K. Virtanen

(Embarrassing typo in Subject: line corrected)

Eka asked:

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Oops, sorry. I knew there was something I forgot to mention. CHC London, no pilot project.

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Rgds,

--
1972kv

Derek Gibson

Hi all,

Good news. My wife, Leila, received a phone call from our embassy in Moscow. They have her
landing papers.

Here's the timeline July 15, 2000 - sent forms to Mississauga, paid ROLF August 12,2000 -
received approval Leila began getting her documents ready at this time. Leila lives in
Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Needless to say, in that county, it's a nightmare to deal with
anybody that handles documents October 7, 2000- documents are finally sent to Moscow
January 30, 2001- interview and medicals in Moscow March 7, 2001- visa is ready!!!!!!

Thanks to James Metcalfe and others who have been very helpful throughout this process. I
have some final questions regarding her flight to Canada. I live in Regina. She has to
pick her landing papers in Moscow. Would it be best to catch an early morning flight to
Moscow, take a taxi to the embassy(get the papers), and catch a flight to New York later
that day? It is cheaper to fly through the States to Minneapolis then Regina. Is it
possible for Leila to go through the US on her way to Canada? I would imagine if she had
her Canadian landing papers and tickets to Canada that it would be all right. Also is it
cheaper to buy return tickets than one-way? Or am I just getting some weird information
from TravelCity?

Thanks a lot, Derek

Alex

1) Sometimes tickets are cheaper when you are buying return tickets.
2) Assuming that rules for citizens of Uzbekistan and Russia are the same(I am pretty sure
they are), she will need a transit visa to fly through the US. Getting those is not
easy even when you are a landed immigrant(she will not be one at the point we are
talking about). You might want to check with American consulate.
3) I don't know if this rule exists in Uzbekistan or not and what kind of treaty Russia
has with Uzbekistan, but there are some obstacles for Russian citizens leaving their
country. There is a rule inherited from the USSR system, that a person leaving his
country to become PR of another country needs a special stamp in his passport. It
contradicts with other Russian laws, but you never know what they will try to enforce.
Again, I don;t know what the rules are for citizens of Uzbekistan and how Russia
handles it, but you should be prepared for this kind of trouble, that she might have
some problems leaving the country. On this point of view having some other country visa
and flying through it might help - she is not leaving, she is traveling.

All above is my personal opinion based on what I heard from other people and general rules
I followed. Left Russia through the third country, despite many including my cositizens
will say it is paranoia.

Alex.

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