Mail Order Bride

The quick answered is "no". I have recently read posts in forums that people think you can have a women come over to the US to get married without having ever met the Russian woman. This is very unlikely if not completely untrue.

It is almost impossible for a Russian woman to get a tourist visa to come to the US. The US government assumes that they will not return to Russia. This is not true of women from the Ukraine. They can get a tourist visa.

About the only way a Russian fiancée can come the US is by getting a K1 or K3 visa. The K1 visa is a fiancée visa and the K3 visa is used by a person who married a Russian while visiting Russia.

In order to get a K3 visa you have to spend at least 30 days in Russian to complete the paperwork required by the Russian Government or make two trips to Russia to complete the process. Both options are not cheap and require you to spend time with your future bride.

The K1 visa requires more paperwork by the US Government but is usually processed faster than a K3 visa. The Russian Government is not involved in the process.

To get the K1 visa approved you must make a trip to Russia to spend time with your fiancé. There are some countries in Europe that she could fly to meet you outside of the US. It would be easy to doctor a photo with Photoshop to make it look like you spent time with her but that is not enough. You have to submit receipts for hotels in Russia, copies of airfare tickets to Russia. If she met you somewhere outside of Russia you would have to provide proof of her travel to meet you.

You should also supply copies of emails, letters, and phone bills showing communication over a period of time. I even supplied a picture of my wife wearing her engagement ring and a copy of the purchase receipt.

If she gets approved to come to the US she can only stay for 90 days. If you are not married by then she has to return to Russia and cannot return on the same visa.

After you are married there are several additional meetings you have to attend with the immigration officials in which you have to prove your marriage is authentic. Examples are having her name on utility bills, titles to cars and houses, and credit cards. She will be asked personal questions about you such as what brand of tooth paste you use whether you take a bath or shower.

As you can see, it is not as simple as some people think. You cannot just send her a plane ticket and pick her up at the airport. It is a lot of work and a serious commitment.

Robert Deans, 
  

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