Russians must be getting in to the US somehow...

[roykirk]

One of the axioms I've read on this site, and others like it, is that it's "impossible" for Russians (especially single women) to get tourist visas to the United States.  Some people say it's not even worth trying.  On my flight from LAX to Moscow last week, however, I was struck by all the young Russian women traveling on my flight.  Granted, a fair number seemed to be with their husbands (probably at least 50%), but there were many apparently traveling alone.  So, how are all of these Russians making it to the U.S.?  If it's truly impossible to get a tourist visa, I would have to guess they're all over here on business or student visas? 

[Jet]

There are a lot more different types of visas than B and K. The list goes from type A through type T and can be seen in it's entirety here
I would guess that MOST young single Russian women travel to the US on F, H-2B, & J visas but you can't discount large numbers of permanent residents returning to LAX either.

[roykirk]

These were all people on my outbound flight, but it's certainly possible that some of them were in fact permanent residents of the U.S. maybe just going home to visit for a while.  I just found it interesting that so many people say that a fiance visa is the only reasonable way to get a Russian woman over here to visit, but many apparently make it happen somehow.  All one has to do is peruse the listings of Russian women living in the United States, and you'd be amazed at how many single Russian women under the age of 30 there are living in the U.S.  I know from corresponding with several of those women, however, that many came over here for school.

[ScottinCrimea]

On my first trip to Ukraine we were told that there is a network of Russians that bring people over on business visas for a price.  All they have to do is advertise for a position with very specific qualifications that are basically impossible for anyone but the intended immigree to meet.  Once no one has answered the ad for a specified period of time, they can apply for the person to come to the US to meet this need that they are unable to meet with someone within the US.  I never got so far as to ask the price, but my impression was that it was very common.

[viking]

A friend of mine took me to a 'gentlemens club' some time ago. All the dancers and hostesses were Russian. All were young and here ""on a student visa"". I don't think so. But they all clammed up when I asked them what school they went to. Where there is a will, and money, there is a way. Maybe the Russian mob is bringing in younger women for more exotic services.

[Blues Fairy]

I got a B1-B2 visa a year ago without any problem, showing an invitation to visit from my NYC-based cousin and her husband who is a US citizen.  I also demonstrated proof of employment and salary and car ownership docs.  At the interview I was asked if I was married; I replied that no, not officially, but I had a boyfriend. Which was 100% true, only I didn't say the guy was American.

[55North]

Blues Fairy will probably have qualified to visit the UK by the same token, the important matter being that she had assets to return to.
 
I have heard of some young Russian men who have overstayed their student visas in the US, and are working (labouring) hard to accumulate the $3000 each to 'avert' military service in Russia, so that they can return (probably).

Roykirk's post struck a cord as I made the same observation flying London to Moscow on Aeroflot.  I was thinking oligarch and nomenclature offspring.  A young lady I was sitting beside turned out to be a Ukrainian from Kyiv, studying in London, off to Beijing as part of her studies!

[MaxxumUSA]

K-1 visa is NOT the only way to enter USA of course.

K-1 visa IS IMO the best way to get your fiancee in the country.  Most men here are seeking a RW for marriage and nothing less than that.  With that goal in mind - the K-1 fiancee visa makes most sense.

Me and my wife have a friend that wanted very badly to move to the USA and did NOT want to get married to do so.  So she entered on a work study visa then converted it to a student visa somehow.  She's 21 and living in NYC living her dream and doing it without the support of her parents even.  (they are fairly wealthy)

So it is not impossible for a woman to come into USA if she is single.  But it is difficult and could take a long time and a lot of luck.

- Maxxum

[Chicagoguy]

For Viking,

When you find these Russian girls at strip clubs and more there is a good chance the Russian mafia brought them over. There are many articles about this with the writers calling it "slave trade".

What they do is advertise for nannies or other ploys. I do not know what visas they receive but they do get them. As soon as the women get off the plane for their job they are whisked away by an "employer". They take these usually young and frequently smaller town girls to a location where they take her passport. Next they condition her with solitude and gang rapes until she is broken. Frequently there are beatings.

When she learns she has no control over her life she becomes their worker. It is more common with Russian girls in other countries like Turkey but it also happening here all the time.

So the next time you discover a Russian girl working these types of jobs be suspicious.

[Shadow]

A friend of Mila who is a 21 year old good looking Russian woman visited the US on a tourist visa last year.
And we meet Russians here at the tourist traps many times.
So for those who meet the  criteria, it is possible to get tourist visa.

[DKMM]

They just need $$ that's all.  Easy as pie if you have the cash.

[Zmejka]

For Viking,

When you find these Russian girls at strip clubs and more there is a good chance the Russian mafia brought them over. There are many articles about this with the writers calling it "slave trade".

Just recently I read a thread written by a Russian girl who went to work to the US on Work&Travel program on J-1 visa, so popular among the students. J-1 visa is often called among people student visa, though it's Exchange Visitor program but aiming mostly for students. When she and other girls arrived it turned out that McDonald’s from where she had a contract didn’t need more employees. They went to work as waitresses and dish-washers at a very low price. And once a waiter offered them to work in go-go bars. They joined the net of other girls working there, went from one place to another, she said that at the end of summer came girls who worked before for McDonald’s and other companies and didn’t save a lot of money.
She returned to Russia safely and bought a flat for the earned money.
If somebody is interested here’s her story (in Russian)
http://forum.chemodan.com.ua/viewtopic.php?t=25868
Mothers of girls who go to the US on J-1 should become seriously concerned

[Lily]

Mothers of girls who go to the US on J-1 should become seriously concerned

May I humbly re-phrase the line. Mothers of girls who go to the US on Work and Travel program may become somehow concerned

The J-1 visa was also a way for hundreds Russians to get their MBAs, LL.M.'s and other Masters degrees on the account of U.S.  government, that paid them the tution, air tickets and stipend for life. Some of those people came home with cash as well, depending on their degree of thriftyness. What was more important, their qualifications brought them a good chance for employment in Russia.

[Serebro]

The J-1 visa was also a way for hundreds Russians to get their MBAs, LL.M.'s and other Masters degrees on the account of U.S.  government, that paid them the tution, air tickets and stipend for life.

J-1 is a good visa, easier to get, less time to wait
I got it and they didn't even ask me to come to the Embassy