are thinking of moving to Boston or Buffalo.    There used to be a clothing outlet in Warren.  Is it still there?  I haven't been to Warren for a long time but I am not all that far away.  Beaver Falls is where I am at exactly which isn't much bigger than Warren.   A choice of Buffalo or Boston seems a bit strange to me. Buffalo used to be almost a second home to me ages ago and I do like the place but comparing the two strikes me as close to saying I am going to take up a new profession and either plan to be a taxi driver or a brain surgeon.   Buffalo being the taxi driver.  Both are a little snowy for my tastes but Boston seems like it could be a cool place to live.   If I ever decide to move I would want it to be a little further south than I am right now.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-07-16 21:21:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Russia Bride, K-1 vs K-3	You are talking about getting the visa to enter Russia?   I have not gone for a while so perhaps things have changed but on my 15-20 trips to Russia I always used a service to get the visa.  It wasn't expensive, you fill out the application online, send them your passport and a check or credit card and they send back your passport with the visa inside.  It has been a while but I believe the two services I used was www.russsia-visa.com and www.gotorussia.com   I haven't checked those to see if they are still up.  I always found them very reliable and a lot less bother.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-10-03 15:29:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	ok question about after she arrives	Gary's advice is dead on.   Don't put off getting it though.  if you don't apply before a few weeks before the K-1 expires you have to wait until after AOS.  There are some things they like to see later in the process like joint bank accounts and drivers liscenses which do require a SS#.  It is far better to get the SS# as soon as possible   I can recall a million years ago when I was going through the process that I thought a lawyer would be the best course.  The more I read here the more I changed my mind and when I hear stories like this it makes me very happy I never used a lawyer.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-10-03 15:38:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Elena's models and question 35a on I-129F	I think that however you answer this question it isn't going to make a bit of difference.     I met my wife through Elena's but it was ages ago.  When I first joined Elena's with a Platinum membership that allowed you to write as many women as you wanted for free it was before IMBRA and you could just write any lady you wanted.   After IMBRA was passed, at that time, Elena's was trying to comply with IMBRA for the most part.  Basically the men had to fill out a background statement saying they had no criminal record and you could no longer just write any woman.  They would send your background info to any woman you wanted to write and then she would give permission for you to write her.  When I filled out my paperwork I answered that question YES and gave them Elena's Models contact info.   It never came up at any time in the process and was never mentioned during the interview.   As things seem to be now, I would agree, just answer the question NO.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-11-16 09:27:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Milestone Achieved	Congratulations Gary.  That is a lot of posts and you are always a helpful guy so I am sure those posts have been a real benefit to people.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-11-30 09:47:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Name change in America but not in Russia?	My wife does much the same as many of you.  Her Russian passports are in her maiden name.  Her Green Card and Drivers Licence are in her married name.     We buy her tickets to Russia in her Maiden name and she uses her Russian Passport to get into Russia and her Green Card to get into the USA.  She does carry a copy of our marriage licence with her but has never had to show it as far as I know.     If you do want to change her Russian Passport I would allow more than the 3 weeks you talked about.  Typically if all goes well it is a 4-5 week process.  3 weeks is possible but it is cutting things close.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-11-30 09:58:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Just received Email From Moscow Embassy!	I will just congratulate you on getting closer.  Don't worry about cleaning house.  No matter how clean you get it she will think it dirty and clean it like crazy when she arrives.     I will leave the answer to the question about packet 3 to someone with more recent experience but I believe you download that from the internet now rather than wait for the mail.  Someone else can answer for more accurately.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-11-30 09:51:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Question about spouse visa; I-130 vs K-3, etc	The government doesn't do anything fast.  There isn't a lot of difference in the processing time between a K-1 and IR-1 or CR-1 and yes the K-3 is history.   If you are married now the K-1 isn't an option.  It is only for people engaged to be married to bring her here to marry.   The IR-1 and CR-1 are very similar.   One applies if you have been married less than 2 years and the other is if you have been married more than two years.   The paperwork is pretty much the same.  There is nothing you can do to expedite things. Edited by Turboguy, 20 January 2014 - 02:49 PM.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-20 14:48:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	Speaking of that Is Valentines day celebrated in Ukraine ???   At one point in time I would have answered that no with little thought.  It is starting to change a bit but still not celebrated there very much but is starting to get a foothold.  Woman's day is the big one there and one you definitely don't want to forget about.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-02-10 22:12:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	I just asked my wife if there were any superstitions about giving a watch.  At first thought she said no, she had not heard of any.  Then she thought about it and said yes, it is not that common but some believe that when you give a watch you are putting a time limit on your time together and if the watch ever stops working the relationship will too.     Personally I think it is a minor one and I would give her the watch.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-21 12:13:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	I have never heard that it was bad luck to give a watch as a gift.  I can ask my wife's opinion on that one but it is news to me.  There are some superstition about gifts such as if you ever give flowers make it an odd number.  A dozen roses as we would do here is a major no-no.  Even numbers are for funerals only.  Give one, three, thirteen, eleven or any odd number.   Potter County.  I could say you are really in the middle of no where but you are no where.    I have been up through Potter county and the Coudersport area some.  It is pretty country with Kinzu dam and lake, lots and lots of trees.  Do they still have the ice mine in that area?  I recall visiting it as a kid but that was ages and ages ago.  I am older than dirt.  I am from Beaver Co myself.  Lots of trees but we mix it in with a couple of people as well.     My last trip to Ukraine took me to both the city your gal is from and the one she lives in now.  I liked Kharkov.  Actually I have been there twice. Zaporyhze is ok.  I could stand in my hotel room and watch a long row of steel mills pumping thick smoke into the air.  It reminded my of my area back 40 years ago.  Both cities have wonderful women and I am sure your gal is wonderful as well.  I had one wonderful woman from each of those cities I met but a few weeks after I was there I made a trip to Barnaul Russia and met my wife for the first time and dropped any plans to go back.     Skype is a great way to go.  You can build some nice rapport before you even meet face to face and the language problems are not that big a deal.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-21 12:09:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	Highlander, I am assuming you have not traveled to Ukraine yet.  Don't worry about anything but do read up on it and ask questions as you have been.  Ukraine is a great country to visit.  The people are friendly and helpful, it is safe unless you go looking for trouble.  There are lots of really interesting things to see there.  Getting buy without a lot of knowledge of the language is not really very bad or much of a problem.     It sounds like you have a good prospect.  My suggestion is to not wait too long to visit her.  Spring is a nice time.  The weather isn't bad and the airfare is reasonable. I notice we are both from PA.  What part of PA are you from?   How did you meet the woman you are interested in?	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-21 09:53:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	Thanks everyone  for your thoughts and input.. just more reason I am glad I decided to look In FSU. Anybody heard about the revolution in Ukraine. ?? I was there twice during the "Orange Revolution"  That one was pretty peaceful and an interesting time to be there.  This one seems to not be quite as calm.   During the Orange Revolution that was about people feeling the election had been unfair and wanting Yushchenk to be president instead of Yanukovich.  There was Orange everywhere.  Orange flags, orange coats, orange hats, orange scarfs.  The internet cafe I used dailiy was on the second floor of a building.  On the first floor was an area that was used to feed the members of the Orange Revolution and to let them get out of the cold.  I noticed whenever I entered they gave me a bit of a hard time.  I asked the girl I had been seeing if the one side was represented by Orange, did the other side have colors.  She said yes, blue and white.  I looked down at what I was wearing, a blue and white coat and blue jeans and a blue scarf.  Then I figured out why everyone looked at me funny and gave me a bit of a hard time when I went in that building.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-21 09:42:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	Highlander, as far as your question about the Russian reputation for having a temper my experience is that it isn't much different from Americans.  Russians tend to be more direct and to speak their mind but I don't see them as flying off the handle.   My wife gets upset sometimes.  She just tells me what she is upset about and unlike some American women once she has spoken her mind she seems to forget about it and not drag the same thing up over and over for the next 20 years.   As far as the new bills, my experience is that it is correct.  When you go you need absolutely pristine bills.  Bills that have any kind of mark on them, even the pen that we check to see if a bill is real here or if there are folds in the bill, especially if the folds leave a faint white mark then the bill either won't be accepted or will be taken at less than face value.     As far as credit cards, it is getting better.  Still many places won't take them or will take AE only but credit cards are gaining acceptance.  You can generally use a debit card to get cash but you do need to let your bank know that you will be traveling there or the fraud dept may deny the withdrawal.  I never used debit cards much myself but do know many that did.  Actually I haven't used my debit card in 10 years even here but that is just my choice.   I always took cash and put it in several different places including a "sock safe" to make sure if it was stolen that they didn't get it all, but in 25 trips never had anything stolen.     When it comes to Travelers checks, I would avoid them.  My experience isn't recent but the one trip I took them the only way to cash them was to go to the Amex office.  I would suggest not taking travelers checks.  That time I did I ended up bringing them back with me because they were so hard to use.   That was back a ways and it could be better now.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-01-21 09:27:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	how have your RUB wifes changed if any since coming here	Two weeks from now is our 6th wedding anniversary.  Any changes I have seen would be very small.  She still works hard to look good and is proud of being "hot"   She eats a healthy diet (unlike me) with lots of fruits and vegies and exercises regularly.     My wife was never traditional.  She never wanted kids and still doesn't.  She wants a high paying career and is working hard towards that goal.  She is in school with about a year to go and has a perfect 4.0 average with usually the highest grades in her class and a few times had the highest scores in the history of the class.     She is also very frugal.  It drives me nuts to shop with her.  She will go into a store and fill up a shopping cart with clothes, go to the dressing room, spend 45 minutes trying them all on and then put them all back.  On a good day she may buy one thing, usually something very nice on a hot sale.  She went out for Black Friday with a Ukrainian GF and spent 6 hours shopping and came back without a single purchase.      We live far cheaper than I lived alone but that too can drive me nuts sometimes.  She will bring me a credit card bill with a 75 cent charge she didn't think should be on there and make me call the credit card company to have it removed.  Personally I would not waste the time to save 75 cents.  In addition to being a student she works 2 half days a week in my business.  We can almost live on her pay and bank mine she is so frugal.  Of course there is a bad side to that.  Our house is freezing because she won't turn up the heat.  We have whole house air that has been on once since she arrived.     Getting back on topic when she first arrived I offered to get Russian TV.  She didn't want it.  She said she wanted to immerse herself in English and her goal was to not be a Russian living in America but rather an American from Russia.  She still doesn't want Russian TV (it costs extra) but does spend her time watching Russian movies on the internet, talking to her Russian friends in Russian and listening to Russian music.  Of course her English is great now as it was when she arrived.  She is still not comfortable with speaking English and I have to call to make DR or Dentist appointments for her and to talk to any strangers.  People understand her fine but she isn't comfortable with it.  That would be the one change I have noticed.     To the best of my knowledge she does not put me down with her friends.  Rather from what she tells me she brags about me because I treat her so much better than do the husbands of her friends.  For example she told me last night that her friends husband makes her pay for her own education and tells her not to shop so much.  I told my wife before she went out on Black Friday to buy lots of stuff while it was cheap.  My wife is much, much younger than I am and I do tend to dote over her a bit.  To me it is a fun game and she enjoys it and I think considers it one of the perks of marrying an older guy.  She is so frugal that we are able to bank 65% of our income.   I had little savings when she arrived but now it is getting pretty substantial and that is all thanks to her so I certainly would not begrudge her spending some money on something she wants.     In a nutshell, very little change since we first married.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2013-11-30 09:39:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Moscow Hotel(s)	Congratulations on being approved for the K-1.  That is great news and thanks for the update about the apartment.	Turboguy	Male	Russia	2014-03-21 12:46:00