A Few Facts to Know Before Marrying a Russian Citizen

There is, of course, one other way to legally stay in Russia if a foreigner cannot obtain a work permit - get married. Expats who are considering marrying a Russian citizen while in the country on a valid business visa may be able to legally stay in the country while awaiting permanent residency, provided that their Russian spouse can prove that he or she has a registered home and earns an income deemed sufficient to support the foreign spouse. Since foreigners cannot legally work in Russia without a work permit, however, only the income of the Russian spouse counts towards the required minimal level of support. If the bride is an eighteen year old student living with her parents, then going this route is probably not advisable. If the Russian bride or groom is older with a decent salary and is willing to support their spouse for a few months until the foreigner can find legal paid work, then it might prove feasible.

Another fact to be aware of is that, with the exception of urgent cases when the bride is obviously pregnant, marriage licenses in Russia are typically issued thirty days after the couple first appears together in person to sign an application stating their intentions. This makes it difficult for couples to get married while the foreign partner is visiting on a 30-day tourist visa, unless the couple can make a beeline to the wedding palace straight from the airport (needless to say, if you have not spent a considerable amount of time with your Russian bride or groom, such quickie marriages are ill-advised). Some clergy in Russia and Ukraine might be willing to perform a religious (but not legal) ceremony without a government-issued marriage license, but Russian Orthodox priests usually will not perform the sacrament of vinchane (crowning) without a certificate. Moscow only has one "ZAGS" (Zapis Aktov Grazhdanskogo Sostoyaniya) where foreigners can marry Russian citizens, at 17 Butyrsky Ulitsa. In every other major Russian city, contact the nearest ZAGS office and foreign consulate for more details.

Before getting married, all foreigners will need a current, valid visa in their passport, and previously divorced partners will need a death certificate for their former spouse or divorce decrees to obtain additional documents proving that they are legally free to remarry. Every foreign legal document must be translated into Russian by a notary public, and both British and American citizens must sign affidavits at their embassies affirming that they are free to marry (for FAQs, click here and here). The last step in this process is registering the marriage with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, located at Neopalimovskiy Pereulok, dom 12a near the Smolenskaya Metro station on Moscow's dark blue line.

At first, the idea of staying in Russia with a spouse may sound wonderful, especially for a foreigner who speaks Russian and/or has marketable skills in a growth industries in Russia, such as energy, construction, hospitality, finance or high-end retail management. But foreigners intending to take a Russian spouse back to their homeland may encounter some difficulties. Staying in Russia for a few years could make proving that you and your spouse intend to reside permanently in your home country (especially if your spouse wants to obtain a green card in the U.S.) a more challenging proposition. In any case, couples should be prepared for several months of waiting for an interview at their nearest Embassy or Consulate followed by years of tedious paperwork and government application fees, to say nothing of the legal costs if the couple hires an attorney.

It is highly recommended that couples contemplating marriage should at least obtain an initial consultation with an immigration lawyer to find out which questions they need answered (be advised, not all of the information on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services websites is up to date and many programs involving expedited petitioner filing for adjustment of status in select cities are subject to change). Moscow has many lawyers fluent in English that specialize in assisting petitioners and foreign adoptive parents with their immigration cases, and these law firms list their services on websites such as expat.ru and redtape.ru. Expat.ru and other forums also feature online message boards with helpful advice on these topics.

For U.S. citizens, legally marrying a spouse abroad and bringing him or her to the U.S. on a K-3 (spouse) visa is usually going to take longer than going through with a K-1 fiancée visa, due to the fact that USCIS requires evidence that couple have been legally married according to the laws of the country where the petitioners first obtained their marriage license.