Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Brining my Mom to the USA	Annabelle, As I said before, with Russia it is very tricky to get tourist visas for average income earning citizens outside of Moscow. The embassy requires the usual proof of family in Russia, job, house, etc. But when you look at the overall picture, who wants to go back to a job where you work 12 hours a day for $150 a month? Who wants to return to an small flat located in the middle of Siberia? Who wants to return to their 75.5 horse power Russian car? So having all the usual documents that show ties can in my opinion paint the exact opposite picture which is that based on your current situation America sure sounds better. timelena, Our moms have every reason to overstay. Do you have any idea how many Russians overstay their visas and never go back? Especially in major cities like Brooklyn, San Francisco, and Chicago. The Russian community is large and supportive. They can earn a quick buck working for cash as baby sitters, maids, mechanics, or just construction hands. Plus because our mothers are immediate relatives their overstay will be forgotten when the kids are eligible to file I-130's on their behalf? What is there to return to Russia for, if your only daughter and and say grandson is in America living a life they never had in Russia? Wow, well said! I couldn't agree more. I especially like the 75.5 horse power car part Man, do these cars suck!!! Annabelle, I am SO SORRY it happened to your mom It's unfair. I don't know what advice to give you - I don't personally know anyone whose tourist visa was denied, but I still remember my interview for a student visa a few years ago at the American Embassy in Moscow. There were at least 3 denials there while I was waiting for my turn, and all of them were ladies who wanted to visit their sons/daughters in the U.S. My parents visited me here once, but I was still on a visa (non-immigrant), and they are very well off by all standards. And I still worried a lot that they would get a denial! Unfortunately, lots of Russian citizens overstay their visas and break the law here. Lots. I go to Russian immigration forums sometimes, and people there openly discuss how to cheat the system and stay in the U.S. It makes me sad, but it's true Then again - nothing stops your mom from trying to get a visa. She may get a wonderful consular officer who will grant a visa without a second thought! It happens too.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-01-09 01:37:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	interview	"pilminitsa" What's that? I don't think I have it!	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-17 22:46:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	Wow, England, Scotland, Brazil, Mexico, Poland......Someone better get a Swede in here to mediate this mess. Why is it a mess?	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 20:11:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	I hate vodka Even Grey Goose? That stuff is the best! Nope!!	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 18:13:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	Anyone for a Vodka..... its one of the best thing to come from russia... Kez I hate vodka	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 18:01:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	Dear everybody, This has gotten nasty. Let's all try to refrain from unnecessary arguing and blaming, and try to preserve peace on this message board. In all its threads and topics. Peace!!!	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 17:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	Russ and Galina, Exactly WHY do you think it's helpful for you to be airing your dirty laundry in a public forum? I will never understand why private matters have to become so public. Jen Jen - actually this part I do understand.... sometimes (in fact almost always) it feels good to get something like this aired out in public rather then keep it all bottled up inside. In other words it's often a relief if you can get something like this off your chest. (Bottled up emotions can tear a person apart!) Not disputing the need to vent and heal.... just questioning the venue. Do these people have no friends, families, therapists to talk to? I volunteered at a battered women's shelter at one point (and probably will again), and I can tell you that it's a lot easier for victims of abuse to talk to strangers than friends and family.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-19 17:17:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	To whom it may consern...	It seems there is a point at which some the "VJ wives" or "FSU wives" will eventually get fed-up with their husbands and start to take out their frustrations here on the board. I remember Mrs. Satellite's diatribe, and just this week, Jewel's rant about her husband as well. It makes me wonder... what's my wife got to say about me? I shouldn't have complained about my hubby, and I shouldn't have done it here. I regret having done that. I'm neither fed up nor frustrated, and he knows very well what I got to say about him. All the time. If I think he screwed up, I tell him that. If my husband makes me mad at times and if I think he's done something stupid, it doesn't mean I'm fed up. I do stupid things too, and he tells me that, does this mean we have a bad relationship? I wouldn't say so. Having read some stuff on VJ, and having seen some friends of mine getting married and subsequently divorced, I can be 100% sure that I'm in a very happy marriage. *** Galina, you are serious about that, right? This is horrible. This is not something a person should put up with. Gosh, I can't tell you what to do, but please, be safe...	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-19 16:54:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	what should I tell me fiancee about the interview ? (July 9th, 2007)	If money is tight, don't forget that a week long train ride, which is the more popular method of Russian travel can be achieved for a few hundred dollars. Yikes. A friend of mine, who is from Moscow, was stationed in Vladivostok while in the military. He recalls this week long train ride as the worst nightmare of his life. But it sure is much cheaper than a plane. Edited by Jewel12, 21 May 2007 - 10:10 PM.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 22:09:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	russian degrees	hello everyone...my fiancee is finishing up her school and will be here in july...i was wondering if anyone could share their experience on translating the degrees there spouse brought over...like how the process worked...did they look at the grades also or like a pass/faiil thing...any information is appreciated...i looked for previous topics about this and found only one which wasnt quite detailed... fyi...my fiance is going to kazan pedagogical university...sorry about the spelling! thanks in advance There's nothing easier than that. 1) Find a translator who can translate all that stuff for you. 2) Find an foreign credentials evaluation agency who will evaluate the degree. I used AACRAO, because, unlike WES, they didn't want anything sent directly from my university. 3) Grades are not an issue at all. A "5" is an "A" etc.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 22:14:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Visa approved	Congrats!! Did you check Delta Airlines? Delta has direct flights from Moscow to Atlanta for about $850. Well, at least it used to have them about three years ago, prices may very well have gone up	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 18:28:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	3812 Wachovia Avenue, Oxford, Tennessee	So, I am in the process of proofreading a paper for my wife, and I came across something she had to say that I thought was interesting. I need to mention the fact that women are more sensitive creatures than men, with a high level of care giving and care taking instincts. A woman’s demand for love and care is high. Sometimes we are glad to be deceived. Cheers! AKdiver Well, I think it depends. I've known lots of men who were very sensitive and in need of more love and care than any woman I've met. I married one of them The deceived part is sad, but true.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-21 17:56:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Visa in the mail	Glad everything's in order! Some of this was reminiscent of the AK bank robbery story. Wow, I didn't know he robbed a bank!	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-23 23:03:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Jumping through the hoops	Yup, thats Russia for ya. I was at a Aeroflot ticket office buying a ticket to Moscow. My fiance did all the talking, I hung out in the background. Originally the ticket was 2900 rubles but when the the ticket agent saw my US Passport all of a sudden she did not have any of the 'cheaper seats' left. All she had were seats for 5000 rubles. What a racket... Of course! Americans grow money on trees, didn't you know that? Well I arrived at 8 am today and there was indeed a list of names; I was 45th in line. After standing for 4 hours under the sun, I managed to get in and was given a ticket for one of the windows. Another half-hour of waiting and all windows closed. Right before my nose. The consulate officers were immovable. "Come tomorrow" and that's it. Well hopefully my today's ticket will be good to get me through tomorrow ahead of the line. And hopefully the US consulate will be a little nicer when my K-1 interview comes. Best of luck! They definitely need to improve their services...	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-31 21:42:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	Nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand. And by all means, don't get a second job! Pay the rent, your car, etc., and don't give him $#!^. Get whatever you can in your name (only your name) now, and get that other bank account. Use one for "joint bills", rent, utilities, household stuff, etc., and the other for "your bills", car, your credit card (in your name) and any money left over. DO NOT GET PREGNANT!!!!!!!!! Also, you can change your tax status (on the W-4 at work) because you're the only one working and you're supporting your spouse. Take that extra loot and start stockpiling it in your bank account. If your goal is to keep the current husband from getting a benefit from your wages placing the property and assets in your own name won't help much unless you get written consent of bilateral intent to show that the property was meant to be your separate property. Otherwise we have a special community property presumption upon divorce, with equal division at divorce. Perhaps it works otherwise in traditional common law property states such as Ohio, but it won't fly in California. Am I getting divorced already? Nope. Never	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-19 17:08:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	He also seemed surprised that I can't write a check to his ex for child support And nor should you! I hope you never ever do this and let him off the hook so easily. Actually based on California Community Property laws, the ex spouse is entitled to all the separate property of Jewel's husband, and all the joint property owned by Jewel with her husband. Thus she can levy on those assets. To protect yourself you must open up a separate bank account and keep any property ownership only in your name. Although it is still technically community property the ex-spouse can't levy upon it without showing intent to defraud which is a higher standard. Just some thoughts from my California Community Property class - not intended to be legal advise. Jeepers creepers... Well, the ex doesn't reside in California, nor did they get divorced in California, but we do, so I don't know what to expect. One thing that helps is that we don't own any property, and the ex is actually a very nice lady, and the support will be over soon, cause the kid will be graduating high school. But really, I had no idea about all that, so thanks for sharing! Good luck with this Jewel. It's good that you shared this. Sometimes it's hard to see things for what they are without looking at them through someone else's eyes. We get so caught up in our own relationships that we excuse something that would be inexcusable for a friend of ours or for someone we know. Take a step back, and really evaluate what you're doing, and what the results are going to be. I hope he just wanted some time off, or needed a break from working. But if you don't think that's what he's doing, and if he can't "step up and take responsibility" for his family, then he doesn't need to be family any more. If he's not willing to support his own children, his flesh and blood, where do you think you're going to be in five years? Sincerely.... Good Luck!!! Please come back here if you need people to talk to about this. (My sister's been in a similar situation for about 8 years, and is just now going in the right direction.) Once again, I hope he's just taking a break, but if you can honestly say that's not it, we're here to help. Slim, thank you so very much for the input and support, I really really appreciate it! I have faith in my husband - he's been doing a lot for us, and I know he is really taking a break and just wants to look for a different job that pays better, but I got mad, because I thought it wasn't the right time to do it. We'll see what happens	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-17 17:48:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	Jewel - first, thanks for sharing. That takes some guts. (: I'm in a different situation. My husband isn't working, even part time, because he will start studying in Septemebr and considers it a much better investment of the money we don't have. I'm trying to understand this logic. What exactly is it about going to school in SEPTEMBER that prevents him from working in the meantime? I'm missing something here in this chain of logic. He also seemed surprised that I can't write a check to his ex for child support And nor should you! I hope you never ever do this and let him off the hook so easily. she's getting pi$$ed, because the payments have stopped. Too damned bad. Mine has done so many stupid things in two and a half years that we've been together, that I wonder if he is capable of dealing with life at all. From the way you have described things - well - I'll just say that I hope you take some positive actions to streamline your life and improve your future. I hope you don't let him drive that new car of yours - he would probably wreck it and then somehow blame YOU for it. Good luck Jewel! Cheers! AKDiver Thanks a lot, akdiver! Quite frankly, I don't understand his logic about not working while he's waiting for his school to start. The one reason he gave me was that he didn't want to work in his old field any more, and now he wants to do something related to his future career. I said fine, then go find something related now, so when the school starts, you will already have a lot of practicle knowledge about most things that you're gonna study. Looks like he's going to do that. And his school, btw, will be evenings and weekends, so he can work all right. He's not gonna drive the new car, but to tell you honestly, I kind of rushed into things - I bought the car after I had signed the offer for my second job, and I had no idea the job would cancel. So, my bad. But I can still handle these payments. I don't normally b**ch about my hubby, this is my first time, I guess	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-16 19:44:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	Here in the U.S., it is very hard to make it on only one person's income. Add another dependant to that, and it gets really, really hard. Just wondering, how many of this thread's posters' wives contribute to family income, and how significantly? I've been reading VJ for some months now and I see that a fair share of wives start or will start working eventually, but it's my impression that their initial post-arrival time is covered by their husbands, more or less. Sometimes that includes education, where necessary. Am I to understand that all these husbands are immensely rich? My husband didn't want me to work at all, and still doesn't now, even part time, encouraging me to study. He considers it a solid investment in future, hoping that I will be bringing fatter share of bacon to the table when I am done with the degree. Rich? Nah! I wouldn't say so. Enough to pay bills and be young and headless and irresponsible every once in a while... I'm in a different situation. My husband isn't working, even part time, because he will start studying in Septemebr and considers it a much better investment of the money we don't have. He also considers my 31K a year to be enough to cover all the expenses. He's aware of the fact that the rent alone eats half of this paycheck, but he doesn't seem to care much. I'm all for my husband's going to school, but I would also love to see him working again, and the sooner the better. He quit his job as soon as I got mine, and he's been home for almost three months now. He seems surprised that two grand a month can't pay for the car, for the apartment, gas, electricity, phone, credit cards, Internet, cable TV (which he has to have, because it makes him feel good), video games (same thing), and food. He also seemed surprised that I can't write a check to his ex for child support - she's getting pi$$ed, because the payments have stopped. Galina, I would say you're a lot more fortunate, because your husband seems to have a head on his shoulders. Mine has done so many stupid things in two and a half years that we've been together, that I wonder if he is capable of dealing with life at all. I had a second job lined up, but it didn't work out, and for the past week I have been wondering how I am going to pay the bills without a second source of income. I told my husband that maybe it's time for him to at least start looking for work, and I won't even be too mad if he decides to only work part time. My request made him upset, because how come he doesn't get any time off from work at all? He was planning to only start looking for work in June, and now I messed up all his plans So, as you can tell, I'm very mad, I think it's not fair, but I have no other choice but to look for another second job or for a full time job that pays better. It makes me smile when I read about folks on this board helping their spouses financially before they get settled. My husband really had it easy - he never had to deal with the immigration, because I was already here when we met, and I filled out all the AOS paperwork myself, he just signed whatever he had to sign. He also never had to give me any money, because my father was doing that before we got married. And after the marriage, I landed a part time job at my school - and it payed almost as much as his job at that time. Well, I'm mad, can you tell. I don't normally write about my personal issues anywhere, but it's got to me so much now, I've been so fed up and sick of it all, that I couldn't help it.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-16 18:49:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	If you work for the government, you get 15 days of vacation right away. You need to be more accurate here. I believe what you mean to say is that one is entitled to BEGIN ACCRUING vacation time right away. It can take a year of working before one has the 15 days to do with as one pleases. This is a big difference. Cheers! AKDiver this is exactly right. Sorry for the confusion It would be really bizarre if one got vacation time as a hiring benefit... You start accruing immediately, but it takes from 6 months to a year till you can actually use it.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-15 21:53:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	It is the OP's right to to bring this back on topic. Otherwise, it is pretty slow here. There is not a "Russia - Off Topic" area or thread. Blame the OP for not following up with us. If more original topic info is presented, I'm sure we will be glad to talk about it. Oh, I quite agree. I wasn't the one complaining (: Cheers! AKDiver Oh, I wasn't complaining - I just thought that if the OP decided to follow-up, he may be unpleasantly surprized. But maybe not, I don't know But even after one or two years of career, do you think I will be entitled to anything better than 2 weeks of leave? I doubt it. It depends on who you work for. A lot of companies in the SF Bay Area give employees more than that. If you work for the government, you get 15 days of vacation right away. At my job, I accrue 10 hours of vacation time and 8 hours of sick leave a month, and those who have been with the company for over 10 years accrue more than that. On the other hand, I think that 2 weeks of time off a year is enough - I don't want any more (partially because at this point I can't afford to go anywhere on vacation ). To each his own, of course	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-15 19:08:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	This was supposed to be a thread aboout VAWA and a marriage that wasn't working. I have a feeling it's got way off topic.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-14 20:25:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	keeping in mind this totally racial attitude (heck, my word or opinion means more to my fellow students and professors at the university, where I am getting my master's in Journalism, than to my own husband) to Russian wifes as a special type of people would drive anybody crazy! Yeah, I agree. Some people say things like "my FSU wife", which I find very annoying, rude and inappropriate. Aren't we all just people, or do we absolutely have to stereotype this way? I would kick my husband in the rear if he ever called me anything like that Well, it's all relative you know. For some people, $50K is like "my ship has come in". In my case, my first job out of school paid $40K, and that was in 1997. To drop back to that kind of pay 11 years later would definitely qualify as crappy. Think about it this way - just think if you were now making whatever you were making 11 years ago. (: Cheers! AKDiver I started my first "real" full time job two months ago, so maybe 11 years from now I will talk just like you! Wish me luck	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-10 21:59:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	Also remember that in my case, I am on a 2-year contract, and once that contract is up, I have to go find a job somewhere. When I do, it is likely to be some crappy job that pays $50K/year or whatever. I'll take this job, akdiver Let me know when it's up for grabs. I will take $50K You folks are spoiled "Crappy $50K" My hubster was making $30K a year at one point, and he thought it was a lot of money, cause it's the most he's ever made.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-10 17:17:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	A past girlfriend of mine spent about $30,000 on shoes in one year. Most of them she never wore, even once. She just felt good buying them. As a man, this was hard for me to understand. (She could afford them, but still...) I fell off my chair. I'm a woman, and I don't understand that. I mean, how many pairs of shoes can a person possibly need?? I think I have three or four, and a pair of sneakers for jogging. That's it. Sure, everybody's different, but that's just so much money... Well, there are billionaires in this world, I know, but gosh, I'm really shocked.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-10 17:09:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Violence Against Women Act and me	So after Olga arrived, everything was fine, things went well until I learned she was spending many HOURS on the telephone to Russia, which we cannot afford at this time and I tried to explain it to her but she either didn't understand or didn't WANT to understand. She spent close to $300 in her first 2 months here in the USA, couple that with $127 in Text Messages to and from Russia and the next cell phone bill is looking like it will be much higher. We have been living on the edge since we returned from Disneyland and I have been trying to get us caught up so I tried to limit her usage on both the international calls and the international text messages and when I learned she could not limit herself...I lost all trust I had in her and without trust there is not relationship... Back up a sec, on April 1, after she agreed to spend ONLY 2 hours a week to Russia as that was all we could afford, I learned she used 8 hours in 2 weeks and removed the vonage adapter. When she came home and discovered this she proceeded to threaten to claim I sexually abused her, thus abusing the Violence against Women Act to secure her stay in the USA. There were other signs that this may have been fraud on her part but I will not discuss those here, those that know me, have heard the WHOLE story... Now back to tonight, I finally decided I was through with the headaches, through with the stress of our financial situation, through with our marriage and again she threatened to abuse the Violence Against Women Act, then she cut her self...intentionally and insisted I drive her to the hospital where I waited 2 hours to see what would happen, I eventually decided that I was through waiting there and came home, to write this. Those that know me, know these are false claims...I would never hurt or abuse anyone but V.A.W.A. is written so that no one cares about the accused...at least as I understand. All I have to say is this once wonderful turned horror story of a chapter is close to being finished! Peace Hi Marc, I'm sorry - I had no time to read the whole topic, so I apologize if something say has already been said here. Too bad your wife didn't learn to use Skype - it's free. That's what I use to call my family, and I haven't spent a cent on international calling since I came here in 2005. VAWA is not a fast ride to a green card - VAWA cases have to be supported with evidence, and according to what you say (I am assuming you're being honest), your wife has none. I wouldn't be too worried about it, but then again, it's hard not to be worried in a situation like that. Be strong, and I hope you will figure it all out somehow.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-09 22:43:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Going back to Russia	my ex told me her mother was the most important person in her life. It's hard for me to even try to understand something like that - maybe because I had a very bad relationship with my mother up until I actually moved out and started living on my own. Now that I live in a different country and we see each other once a year, we get along great. It is my humble opinion, but I don't think it's even healthy to care about your mother more than about your children.	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-06-04 18:54:00
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus	Going back to Russia	I just read the whole thread to bring myself up to speed. It seems like the guys are siding with Satelite and the gals with Olga. I'm siding with Satellite and I'm a girl The best "we" could do was find a compromise on all fronts. We are going to go on a free trip to Israel in the beginning of August through http://www.birthrightisrael.com/. Afterwards I will return to the US to go back to work and school for my last semester and Olga will spend 1 month in Russia and return to start school as a transfer student this upcoming fall quarter at the end of September. Although I am still upset that she is going against my wishes she did promise to work extra hours up to August to make up for the time she is gone. Hopefully her employer will grant her a leave of absence of some sort so she still has a job to return to. Because as mentioned before her parents did leave her some money, and we are using the free ticket to cover the majority of the flight, financially we might just break even. So we are not getting divorced, although I am still upset with her level of selfishness. I am not looking forward to being apart for one month sad.gif I'm glad you were able to work it out One month still seems like a long time though...	Sid and Nancy	Female	Russia	2007-05-09 23:03:00
Vietnam	Pink Achieved	yay! congrats! good luck on your visa journey,its a long process but its worth all the wait.	Chazzie	Female	Philippines	2011-05-26 08:47:00