927135498
7/16/2015 00:13 EST
Please feel free to either post a comment or PM me. I have a million questions but no answers. I need the straight dope from someone who has already done it. The word from the man (or woman) on the street as they say here.
My plan is to move to Russia by the end of the year but I don't have a clue where to start, what forms I need. Do I need a police clearance as is required by some other countries? Is there a required amount of money I would need to deposit in a bank in Russia?
How long can I stay, can I extend my initial visa after my arrival or will I have to hop over the border every 30 days or ____ fill in the blank? Can I ever become a legal resident? Can I buy property?
See? So many questions that only a person who has actually made the move from Un-Amerika to Russia.
Post a Reply
 0 0 abuse
|
|
927135498
7/16/2015 13:01 EST
Should have started with this but here's a little about me. I am male, name is Tom, age is in the low 50's, do not feel that Un-merica is my home and haven't for decades now, like to work in my garden, and love long walks, hiking, biking, swimming, want to learn these sports (skiing, jetski, water skiing, snorkling, and maybe paragliding if I can conquer my fear of heights, possibly scuba diving I'm where the water is warm). :))) Oh, and I'd like to learn to play guitar and the piano one day.
I've researched moving to and living in the following countries:
+Canada, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela, Philippines, Thailand (only Chiang Mai), and have basically written them all off my list for various reasons.
Still under consideration are, in order of least favorite to most: Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Ukraine, and Russia.
Note: Small to medium size towns are my preference but not so far out in the wild as to make it a hassle to go on vacation or conduct important business like banking and keeping my status legal, or do the occasional shopping excursion.
I am on SSD, and would have at least $1200 per month for living expenses, possibly more if the House doesn't cut my benefits as they are trying to do now.
Hopefully that gives the group here a little insight into who I am.
Paka (????)
Post a Reply
 0 0 abuse
|
|
|
|
bobrey
From: Russia
8/6/2015 11:00 EST
To start I love Russia and Russian people.
That being said I would strongly recommend against moving to Russia at this time. Especially to a small medium sized town. The quality of life issues aside you would really struggle not knowing the language, anti americanism is through the roof. The few expat friends still in Moscow have recommended that I not visit at the moment due to antiamericanism and in smaller locales it will be worse. Also $1200 isnt going to get near as far as you think.
You will not be able to get residency from here. You'll need to travel on a visa. The current restrictions on various visas are unclear to me as my last one was a work permit. It will be very difficult if not impossible, without bribes or using a facilitator to play in the grey area, to get a residency permit. It will require a laundry list of documentation, are limited issues per year, and require formal application to leave the country every time. Huge pain in the ass for sure and i would say doubly so with everything going on now.
Whats your motivation to move to Russia now? Especially now. I have tons of friends that have been there 20+ years that are heading for the doors..
Post a Reply
00abuse
|
|
927135498
8/6/2015 13:56 EST
Why? Let's take a stock market analogy: Buy Low, Sell High. Except if I were to move there it would be buy low and stay till I die.
Their currency is battered and their economy is hurting so I should be able to stretch my meager funds a lot more there than other places. If it is possible to buy land or a house then I should be able to afford it there but I could never afford to buy in the EU, Canada, USA, etc. I have very few resources to work with and must stretch them to the limit.
#1, I don't do politics so I don't care about who hates who the most. Once a person gets to know me they will realize that I am just like them, just a regular human on this lousy planet trying to stay afloat till I die. I love all people.
The anti-Vietnam War slogan sums up my opinion quite nicely: War is harmful to children and other living things.
Thank you for your concern and I will seriously take it under advisement.
Post a Reply
00abuse
|
|
bobrey
From: Russia
8/6/2015 16:01 EST
To borrow from you last post to me do some more research and it will help you in the long run.
Your market analogy might hold true if the vast majority of my long term expat buddies hadnt already left or in the process of leaving the country. To borrow from poker they were pot committed and had survived multiple market shocks and crisis. Your position is more like buying as Buffet is selling.
You are correct but I think you’re in for some sticker shock. One thing you likely haven’t taken into your calculations is the fact that most Russian’s own their housing as a parting gift from the USSR so the stats on income and cost of living generally nets out housing costs. You’re likely looking at a min $600 for 1 room on the outskirts of town. Stand alone house is going to cost you a pretty penny and far more than you would pay in the US or Canada for something comparable unless you’re talking LA. no way in hell should you buy raw land unless you’re fine with no electricity gas and an illegal well as your source of water.
That’s great you don’t do politics. But how are you going to get to know them when you don’t speak Russian and they don’t speak English. Also Russians do politics aggressively and are very nationalistic at the moment. Last fall a buddy was back in Moscow selling a flat. He was at two separate expat bars and was accosted by aggressive Russians because he was an American. This will likely be far worse in smaller towns.
You want some more color on Russia I would recommend at a min reading the Moscow Times.
Post a Reply
01abuse
|
|
927135498
8/6/2015 16:31 EST
Moscow Times is anti Moscow so it must be true? You set the bar for actual journalism pretty low.
The Moscow Times has advertisers which means that they will tow the corporate line and not anger the companies who advertise there. Fail point #1.
"The buyer is Demyan Kudryavtsev, a 43-year-old Internet entrepreneur, former chief executive of Russian publishing house Kommersant and ex-business partner of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky." Owned by an oligarch. Oh yeah. That just screams truth in journalism. Fail point #2.
"Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who owns the Kommersant publishing house, one of the largest in Russia." An oligarch owns one of the largest publishing houses in Russia?!? Fail point #3.
Need I go on?
And the fact that Kommersant and Moscow Times exist as privately owned entities goes against your comment that all the media is owned by the government.
This is what happens when you begin with an opinion... and THEN attempt to find facts to back up your opinion. Fail.
Sorry my friend. Not gonna work, not this time.
PS, since you are using wikipedia sources I am too.
Post a Reply
00abuse
|
|
|
|
bobrey
From: Russia
8/6/2015 19:46 EST
Really? You’re just trying to pick a fight now. How does any media company support itself, outside of government support? That’s right through ads. That was one of the things that Putin did to destroy independent cable channels. He banned them from running ads. Please explain to me your idea of a legitimate media source and how it supports itself? And why is it now owned by a Oligarch? Yes that’s right because of new legislation capping foreign ownership at 20%. New flash oligarchs own lots of stuff in Russia. Why is this a surprise. How is this different than Ted Turner or Rupport Murdoch? Rich people have lots of special interests so why not have a mouth piece to get your point across. I don’t know why you would go on as your points really don’t have much of a point in my opinion.
The Moscow Times would have been shutdown a long time ago if it were in Russian. Kommersants stake is going to a Oligarch that will have to tow the Kremlin line.
Sling away. But the simple fact is I have a much stronger basis than you.
PS – If you’re right and I’m wrong why is Russian ranked 152 out of 180 with regards to world press freedom index. https://index.rsf.org/#!/
Post a Reply
00abuse
|
|
927135498
8/10/2015 11:29 EST
Bobrey, I wasn't trying to pick fights with anyone, I simply tried to correct what I felt was an error in your logic. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable.
I'd like to ask everyone to limit posts here on this thread to the topic of the thread: How to relocate from the US to Russia.
Any tips you can give, things to watch out for, things to make sure you get done before leaving America, etc., would be most welcome and most appreciated. Also, if anyone has a recommendation for where to live, how to buy property or a house the correct way (keeping it legal while covering my posterior from possible ripoffs or someone coming back and either demanding more money or claiming title to the property, etc).
Thanks all!
Post a Reply
00abuse
|
|
|
|
|
|
