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1st Class ServicesSeveral visits to Russia and my continuous contact with Eastern Europe made me a kind of "expert", and I would like to share the knowledge of services that are available for men seeking a foreign wife in these regions. Membership With today's advance technology, leading websites offer wonderful memberships. Ads in newspapers and Listings in gentleman's catalogs are outdated. Newspaper ads were very effective and affordable. Newspapers were very popular with women for personal ads, and response rate was good, especially if your ad was written by a professional, but not anymore. Membership on a website offers so much more. You can correspond directly with the lady or through the website. Advantages: For example, if you have purchased some addresses, and then decided to upgrade your Silver membership to Gold or Platinum membership, you will get a discount equal to the cost of addresses that you purchased. Or if you paid for some responses from women and then decided to upgrade to Platinum membership, you will get a discount equal to the cost of responses you paid for. Best option: I would suggest to go for Gold membership. Get use to the website and then add on for example Weekly Ladies Catalog or upgrade to Platinum. Links to recommended websites: Elena's Models offers all these options:
A Foreign Affair printed publication will be delivered to the women who are interested in meeting a special man for friendship, love and possibly marriage, on a monthly basis.
Agencies Agencies introducing Russian women can be split into two groups:
Foreign agencies: Foreign agencies are all the agencies that are outside the countries of the former USSR, and are spread over the world. Most of these agencies are far advanced and use the latest technologies available, offering a variety of quality services. Services of foreign agencies are usually free for women. They will offer you a wide range of payment facilities: by credit card, check, cash deposit etc. It is easy to check the legitimacy of the foreign based service. There are only a few leading agencies. Most of them belong to some kind of unions such as BBB Online or anti-scam organization displaying their icons. Local agencies: Local agencies are based in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Usually they charge both men and women. Many of those agencies do not have Internet presence, and if they have a website, they seldom offer facilities to pay by credit card and use wire transfers via Western Union instead (which cannot be refunded if something is wrong with the service as you can do if you paid by credit card). The legitimacy of a local based service is more difficult to confirm, although some of the local agencies join reliability programs too. Best option: I believe foreign agencies are a better bet. You never know where you stand with a local agency, and cannot refund your payment if you are not happy with the service as they do not work with credit cards. With a foreign agency you always have your credit card company on the guard. Advantages: Foreign agencies offer cheaper prices because they make money on volumes. Local agencies have only a few clients, and they try to make money out of high prices. How to select a good service? A legitimate service should have those features:
Links to recommended websites:
Addresses of ladies can be ordered through membership packages:
A Foreign Affair average more than 7 engagements a day. It is also on of the the largest, most respected Tour Company in the industry, and the only one to operate offices in every tour city. A Foreign Affair sells addresses of ladies in membership packages.
A Pretty Women's prices for addresses are as following:
A Pretty Woman does not provide women's letters with the listings and sells the letters separately. Addresses can be also obtained through the membership plans (for more details please visit the website). Flower and Gift Delivery Services A gift in the form of flowers or perfume can place the seal on a relationship. Modern technology makes it easy to send a gift anywhere in the world. The crux is to distinguish between reputable businesses and the ones that will try to make more money by saving on the quality of the gift. A reputable company will deliver the gift only to the addressee, make arrangement by phone to ensure the addressee will be at home at the time of the delivery, and can also offer you a photo of your lady-friend with a gift. Other companies will just give the gift to anybody present at the address, and can even report successful delivery when there was nobody at home and the gift has not been delivered. I know about the case when a guy ordered delivery of flowers to a lady on St. Valentine's Day, and the delivery company reported there was no such address. He was devastated but the lady confirmed in the phone conversation the address was correct. The reason was that street numbers were a bit mixed up and her house was standing away from the street. The delivery company which had the lady's phone number on the files never bothered to phone her and find out. The next time the guy used a recommended service, and the flowers were delivered successfully and he also received a smiling photo of his sweetheart. Best option: Use a reputable service even if their prices are slightly higher. You get what you pay for. Advantages: A nice gift can secure a relationship, and at the same time confirm that the woman is real and really looks like her photos she sent to you. Links to recommended websites: Flowers, gift, and mail delivery services to any address in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, and the other Republics of Former Soviet Union. Travel arrangements and gift ideas.
They are not just a flower delivery service; but a kind of a wizard who will make your dreams come true! They deliver flowers and gifts to the following places in the former USSR: Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. Women Catalogs Women catalogs are available in:
Printed: Printed catalogs were the first means in foreign introductions, and the reason behind the not-so-nice term "mail-order-brides". Photos and bios of women are published in the catalogs, which are delivered by mail. The man then can review the ads and order addresses of the women he liked. Before the age of Internet addresses were also delivered by mail. Some agencies still publish printed catalogs though their value today is rather decreasing. Most women seeking a partner abroad have some kind of Internet connection, and taking in account the time needed for printing and distribution, by the time the guy views the ads, many of them can be no longer available. Catalogs are usually printed twice a year. While not all information in the printed catalogs is out of date, you can never be sure if the woman you liked is still available. Electronic: Some agencies now publish electronic catalogs which are either sent by email or accessible on a password protected Internet site. Such catalogs are usually published once a week and give you access to details of currently available women whose data were received by the agency during the past week. According to the agencies, some women request to remove their data after 2-3 weeks in the catalog because they have already found a suitable partner. Electronic catalogs are usually sold in the form of subscription, and you do not have to buy addresses separately. Best option: Electronic catalogs. Personally, I believe the time of printed catalogs is passed. Electronic catalogs are much more flexible and cost effective. Advantages: Electronic catalogs are cost effective, up-to-date, and give you access to profiles of the women who have just started their search. When you buy address of a woman on the website, she may not be interested in you. With the electronic catalog you can write to any woman from the catalog, and it does not cost you any extra. Links to recommended websites:
Mail Forwarding As you are probably aware, a letter mailed from USA to a regional Russian city can take up to 4-6 weeks to reach its destination. Mail forwarding is an excellent way to speed up the delivery of your letter. It works like this: you email your letter to the agency, they email it to their office in Russia, where it is printed and sent by regular or registered mail to the addressee. Most foreign based agencies have a network of partners in the former USSR which ensures that your letter can reach it's destination in less than a week. Some of these services will include a prepaid return envelope with your address so your lady can respond to you for free. If the lady of your interest does not have an email address, this is the excellent way to start a long distance relationship, because it will not cost her any money to indicate if she is interested in you. It also shows you care. Best Option: I believe it is important to have a return envelope included with the forwarded letter. Also registered mail is preferred to the regular mail. Advantages: The letter arrives much faster than if you mailed it from your country. Added advantage is that it is sent in the Russian envelope, and is unlikely to make some postman interested. Links to recommended websites: Elena's Models - They provide forwarding your letters to any city in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Your letter will be forwarded to Russia, Ukraine or Belarus, where it will be printed, placed into a standard local envelope and sent to the addressee via registered mail. A prepaid returned international envelope with your postal address is included free of charge with all forwarded letters. You e-mail them your letter by using the order form provided on website. Once they receive your letter they will e-mail it (the same day) to the appropriate Foreign office. There, a hard copy of your letter will be printed. Your letter will then be placed in a local style envelope and mailed. Your letter will be in the local Postal system within 1 business day after they have received it. They will only notify you if a letter is returned to them for any reason. If they do not notify you then you can be sure your letter has reached its destination. Membership Plans Well established foreign marriage agencies often offer different membership plans that have some services and/or addresses included in the form of a package. The more expensive is the plan, the bigger discount you get on the services. Membership plans can include only addresses, addresses and publication in the catalogs, email forwarding or any other available service. I suggest you to carefully study membership plans before you subscribe to a service. Basically, you can find ANYTHING you want to, but you must be ready to invest in your search. I am talking not only about money but also about emotional energy, time, and desire to learn her culture and language. If your search is specific (a woman of a particular trade, for example, a medical doctor) or you are looking for a woman who is much younger than you (more than 10 years difference), I seriously recommend you to consider a more expensive option, which at the end of the day will SAVE your time and money, and free you from frustrations of a fruitless search. Remember, you are looking for your future wife. You CAN find her. How much does it worth for you? You decide. Best Option: It really depends on the person. Size yourself against of the caliber of a woman you are looking for. What are your chances of meeting such woman in your home country? If the odds are not in your favor, select the option that gives you more. Advantages: An advanced plan will supply you with a better choice of available women, saving your time, and at the end of the day your money. If you paid $10 for 1 address you cannot really hope they will go out of their way to help you. If you are a member on a gold or platinum plan, you can request some favors. Links to recommended websites: Elena's Models - They have 3 membership plans: silver, gold, and platinum. Silver and Gold plans: Offer only addresses; the plans are implemented automatically, when purchase addresses. Gold plan gives free access to the Members Area. Platinum: Unlimited number of addresses; additional photos of women (if available); 3-month subscription to the weekly ladies catalogue; enhanced listing in the online gentlemen's catalogue and sending your data to 295 local dating agencies ($499). Platinum members are served individually; all requests are answered by a real human in priority order. Platinum membership is valid for 3 months, thereafter it can be renewed at a reduced price. Religious oriented services Most services introducing Russian women are not religiously oriented, and many do not supply you with information about her religion. The majority of people in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are Orthodox Christians. In Southern countries of the former USSR such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan the majority of the population are Muslims. There are also Jewish that can be found in the countries of the Eastern Europe. Since the Great October revolution religion was oppressed in Eastern European countries and religious values did not play a major role in peoples lives. The major role belonged to life values. Most Russian women will happily accept a man of any religion, especially Christian confessions. Best Option: All the women of all religion groups are available for marriage. Advantages: Very few women are fanatic about their religion. Romantic Tours Tours can be divided in two categories namely:
The majority of the social tours are organized by foreign companies and in many cases in collaboration with partners in the country where the tour will take place. Most agencies concentrate on metropolitan cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Odessa. Some companies also offer tours to regional cities such as Ekaterinburg, Vladivostok and others. There are also available tours that include several cities on the schedule. In my opinion, tours to smaller cities can be less comfortable but they are definitely more fruitful: foreigners are still something special there, and women/men rate of those tours is unbelievable. Moscow, for example, is pretty much a regular European capital with all materialistic values that we have in the west. If you do not reside in New York City or LA, your Moscow princess will quickly get bored of your quiet country life; she is used to the vibrancy and the pace of the capital. Individual tours are tailor made packages for the clients on request. Best Option: Tours to smaller cities. Advantage: Regional ladies are much warmer and accepting. Links to recommended websites: A Foreign Affair claims to offer more Romance Tours to more cities than any other tour company during which you can meet 500 to 2000 beautiful women. They have hundreds of previous tour clients who are happy to share their experiences with you, and also offer dozens text and video referrals from the website. Tours are offered to the following cities:
Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev,
Crimea, Volgograd, Dnepropetrovsk,
Riga, or to multiple cities, Russian Brides Cyber Guide offers free tour video, so you can see how the actual tour looks like and decide if this option is for you. They offer extensive tour schedule, including smaller cities such as Vladivostok and Ekaterinburg as well as tours to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and Odessa. Translations While all people in Russia and former USSR study foreign languages (mostly English) at elementary schools and colleges because foreign language is a compulsory subject, their knowledge of the language is limited. They will be most often capable of reading with a dictionary but have close to zero proficiency in verbal communication. If you want to impress the woman of your dreams when writing to her the first time, translate your letter to Russian, whatever your language is. She will be very grateful - you will save her a few hours of digging into dictionary and let her enjoy your letter. If your lady's English is not very good, it is also a good idea to allow her to write you in her native language so she can express herself. Ask a lady in your first (translated to Russian) letter if she would prefer to write in Russian - it will separate you from the crowd, and she will feel you really care about her. Russian men seldom care - this is one of the reasons Russian ladies look elsewhere. Show her you are a gentleman. Most agencies offer translation services. While quality may vary, foreign agencies usually offer better quality translations because their translators have experience of communication in the language in the country of its origin. Most translators used by local agencies have no experience of communication with the native speakers, which affects the quality of their translation. Some agencies differentiate translation services into 2 categories:
Your letter can be translated phrase by phrase as you wrote it, and it will be the exact translation. Or your letter can be rewritten to compile with Russian cultural and language rules, which is the edited translation. Both types of translation will basically tell the same things, but edited (creative) translation will turn your letter into perfect Russian. With the exact translation it will feel as translated document; with the creative translation your letter will have a feeling as if it was originally written in Russian. To make it more understandable for you, creative translation is the same type of process that used in translating books from one language to another - finding corresponding idioms, explaining words and phrases that do not have distinctive meaning in another language, etc. Best Option: I would suggest to use creative translation for your first (introductory) letters to your lady, and adequate translation on the later stages (if she needs it). Advantage: Translation eliminates uncertainties and cultural misunderstandings, saves her time and shows you care. Links to recommended websites: Russian-English / English Russian translation - It is recommend to translate at least your first letter to a woman because Russian ladies struggle with reading English letters even if they know the language fairly well. It will ensure she will read your letter, and understand everything you were intending to tell her. Translation to and from Spanish and French They can translate your correspondence from (and into) English, French and Spanish to Russian. Handheld electronic dictionaries and linguistic software available in the following languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Yiddish. Scammers There are the good people and bad people. Unfortunately bad people also exist in this industry and can be divided into two categories. They are mostly men pretending to be Russian women seeking love and women that are Gold Diggers.
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