Yes, you do have to pay, but only for some of our online Russian dating services. 1. You pay for reading other members’ messages. For this you need to purchase credits (see below). 2. If you make a phone call through us, you will be charged for that, as well. The rest of our services are absolutely free and these include: registering a profile, searching our database and viewing other members’ profiles, sending messages and smiles.

The easiest way is to procure them online with a credit card (we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discovery). In order to do that you log in to your profile, go to "Buy Credits" and purchase the desired amount. If don’t have a credit card, or prefer not to use it online, click for other payment options.

It depends on the amount you buy:

• 100 credits or more - $1.00 per credit
• 55-99 credits - $1.09 per credit
• 20-54 credits - $2.00 per credit

There are a few dynamics. First, it depends on the number of men she is corresponding with: the more men she corresponds with, the more expensive to open her letters (if she stops writing to one or more men, the price goes down). So, you’ve got a mission to accomplish here! Get her to drop the rest. Second, it depends on the Russian lady’s English skills (if she can’t read and write in English and will have to use a translator, hence the price will be higher). Third, if that special Russian lady doesn’t have Internet access at home, she will use a computer at her local dating agency and this will increase the cost, as well.

If you want to get a lady’s direct contact details, you have to open at least 15 messages from the lady* .  At this point you have the right to request her contact details.  To do this, go to her profile and click the button that says "Send contact info request".  Please note that sending personal contact information through our messaging system is not allowed, even after you have opened 15 or more messages from a lady.  If you want to exchange personal contact information with a lady, please contact us.

We do not allow contact between members outside our website before they have officially exchanged contact information. Outside contact includes our competitor websites, social network websites, skype, etc. Outside contact violates our Terms and Conditions. It also opens possibilities for fraud. We do not allow our ladies to contact men outside the website, or to respond to men's attempts to circumvent our rules. If you are contacted outside our website by someone claiming to be a lady from the website, please be cautious as this could be a scam attempt. All of the above applies only until you have officially exchanged contact information. After the contact exchange you are free to communicate without our involvement.

The Requested Contacts Page (which can be accessed from the menu on the left side of your control panel) displays the contact details you have requested. Note that it is updated only after your contact info request has been processed. So, please, be patient.

A friends list is not a list of people a member is writing to. To be on a member’s friends list, you have to send them an invitation, which they can choose to accept, or the other way around: a member sends you an invitation and you accept it. Being a "friend" is a mutual thing. That means that, if a Russian lady is on your friends list, you are automatically on hers. You can remove any "friend" from your list by logging into your profile, going to "Communicator", then "Friend members", checking the people you wish to remove and clicking "Delete from Friends List".

People on your friends list have access to your private photos, which are protected by your private password from everyone else.

Remember, the list of your "friends" is viewable by any member, or even a visitor to the site. Having many friends, or having just a few, or even none is a personal choice. Friends on a member’s profiles mean different things to different people. For some, having many friends shows that they are popular. Some prefer to keep their relationships private, so they do not list any friends. For others, listing a person as a friend means they are serious about them. So, when you come across a pretty Russian lady use your own judgment in interpreting the meaning of her friends list, or the lack of it. Factor in the ratings of her photos (number of votes and average rating) and her popularity (more credits per letter means more people are writing to her).

Private pictures are password protected, so you will have to contact that Russian lady and request the password. This is better to do after you have established communication with the lady.

Of course, you can order an interpreted phone call, for 1.8 credits per minute (1 credit if you don’t require translation). You should do it in advance because we will need time to contact your chosen Russian lady’s local agency or the lady herself, and make sure she can be available at the requested time. Remember, please, that exchanging personal contact information during such phone calls is not allowed. Here are some tips on setting up your first phone call.

Yes, you can order an interpreted videocall. You can make your request by email support@my-russian-lady.com. The price for videochatting with the lady is 2.5 credits per minute. The minimum call duration is 10 minutes, which means that the system will charge your account for the first 10 minutes automatically when you start talking to the lady. Please make sure you have enough credits on your profile account before starting the videochat. We need time to contact the lady’s local agency, or the lady herself, and make sure she will be available at the desired time therefore the videocall should be ordered in advance. Please note that exchanging personal contact information during your videocall will not be allowed.

A large number of Russian women on our website are represented by local dating agencies, where they contact our representatives in person. Besides, we are on the watch for suspicious activity: if a member mass mails others, uses certain words, etc., this triggers a red flag, and we run a thorough check on the member in question. Regretfully, due to the large number of profiles it is impossible to filter out all scammers. Thus, we urge you to be on guard and alert us of anything suspicious.

Honestly, we cannot know the real intentions of our members. But, after you correspond with a Russian lady for a while and, if possible, meet her in person, you will get a pretty good idea of what she is about. Besides, in order to get unconditional permanent residency in the US she has to stay married to a US citizen for 2 years. Add the processing time and you get about 3 years before she can leave. That should be enough time for you to make a good impression on her, right? :) Could a person be so calculated as to go through all this trouble for a green card? It's quite possible, but from our experience we attest that most of the Russian women coming here are sincerely looking for a trustworthy man with whom to create a family. If her husband treats her with respect, she will stay. But, as you know, some guys can be jerks and they get what they deserve. Then, they will cry all over the Internet about how "she took advantage<" of them. Statistics tell us the divorce rate among international couples in the US is several times lower than that of regular American couples.

It is not uncommon for Russian women to marry older men, thing that may clash with American stereotypes (although lately things are changing around here, too). If you are going to marry a gorgeous Russian lady, you might want to learn how to look beyond these stereotypes. Of course, there are limits. If you are 40 and looking for an 18-year-old bride, this might be a bit of a stretch, but 22-25 years old would be ok. But again, each person has each own standards. Some Russian women don’t mind a significant age difference, while others do. Their age preference is usually indicated in their profiles.

If you are outside the continental US, you cannot use the US toll-free numbers. This includes our toll-free main and fax numbers. Outside the continental US may or may not include Canada, Puerto Rico and Hawaii. For instance, some of our customers in Canada are able to call us on our toll free number, while others can't. If that's the case, please, use our regular (toll) numbers or contact us via live chat, free 24 hours a day.

Here is our mailing address and other updated contact information. You can forward all correspondence to this address, including payments, orders, and inquiries.

Most likely, your email provider has blocked the delivery of our email to you, because of its anti-spam policies. Unfortunately, many email providers, especially those like Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL are blocking a lot of legitimate emails because they suspect them to be SPAM. With today's large volume of SPAM on the Internet, email providers have to take steps to protect their users from huge amounts of unsolicited emails. They use automatic filters or rules, by which they sort out messages into 3 categories: ones that should be delivered, ones that get deleted, and a category "in between" for those messages that end up in your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folder. We never send unsolicited messages to anyone, yet some of our emails to our customers get blocked.

If this information is not helping or you believe that's not the problem, contact us by phone or via online chat and we will gladly help you. If you have not received a response to your question via email, the first thing to do would be to check your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folders. If you find it there, please, click "Not spam" or similar button in your email browser. If you don't find our message in your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folder and you are using Hotmail or AOL, please, follow these instructions to unblock us.

First, login to your account and check your messages. The Russian women will not reply directly to your email, but instead their messages will be stored in your account Inbox. However, you should get notifications from us about every new message/response received. In case you don't, please, read the answer above to ensure you are receiving emails from us. If there are still no messages in your email inbox, make sure that you have a photo in your profile and it is correctly displayed. Leave the surprise for other occasions - let your Russian lady see you upfront! Profiles without pictures get almost no replies. If you still get no response to more than 3 messages, let us know and we will try to find out what's going on.

In order to protect the privacy of our members and to prevent spam our system does not allow users to send a message to a member from whom you have 2 or more unopened messages. If you want to send him or her a message, you need to go back to your Communicator and open the mail you've got from her or him. If you have by mistake deleted those unopened messages, please contact the administrator.

If your profile was rejected, it must have violated some of our rules, or it seemed suspicious to our moderators. There are several things you can do to ensure your profile is not rejected again:

• Post a picture. It must be a picture of yourself, with your face clearly visible. No nudity or private contact info in photos is allowed.
• Write a decent description. A profile with no description (or a pointless or obscene one) will be rejected.
• Enter your private contact info (such as email, phone number) only in the fields explicitly provided for it.
• Choose the country in which you are located at the moment. If you normally live somewhere else, you can indicate that in your description.
• Provide your phone number.

Please, visit this page.

If you already have a passport valid at least six months after the dates of your travel, we will fax you the visa support documents within 1-2 business days. Then, you need to apply to the consulate for the visa. Visa processing for Russia takes about 2 weeks for standard processing, but you can pay extra money and have it ready even on the same business day. Add the time for mailing the documents to the Consulate and back. They accept express delivery, including FedEx next day, and can send you the documents back the same way, if you provide prepaid waybill. Another option would be to go in person to a Russian Consulate in New York, San Francisco or Seattle and get the visa the same day. It will cost about $300. It may seem bothersome, but it’s worth doing it for that pretty Russian lady in waiting!

It is quite safe in Russia and other CIS countries, if you know where to go and what to do. It might be somewhat dangerous, if you get lost and you are on your own. If you stay away from unsafe neighborhoods, don't flash your cash and just follow the basic safety rules, you will be ok. It's a good idea to have the Russian lady you are visiting pick you up at the airport and show you around.

Yes, you can bring your laptop and you will need a simple adapter. As far as customs office is concerned, there are no restrictions on transporting your personal laptop across the Russian border. Now about the adapter? The electricity in Russia and in all the other European countries is 220 volts (it is 110 in USA). So, for all other electronic devices except your laptop you will need a step down transformer (an adapter that changes voltage). You can get one at Sears or Radioshack for $20-$30. The laptops are the lucky exceptions in that they do not need a transformer, because their chargers normally take in any voltage from 110 volts to 250 volts. There may be laptop chargers out there that would not take 220 volts, however we have not seen one. Please, check your charger first before you fry your laptop! The acceptable voltage should be printed directly on the charger. However, even if your laptop will take 220 volts, you still need a simple adapter. The reason is that Russian electrical outlet has 2 round holes, while American plug has 2 flat prones and there is no way you can fit one into the other. So you need to buy a cheap ($1-$3) adapter that has 2 slits for flat American prones and 2 round prones on the other end to plug into the Russian outlets. You can get these in many places: RadioShack, Sears, or even at your local WalMart. Network and phone connectors are the same as in the US. This applies to all CIS countries.

If you are staying in an expensive hotel in a main city, they may have Wi-Fi connection. Please, check with your hotel first. Needless to say, the Wi-Fi standard is the same throughout the world, so you shouldn't have any problems. If this does not apply to you, read on:

1. If you only need to access Internet from a public computer (to access Internet, or your web-based email, like Yahoo or Hotmail) there are lots of Internet cafes in almost every city of the former Soviet republics. Just ask the hotel personnel or a taxi driver. The rate for Internet usage at an Internet cafe is usually about $1 per hour.
2. Connecting your own laptop may be more difficult. Unfortunately, neither Russia nor any other CIS country has a nation-wide Internet provider, like AOL in the USA (for lack of a better example). So, you will have to find a local provider in the city where you are staying. Again, the hotel personnel could help you locate one. You can also find one on the Internet before your trip. You should be prepared to prepay your Internet access in cash, because local providers normally do not take credit cards. The rates are usually $0.50-$1.00 per hour. Another option is to take your laptop to the nearest Internet cafe and ask the staff to connect it to the Internet. They are always willing to do so at a regular hourly rate. NOTE: in some major cities there would be parks, public plazas, or regular cafés providing free Wi-Fi connectivity. Just ask around.

Yes, but you need an AC adapter. The electricity in Russia and all other European countries is 220 volts (it is 110 in USA). So for all electronic devices except your laptop you will need a transformer (an adapter that changes voltage). These are often called step down transformers and can be found at Sears or Radioshack at $20-$30. We have decent ones for sale for $15 plus shipping. Contact us to order one.

It depends on the provider that you are using. All European providers use GSM standard for cell phone communication, so, if you are from any European country, your phone will work seamlessly in Russia. You are likely to be charged premium roaming charges, so, please, check with your provider. They may have a calling plan that covers Russia, so you won't incur roaming charges.

In USA: Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint use the older proprietary CDMA standard. Those phones WILL NOT work in Russia at all. I have tried it myself. On the other hand, T-Mobile and Cingular use more widely accepted GSM standard, so, those will work in Russia. Usually, you do not need a quad-band “world phone” as they call it. In Russia the most widely used frequency is GSM 1800. Most GSM phones offered on US market can operate on this frequency. Occasionally, you may encounter coverage for older GSM 900 standard. To get a signal in these locations, you have to have a phone that will work on this frequency. Check your cell phone manual or call your wireless service provider to find out what frequencies your phone can operate on.

Normally, with USA providers like T-Mobile and Cingular, your roaming charges in Russia will be about $1.50 per minute, which is a lot. If you need to call a number in Russia from your US cell phone while in Russia, you will also incur international long distance charges which are also high. The easiest way would be to buy a cell phone in Russia - but they are kind of expensive there - prepare to spend about $150 even for a basic one. Still, there is a better way, if you have a GSM phone. It may seem a bit complicated, but you will not only get decent rates for calling Russia and USA, but you will also get a Russian cell phone number without spending a lot. What you can do is buy a SIM card in Russia and insert it in your existing US phone. The SIM card comes with a brand new Russian cell phone number, and, if you purchase it in your destination city, you will get local calling rates. SIM cards are sold at every wireless store which are everywhere and cost about $5. There is one last trick though. To prevent their customers from switching to a competitor, T-Mobile and Cingular are now “locking” their customer's phones so that a SIM card from a different provider cannot be used. To use a Russian SIM card you have to “unlock” the phone. You can find such service locally (usually, in cell phone repair shops) or just type “unlock phone” on eBay.

Russian cell phone providers offer prepaid service as well as monthly calling plans. Airtime is somewhat expensive, compared to US. Local calls are 5 to 15 cents a minute, long distance calls are 15-80 cents a minute. International calls can be as high as $3 per minute. Calls made from 9 PM to 6 AM are about twice cheaper than daytime calls. You can prepay any amount at any wireless store or any bank. There are, also, special machines in most supermarkets which accept payments for cellular service. They have English prompts as well.

There are a few cellular service providers on Russian market, but I hesitate to recommend a specific one. Still, if I absolutely must recommend one to a foreign traveler I would go with “MTS”. It's not the cheapest one, but it seems to be the largest, has the best coverage and has wireless stores everywhere. Besides, it operates other CIS countries, where your Russian lady might be residing.

When calling from the US you need to dial 011, then the country code, then the area code and the phone number. The country code for Russia is 7, for Ukraine is 380 and for Belarus is 375. If you dial directly from your home or work phone without using a calling card, or signing up for a special international call discount program with your long distance provider, the cost could be very high ($2 per minute or even more).

Remember, if you get stuck, you can always call our bilingual operator/interpreter and have her dial the number for you. She will stay online and interpret your conversation with a Russian lady in real time. For more on this service click here.

Russia’s climate is quite varied. So, it would be hard to get a full description in just a few sentences. Generally speaking, the climate somewhat resembles American Midwest, only a bit colder and less windy. Read here, then type in the name of the location in the search box.

You need a visa to enter Russia, whether you are a US citizen, or you come from Canada, European Union or any other country. We can send you the official invitation necessary in order to be issued a visa to Russia. You will send this invitation, along with your passport, consulate fee, and 2 passport-sized photos to the Russian Consulate in your country which has jurisdiction over your region.US citizens can enter and stay in the Ukraine for up to 90 days without a visa if they have a valid passport.

If you are in the US and are our customer, we can help you with general instructing on visas, procedures, forms, etc. Please, read the next answer for an overview of the process and associated costs. Feel free to contact us and we will guide you in the right direction. We do not have an attorney on staff, and your particular situation may necessitate one. Still, if you need an attorney, we can recommend a good one who specializes in Immigration Law and has been working with us for a long time.

NOTE: The price estimates and visa kits below are for the US only. Yet, since immigration laws are similar in other Western countries, you can use this information as a guideline, if you live outside the US.

IMPORTANT: Never send money to people you have not met in person, and even if you have met them, exercise common sense before you trust them with significant funds. Internet dating scams are common these days, including various visa and ticket scenarios. A lady may claim that she can get her visa and/or plane ticket and be on her way to you, if you would only send her, or some intermediary (like her agency, or a travel company) a certain amount (usually 2-4 thousand dollars). 99.9% of such claims are false. Read more here. If you are asked for money under any excuse, please, contact us for advice before sending it.

Generally speaking, you won't be able to bring your Russian lady here until you have met in person. Her chances of getting a “tourist” or “guest” visa to the US are very slim. The most advised way to go about this is to apply for her “K” (fiancée) visa. Note that to apply for this type of visa, the immigration law requires that you have met your Russian lady in person. You have to show proof of that (photographs together, tickets, etc). Of course, the best place to meet her in person would be her home country. Some of our customers decided to meet in a third country, like Cyprus, or Dominican Republic, where Russian citizens do not need a visa. This is acceptable from the Immigration law perspective, but this way you expose yourself to possible scams, since you most likely will have to pay for her ticket (or send her money) in advance.

Let’s say you have met in person. After this you need to file a petition with USCIS, known as form I-129F. The petition can be filled out by you.  It will take USCIS up to 2-3 months to approve it. The fee as of this writing is $170. After you get it approved, send it to your Russian lady. She must take it to the US Consulate in her home country and apply for a visa. The USCIS fee, postage and visa processing fee will add up to about $350 for that step. As opposed to tourists visas to the US, which are notoriously difficult to get, “K” visas are usually easily granted, on the conditions that the documents are filed properly, she does not have a police record, and you or she had not violated any Immigration law provisions in the past (i.e. overstayed a prior “K” visa). If you or she had applied for a“K” visa in the past, it may also be grounds for denial of the current application.

Most likely she will not have the necessary amount to buy her plane ticket to the US, so, you will need to pay for that. You do not have to travel to her country again, to accompany your Russian lady, but it would be a nice gesture, if you can afford it. A one way ticket for her could be around $600-$900. If you decide to accompany her, your two way airfare could be anywhere between $800 and $1600, depending on the season and how far in advance you buy your ticket.

Once your Russian lady arrives in the US, she can stay for 90 days on the “fiancée” status. By the end of that time you either get legally married, or she has to return to her home country. None of you are obligated to get married, but you may be financially responsible for her return ticket, if things don't work out.

In case you get married, you will need to apply for a permanent resident status for your Russian lady. There is a special form you have to fill in and an application fee. If you fill out the forms by yourself, this can cost up to about $800 in fees and required medical tests.

You should not have any problems with most of the immigration forms, but in certain matters you may require the assistance of an immigration attorney. 

If everything goes well, the whole process should take up to 2 weeks, starting from the moment the Russian lady applies at the US Consulate in her home country. That does not include filing your petition.

For a Russian citizen obtaining a US visa - no. They US Consulate does not offer expedited service, and the waiting times are the same for everybody.

We recommend bringing your Russian lady to the US on a K (fiancée) visa and marrying her here. This way, she will be in the US with you, while waiting for her permanent residency papers. If you get officially married in Russia, she will have to wait for those papers in her home country. This is a lengthy process that might take up to 6 or more months. Yet, such a beautiful woman, as your Russian lady bride-to-be is worth the waiting!