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Rattlehead
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| Joined: | Thursday August 24th, 2006 |
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Posted: Friday August 17th, 2007 04:45 am |
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I've never been to Russia (or any FSU country) before and
I am going to Russia to teach English. I want to get a 12
month unlimited entry business visa. I have a few questions
about how I should fill out the application for the invitation
letter and for the visa itself. I hope someone here can help
me.
The forms ask for my employer (outside of Russia). The way it
is phrased it seems to mean my current employer. I was working
a temporary menial job having nothing to do with business in
Russia, and I quit that to take a CELTA course (in June) so
that I could teach in Russia. I haven't bothered to seek
employment here since, because I'm leaving sometime in Sept, or
Oct. Everyone tells me that I should put something down rather
than say "unemployed" or "N/A" and that they don't check unless
a red flag comes up in your criminal background check, so I
should just put anything. So here's my questions:
1. a) Would it be better to say I'm self-employed, or working
for whoever I put down as my employer?
b) If I say I'm working for someone else, should I say I
currently work for them (as in I'll still be working for them
while in Russia) or should I say my employment with them will
end when I leave for Russia?
c) Should I have a story about why I need to be in Russia for
my work (whether it be self-employed or employed with someone
else)?
2. This is related to the previous question. I've read that
you need to make your stated "purpose of visit" consistent with
the visa you are applying for. If I am applying for a business
visa will they tell me that I need a work visa if I tell them
that I will be working as an English teacher? Should I not
tell them that? What should I say? Will they ask me what work
I'll be doing or if I'll be employed with my "current" employer
or have secured or seeking new employment?
3. Will they expect me to file income tax with them? Will they
expect it only if they know I'll be working as a teacher, or
only if they think I'm doing work for a US based company, or
either? If I work off the books and don't file income tax will
they question how I'm supporting myself? For that matter, will
they ask how I'll support myself over the coming year?
4. Will registering with the US Consulate cause them to expect
me to file income tax for the US? Will they ask any of the
above questions?
5. If there is an unexpected question on an application or any
other unexpected development, how much can I trust travel
agencies? I mean, can I say something to them like, "Look, I'm
not really employed here, I quit my job to learn to teach
English and now I'm going to Russia to teach there?"
6. I will stop in Ukraine for a week or two on my way to Russia.
How will this effect my Russian visa process? I know Ukraine
doesn't require any visa for US citizens anymore, but is there
anything that I have to do, paperwork wise, for Ukraine?
Sorry for all the technical questions, but I'm used to doing
paperwork by the book, so this is new to me.
Thanks!
--Rat
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ronin1
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| Joined: | Saturday January 21st, 2006 |
| Location: | S.F. Bay Area, California USA |
| Posts: | 622 |
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Posted: Saturday August 18th, 2007 08:20 pm |
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Rattlehead,
Congrats on landing a job in Russia! It is not a small feat to accomplish. I hope all goes well. About your questions… this is an area I have absolutely no ideas on. It is well outside my range of experience and perhaps most if not all that visit the RWPrimer. You might want to search and ask in some of the expat. forums where they have gone through what your are going through. You might get your answers there more quickly since time is in short supply for you. Hope we have help you in the past to steer you in the right direction.
Moscow Expat Forum
Red Tape – Russian Made Easy Forum
Expat Exchange Forum
You may even get help here:
Master Russian Forum
A good overall resource directory for everything expat:
Transitions Abroad
Best of luck on your great adventure and drop us a post every so often to let us know how thing are.
Ronin
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Rattlehead
Member
| Joined: | Thursday August 24th, 2006 |
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Posted: Thursday August 30th, 2007 09:48 am |
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Thank you Ronin, those links will be quite helpful! Sorry I took so long to reply, I've been ridiculously busy. And, yes, I will keep you informed. :-) Thanks!
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