Does anyone have experience of Russian women women travelling to the west on a tourist visa? I'm being told that it is possible for a Russian woman to go to her local travel agency and buy a package tour, for example to somewhere in Europe, and the travel agency will arrange her visa as part of the package, together with the flights, hotel etc. Sounds a bit fishy to me, I can't see why the embassy of her destination country would look any more favourably on that scenario, than if she applied direct in person (assuming she had complied with the usual requirements, eg return flight booking, proof of funds etc.) I would have thought the vital criteria would remain unchanged (ie, her marital status, employment status, age etc.) As I understand it, a young single girl with no strong ties in Russia has little chance of success in applying for a visa to enter Europe or the USA, unless she has a lot of support from someone living there (proof of funds, proof of reason for visit, letter of invitation etc etc.) Even then, it is a bit of a lottery, and subject to in-depth interviews at the embassy's consular department.
So, any experience of this? Obviously Russians and Ukrainians do take holidays abroad, I've met lots of them, but they are probably couples or families with jobs and firm roots back home, who were granted their visas because they aren't likely to violate them and stay abroad.
The total cost of the tourist package described above has been quoted to me as $1074. My first instinct is to walk away, but actually it would cost that much to go visit a girl in the middle of Russia. Obviously paying someone up front to purchase such a package would be breaking Rule No.1 and would be invite the classic scam, but if the travel agent can be contacted directly and their credentials verified, if they can also be paid direct, and if they really do arrange the visa, it could save a whole lot of hassle. (Not that Russian travel agents can necessarily be trusted though!) My first instinct is to walk away from this one, and it still is, but I am just curious to check out the scenario, in case it is plausible.
By the way, I'm sure most regulars on this site are well aware of this, but for the benefit of any newbies, if you are corresponding with a girl by email, using her "personal" address, and even if she is 100% genuine, don't think that you are safe from scams. I have twice recently experienced cases where a rogue email has suddenly appeared during a string of correspondence, which appears to be from the girl's correct email address, but you can tell sometimes just from the tone of the letter, or some mistake or repetition in the content, that it has been sent by someone else. This was confirmed to me recently when the seemingly genuine girl said she had not even visited the internet cafe that day! My own policy is to always refer to something "topical" in each email, and ask some questions, which relate to something you previously discussed with each other, that a stranger would not be able to pick up on. Then study the response carefully. If there is something missing in the response, if your questions have been ignored... shut her down IMMEDIATELY and move on.
Any related experiences, anyone?
