Travel to Russia

What is involved in planning a trip to Russia? Travel to Russia can be an overwhelming idea at first but thousands of people travel there everyday. Your trip can be arranged with some effort and planning on your part. If you want to know more about rules and issues associated with traveling to Russia, go here. The guides below will help you anticipate what you will need in advance so you are well informed before your trip. The basic flow of events are:

• Obtain Passport
• Make Hotel Reservation
• Apply for Russian Visa
• Order Airline Tickets
• Arrange Ground Transport
• Take Trip
• Border Entry and Customs
• Return to US

Obtain Passport

The first part of International travel is to obtain or update your US passport. The process can take up to 45 days to complete unless you pay for express service. This is a very essential part of trip preparation as you will need your passport BEFORE you can apply for a Russian Visa. The first document needed to apply for a passport is your birth certificate. If you can’t find yours or it is not available to you, don’t worry You can order one from the state of your birth. Once you have your birth certificate, you can apply for your passport. Click here to find the government office closest to you where a passport can be requested. NOTICE: As of January 23, 2007, all persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air will be required to present a valid passport to re-enter the country. A valid driver’s license will no longer suffice for re-entry documentation.

Make Hotel Reservation

The major cities in Russia all have nice hotels. The standards of room size and features can be a bit different than what you would see in an American Hotel. Usually the rooms are smaller and less corporate looking but the comfort level is roughly the same. For an idea of Hotel availability in the town you plan to visit, click here.

Tourist Visa:

There are two types of Russians Visas available for you to visit your girlfriend, Vacation and Home Stay. For assistance in applying for a Visa, we recommend OSTWest as they manage bookings for complete travel arrangements including online Visa Applications. A Tourist visa Requires a hotel to confirm your presence in their establishment. The Tourist Visa is based on the premise that you will be staying at a hotel or on an organized tour. The Hotel you will be staying with will send you a confirmation of your stay which you attach with your Visa application (meaning you book the hotel then apply for the visa).

A Home Stay Visa This Visa requires your girlfriend to submit an invitation on your behalf, then send the approved application to you so you can apply for a Visa. The process is more lengthy than a vacation visa but it has extended benefits. Longer time periods are allowed, you can stay where you like as long as you check in at their Immigration offices once in a town, and you have more time to schedule the visit. If your fiancé has applied for you to stay with her, then you will attach this document (obtained by her from her local OVIR office) with your Visa application.

When completing the Visa application You will be asked very specific questions such as, when will you arrive, where will you stay and for how long? This completed paperwork will be sent, by you, the Russian Consulate. You will include your passport in the package so they can affix the Visa on one of the available pages in your passport. Once you have the Visa paperwork figured out and your tickets purchased, you are ready to plan your trip to visit your fiance. There are many things to discuss and coordinate before you pack your suitcase. In all of this process, you will be able to decide places to see and visit.

Order Airline Tickets

The price of tickets to Russia can change depending on when you book your tickets and when you will take your trip. The farther ahead you book your flight the better. From May until August tickets are the most expensive, as this is the warm season. If you can make you trip outside the summer, your airfare will be reduced greatly.

Ground Transportation

This is usually needed upon departure from an Airport. If someone meets you at the airport, you will be able to negotiate a much better deal on a taxi. Your fiance or friend will usually be experienced in negotiating with taxi drivers, it’s best not to say much or reveal you are an American. Cab drivers are savvy enough to take advantage of international travelers who don’t know local rates.

Travel by Train:

If your trip includes additional travel by train, you are in for a real treat. Russian Trains are very reliable and comfortable. If you can obtain a private car, you will find the accommodations very nice and relaxing. Most trains have dining cars and other amenities making them the best way to move about the country.

Airport Transfers

A taxi ride might be required if you will be switching airports to make additional connections to another city. This is very common in Moscow and the airports are very spread out. Be prepared for a lengthy, and somewhat costly ride in this case. A typical transfer,if prearranged, can be as much as $75 since it may be an hour long drive through traffic. Russian cab drivers usually wait for your plane and dedicate a lot of time to your trip, so the service is more personal than an American cab who waits outside on the street.

Border Entry and Customs

Border: After you land you will have to enter the Russian Border. Entrance is fairly simple, they will examine your Passport, Visa and a form you complete upon arrival which describes your travel plans. You will insert a portion of this form in your passport and will be asked for it when you leave the country. The border authority will expect it to be stamped either by the hotel you stayed at or the local OVIR office if you stayed with friends or your fiancée. Customs: Once you pass through the Border, you will go through the Customs process. Typically this only takes a few minutes if you are declaring less than 10,000 in cash. For those carrying larger sums; more papers and questions will be asked. Be very cautious of your safety upon leaving the “over 10K” section of customs. It is very unsafe to travel alone in this condition as it is obvious you are in possession of large amount of cash or valuables. It is best to be met by someone to ensure you are accounted for. More about Customs >>

Returning Home

After obtaining your return flight’s boarding pass, you will go through the border exit process. This is very similar to your arrival experience. They will ask for the form you were provided on arrival and will inspect the stamp from the hotel or OVIR office. If you loose this form, your exit from Russia could be delayed by days or weeks! There are also fines involved in some cases, so be sure to keep up with the arrival form.Security is thorough, your bags will be inspected and you will most likely go through more than one check point before arriving at your gate. Once you are through the checkpoints, there are shops, restaurants and lounges to help you relax before your long flight home. Remember to keep all your papers, receipts and memorabilia! Retain all your restaurant receipts, subway tickets, theater and tourism stubs for future use. These are great ways to prove your relationship and they look great on the “proof of relationship” portion of the K-1 package. Advice: Take a the USCIS Background Information form with you on your trip. Your fiancé will need to sign this and help you fill it out. The K-1 requires both you and your fiancé to complete a background form. By completing and signing the form with you, your ability to file for the K1 application can be accelerated. Otherwise you will have to mail her the form, wait for her to sign and send it to you, and only then can you submit the package. This could amount to several weeks of waiting just to file!

Resources for Trip Planning:

There are several sites to help you get the most from your trip. We recommend OST-West based on their first hand experience with people who set up their own travel arrangements to Russia.

Where can I meet Russian Women?

Try searching locally. It is very possible, given the growing population of Russians in America to find a woman of the former Soviet Union. This may seem simple enough but Russians tend to blend in and keep a low profile in their surroundings. If their language skills are not advanced enough, they may stick to small groups of other Russians speakers, which will make it even harder to find them. The simplest method is to look at visit local churches with a Russian language service or search on www.meetup.com for Russian language groups in your area. You may also try searching online websites for women who list Russian as a language they speak. This may help you find someone locally or regionally but the best method is to travel where the women naturally are-CIS (Former Soviet Union) countries.

Are Russian Women Desperate for Western Men?

No. There are plenty of men in Russia and many of them marry. However, economic factors can influence a persons desire to look beyond their borders for a better life. Just as many American men look beyond the local female population for foreign women who might suit them better. The stereotypical phrase “Russian Bride” is very outdated and extremely unfair, if not insulting, to the thousands of American-Russian couples who meet and get married each year. There certainly are women in Russia and other countries who see marriage to a Westerner as romantic and exciting. Similarly there are large numbers of Western men who find East European women to be very attractive, intelligent, educated and family oriented. Many of these men eventually board a plane and travel to meet the woman of their dreams. Shortly thereafter an engagement and immigration process takes place.

What about Scammers?

Are there scam artists who take advantage of the distance and anonymity behind a photo and email? Certainly! But not just on the Russian side, many men also conceal facts about their identity, financial status or intentions in the relationship.

On the Russian side there are women who contact men, and within days confess their undying love and devotion then proposition the man to send her money so she can come see him. [This process completely defies logic since the woman would need a fiancé visa which the man must submit on her behalf to the US Department of Homeland Security.] Nevertheless, many men act on their emotions and send money to women they barely know. They later discover the woman has disappeared or asks for more money depending on the scam tactics. Or worse, that she wasn’t a woman at all!

The best defense against such situations is to work through a reputable dating and introduction agency. These agencies will have offices in the United States and Russia. They will also verify the identity of the girls on their website and assist their customers with introduction, translation, travel accommodations and paperwork as needed.

Searching for Russian Women Online

An online search allows you to review all suitable women who may interest Anna is 21 and from Odessa, Ukraine-Learn more at RussiansBride.comyou. You can also review their interests, hobbies, number of children they have or want and endless other statistics. In some instances, men travel to Russia on Romance Tours where they are introduced to hundreds of women in a single evening. They usually have reviewed the women’s profiles ahead of time and then use the evening as a way to see how their face to face interaction works out. Warning: A picture is only a sample of someone and should never be mistaken for evidence of attraction or a desire to date.

We recommend RussiansBride.com as our preferred dating agency due to it’s reputation and long standing business relationship with thousands of clients and families. RussiansBride.com has offices all over Eastern Europe and a business presence in the United States as well.

Isn’t it expensive to Travel to Russia?

This is a very common concern among men considering a foreign bride. But cost is not not the only issue. There are more pressing decisions to make, such as: Are you ready for a serious relationship? Can you handle waiting for her immigration paperwork (typically 4-7 months) to process?

In terms of expense, most men can save up enough for airline tickets and even the immigration process. In fact, thousands of men spend this money each day to bring the love of their life to the United States.

Is it worth the expense to find a foreign woman and bring her here?

The better question is, are you worth investing a higher cost in expenses to find the right woman for you? Are you worth that much travel, paperwork and frustration to meet the love of your life? Of course you are! This is not a simple date for fun, this is a serious search to find your soul mate, a woman you can share your life with. If you feel that is not something you can do here in the United States–then why not consider a foreign bride? She has already considered you or someone like you when she put her name and picture online.

Note: a key difference in women of Eastern Europe is that they are comfortable discussing marriage, children and serious intentions on the first date. These women are very responsible and educated and can’t afford to spend time on someone who wants to play games or doesn’t know what he wants.

What about Age Differences?

It’s important to set realiatic expectations. A man who is 60 should not be naive to think girls in their early twenties are a good match for him. This type of plan will attract women who are looking to get what they can from the man and then leave him when the time is convenient.

With the obvious aside, there are some facts to consider when looking for your ideal match. Specifically in regard to age differences between men and women.

East European women typically look for a man who is older as they prefer a mature man who is settled in life, able to provide and take care of her. Western men are ideal because many have already been married in the past, are attentive to women and are beyond their twenties, thirties or even forties. It is not uncommon to see a man in his late thirties or mid forties with a young girl. While this is encouraging to men who thought they could not date girls so young, there must be a reasonable expectation with age differences. The reverse is also true, a man in his twenties will not be as desired by East European women as they can sterotype him as immature, and possibly unstable financially.

How do Russian Women see their own age?

Russian women view their ages in a very critical light compared to Western women. A woman has her “best years”in her early to mid twenties and is usually married and having children before the age of 30. An unmarried woman over the age of 25 can even be viewed as an old maid by some as the Soviet Era encouraged marriage and children by the age of 22.

Women who are over the age of 30 also see themselves as much older than they truly are. Many of the women, over 30, seen on dating sites often are divorced with children. This may seem similar to western women but the key difference is that Russian women typically look 10 years younger than their western counterparts. It is not uncommon for a woman in her 40′s to be mistaken for 28 or less.