Temporary Residency

Well, it's an interesting life we're living. In order to be in Russia, we need visas. Or so we thought. In the 2.5 years I've already lived in Russia, we've had temporary tourist visas, humanitarian visas, and work visas. There is really a LOT of documentation, applications, waiting in lines, and in general bureaucracy involved in having these precious documents. I'm sure that folks coming to the US have just as much hassle getting documents, but I think that the Russians might have invented bureaucracy.

So, we decided to apply for temporary residency to make this process easier. Jim & Sally received residency last year in late July and it has been great for them. So we're on board.

In August, you'll remember, we made a special visit to the States in order to prepare the necessary documents for this endeavor. The following documents are required: birth certificates, marriage license, criminal background check (which involves fingerprinting and FBI background checks). Optional, but really required additional documents include: diplomas, certifications, etc.

In December, we began the process of getting these documents translated into Russian for our application process when government offices reopened after the New Year's holiday (Jan. 11). Well, as we were putting together our folder of information, we were notified of a change to Russian law (they literally change MONTHLY) that we needed a special seal on all of our documents. This seal is called an apostille. They come (in the US) only from the Secretary of State's office from the state where the document was created... translation for us: from Michigan and Indiana. So we had to send documents back to the US, have them forwarded to the Secretary of State, receive them in the US and THEN have them expressed back to us in Russia. (Special thanks and major kudos to Ryan and Sara (Amy's brother-in-law and sister) who made this possible, by driving and running all over Indianapolis to make our time crunch application process possible.

So, on February 9 the documents arrived in Russia. Tracking is officially no longer possible. Amy is INCREDIBLE and calls the FedEx office in Moscow and asks for more details about where the package will be delivered in Tyumen. We call the office in Tyumen and track the package down on a truck and get it successfully delivered to the Cultural Center (are you excited along with us?)

So the documents are immediately (well, delayed 12 hours) sent off to be 'officially' translated.

TO BE CONTINUED....