You do have to pay for reading other members’ messages, for which you need to purchase credits (see below). If you place a phone call through us, you will be charged for that, as well. The rest of our services, however, are completely free (this includes registering a profile, searching our database and viewing other members’ profiles, sending messages and smiles).

How do I buy credits?

The easiest way is to purchase them online with a credit card (we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover). Just log in to your profile, go to "Buy Credits" and buy the needed amount. If you don’t have a credit card, or don’t want to use it online, there are other options available.

What does a credit cost?

This depends on the amount you buy:

100 credits or more: $1 per credit

55-99 credits: $1.09 per credit

10-54 credits: $2 per credit

If you pay in a currency other than USD, the amount will first be converted into USD at the current exchange rate, then into credits.

What determines the cost of opening a message from a woman?

A number of factors. Firstly, it depends on the number of men she is corresponding with; the more men she is writing to, the more expensive her letters will be to open (if she stops writing to one or more men, the price will go down). Secondly, it depends on her English skills (if she can’t read and write in English and has to use a translator, the price will be accordingly higher). Thirdly, if the lady has no Internet access at home and has to use a computer at her local dating agency, this will raise the cost, as well. Note that after you open the first paid letter from a woman, the price becomes fixed for you.

When can I contact a lady directly?

If you want to get a lady’s direct contact details, you have to open 15 (fifteen) paid messages from her (the messages that you open before writing to a lady for the first time are free and don't count); at this point you have the right to request her contact details (or your money back, if for some unlikely reason they cannot be provided). To do this, go to her profile and click the button that says "Send contact info request". Please note that exchanging personal contact information through our messaging system is not allowed, even if you do have 15 opened messages from a lady; if you want to exchange such information with a lady, contact us. Once a woman has granted her permission, her contact details will appear on the Requested Contacts page in your profile.

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 scam. We do not allow our ladies to contact men outside our website, nor 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 our website - please be cautious as this could be a scam attempt. All of the above applies only before you have officially exchanged contact information. After contact exchange you are free to communicate without our involvement.

Do you offer any discounts?

After opening 15 paid messages from a lady, you can request to have the price of her letters lowered to 5 credits. In case the lady's contact information does not include an email address, the price can be further reduced to 1 credit per letter; however, translation is not provided at this price. If you want to keep using our translation services, the price will have to stay at 5 credits per letter.

What is the friend list?

It is not a list of people you are corresponding with. To be on a member’s friend list, you have to send them an invitation which they can choose to accept. It can also be 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 member is on your friend list, you are automatically on theirs. You can delete any "friend" from your list by logging into your profile, going to "Communicator", then "Friend members", checking those you wish to delete and clicking "Delete from Friend List".

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

Remember that the list of your "friends" is viewable by any member or even a visitor to the site. Having a lot of friends on your list or having just a few, or even none, is a personal choice. Friends listed on members' profiles mean different things to different people. For some, having a lot of friends demonstrates that they are popular. Some prefer not to list any friends to keep their relationships private. Yet for others listing just one person as a friend means they are serious about them. Use your own judgement in interpreting the meaning of a lady’s friends list or lack of it. Factor in the ratings of her pictures (how many votes and the average rating), and her popularity (more credits per letter means more people are writing to her).

What is trust level?

The trust level is a credibility rating given to a female profile by our staff. A staff member can rate a profile on one or more of multiple scales: passport scans, live meeting, phone conversation, video, correspondence. Some are rated according to the staff member's own judgement (such as passport scans or phone calls), and others (like correspondence or meetings) according to the feedback we receive from our male members. Combined, these ratings make up the trust level. Each category carries different weight (e.g., feedback on a meeting is more important than the passport scan); the exact formula is complex and classified, so it cannot be used to artificially raise the trust level. A trust level of 100% means that we have received definitive proof that the woman behind the profile is a real person, and all her communications originate from herself. This doesn't mean, of course, that anyone with less than 100% is automatically fake or dishonest, although you should be wary of profiles with a trust level of 40% or less. Note that the absence of a trust level is not the same as a low trust level. A female profile doesn't have a trust level by default and may never get one, unless it gives us a reason to rate it.

How can I view a lady’s private pictures?

Private pictures are password protected, so you will either have to write to the lady and request the password from her, or click the "Submit request" button that you can see when you attempt to view a private photo. In the latter case, you will be notified by email if the woman grants you access. You can keep track of the status of your requests for access to private photos in the communicator.

Can I talk to a lady in person?

You can order an interpreted phone call, which costs 1.8 credits per minute (1 credit if you don’t require translation). This should be done in advance because 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.

You can also order an interpreted video call. The rate 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 call. Like phone calls, video calls should be ordered in advance. Please use this link before ordering a video call to make sure there won't be any problems on your end (you should see and hear yourself).

Contact us to book your phone or video call. Please note that exchanging personal contact information during calls is not allowed, unless you have exchanged it previously.

How do I know those women aren’t scammers?

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

Are these women just trying to get out of their country by marrying a foreigner? Is she going to stay with me after she has moved to the United States?

We have to say up front that we cannot know the real intentions of our members. However, after you have corresponded with a lady for a while and, preferably, met her in person, you should have 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 processing time and you get about 3 years before she can leave. That's a lot of time for you to make a good impression on her :) Now, could a person be so calculating as to do this for a green card? It is possible, but in our experience most of the women coming here are honest and truly want to create a family. If her husband treats her with respect, she will stay. However, some guys can be jerks and get what they deserve. Then they cry all over the Internet about how she took advantage of them. According to the official figures, the divorce rate between international couples in US is several times lower than in regular American couples.

Isn’t it odd that some women here are looking for a man much older than themselves?

It is not uncommon for Russian women to marry older men, which may clash with American stereotypes. If you are going to marry a Russian woman, you might want to learn how to look beyond those. Of course, there are limits. If you are 40 and are looking for an 18-year-old bride, this might be a bit of a stretch, but 22-25 years old is ok. Remember that every person has their own standards. Some women don’t mind a significant age difference, while others do. They usually indicate their age preference in their profiles.

Have any of your clients actually found a wife through your website?

Yes, quite a few. You can read their testimonials.

Why haven't I received a response to my email inquiry?

Most likely, your email provider has blocked the delivery of our email to you, because of its anti-spam policies. Sadly, many email providers, especially those like hotmail, yahoo, and AOL are blocking a lot of legitimate email messages because they suspect them to be SPAM. With today's enormous 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 it does not help or you believe that's not the problem, contact us by phone or online chat and and we will be happy to help you. If you haven't received a response to your question via email, fist thing to do would be to check your "Bulk mail", "Junk mail" or similar folder. If it's there, please click "It's not spam" or similar button in your email program.

I’ve sent several emails to your ladies and haven't received any responses, why?

First of all, login to your account and check your messages. Note that the ladies will not be replying directly to your email, but instead their messages are stored in your account. However, you should receive notifications from us about every message/response received. If you are not receiving them, please read the answer above to make sure you are receiving emails from us. If there are still no messages in your Inbox, make sure that you have a picture in your profile, and it is correctly displayed. Profiles without pictures get almost no replies. Also, please remember that it takes time for a message to be delivered and translated. If you get no response to more than 3 messages for more than 24 hours, let us know, and we will try to find out what's going on.

Why can't I send a message/smile?

First, please make sure that your profile status is Active or Invisible; you cannot contact other members unless it is. Next, make sure that the profile of the person you are trying to contact is currently available. Another reason may be that you have too many unopened messages from the member. 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 mail from her or him first. If you have accidentally deleted those unopened messages, please contact the administrator.

Why was my profile rejected?

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

- Post a picture. It must be a picture of yourself, with your face clearly visible. No nudity or private contact information on photos is allowed.

- Write a longer description. A profile with no description (or a meaningless or obscene one) will be rejected.

- Enter your private contact information (such as email, phone number) only in the fields specifically provided for it.

- Choose the country in which you are located at the time. If you normally live somewhere else, you can indicate that in your description.

- Provide your phone number.

Next step. Travelling to Russia

How long does it take to get a visa to Russia or Ukraine?

If you have a passport that does not expire for 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 to Russia takes about 2 weeks, but you can pay extra money to have it ready even 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 a prepaid waybill. You can go in person to a Russian Consulate in New York, San Francisco or Seattle and get the visa the same day. It will cost around $300. Processing time is similar for a Ukrainian visa.

How safe is it in Russia?

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 are lost and on your own. If you stay away from unsafe neighborhoods, don't flash your cash and follow the basic safety rules, you are going to be ok. It's a good idea to have the woman you are visiting pick you up at the airport and show you around.

Can I bring my laptop to Russia? Do I need an adaptor?

Yes, you can, but you may need a simple adaptor. As far as the customs office is concerned, there are no restrictions on bringing your personal laptop across the Russian border. Standard voltage in Russia and all other European countries is 220 volts (it is 110 in USA). This means you will need a step down transformer (an adaptor that changes voltage) for electric devices other than a laptop. Those could be bought at Sears or Radioshack at $20-$30. 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, but we have not seen one. Please check your charger first, before you fry your laptop! The acceptable voltage ("AC in") should be printed directly on the charger. However, even if your laptop can take 220 volts, you still need a simple adaptor. The reason is that the Russian electrical outlet has 2 round holes, while the American plug has 2 flat prongs. There is no way to fit one into the other. So you need to buy a cheap ($1-$3) adapter that has 2 holes for flat American prongs, and 2 round prongs on the other end, to plug into the Russian outlet. You can buy such adapters at many places, RadioShack, Sears, or even your local WalMart. Network and phone connectors are the same as in US. All of this applies to all other countries of the CIS.

How can I connect to the Internet in Russia?

If you are staying in one of the better hotels, they will almost certainly have free Wi-Fi, as will many cafes and other establishments in the city.

Will my radio/CD player/boombox/other electronics work in Russia?

Yes, but you need an AC adapter. Standard voltage in Russia and all other European countries is 220 volts (it is 110 in USA). This means you will need a step down transformer (an adaptor that changes voltage) for electric devices other than a laptop. They can be bought at Sears or Radioshack at $20-$30.

Will my cell phone work in Russia?

It depends on your provider. All European providers use the GSM standard, so if you are from a European country, your phone will work fine 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 incurr roaming charges.

In USA: Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint use the older proprietary CDMA standard. Those phones WILL NOT work in Russia at all. On the other hand, T-Mobile and Cingular use the more widely accepted GSM standard and will work in Russia. Usually you do not need a quad-band "world phone". In Russia the most widely used frequency is GSM 1800. Most GSM phones offered on the US market can operate on this frequency. On rare occasions in Russia you may encounter coverage by the older GSM 900 standard. To get a signal in these locations, you have to have a phone that can work on this frequency. Consult your cell phone manual or call your wireless service provider to find out what frequences 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 (alternatively you can use our calling card to at least save on the latter). But there is a better way if you have a GSM phone. It is 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. The easiest way would be to buy a cell phone in Russia, but prepare to spend about $150 even on a basic one. What you can do instead is buy a SIM card in Russia and insert it into your 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 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 a service locally (usually in cell phone repair shops) or just type "unlock phone" on eBay.

Russian cell phone providers offer prepaid service only. They do not offer 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 an English interface as well.

There are a few cellular service providers on the Russian market, and we are reluctant to recommend a specific one, but if we absolutely must recommend one to a foreign traveller, we’d 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. Plus, it also operates in Ukraine and other CIS countries.

How do I call Russia and other countries of the former USSR? What does it cost?

In most cases, you need to dial 011 if you are in the US; next the country code, then the area code and phone number. The country code for Russia is 7, for Ukraine it is 380, for Belarus it 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 may be very high ($2 per minute or even higher).

Remember, if you get stuck, you can always call our bilingual operator/interpreter toll-free 1-866-974-6453 and have her dial the number for you. She will stay online and will interpret your conversation.

Visas and Immigration

Do I need a visa to go to Russia, and can you help me get one?

Normally, you do need a visa in order to enter the Russian Federation. If you are a US citizen, you definitely need one. You will need separate visas for other CIS countries, such as Belarus. US citizens can enter and stay in the Ukraine for up to 90 days without a visa if they have a valid passport. We can send you the official invitation that you need in order to be issued a visa to Russia. We do not currently provide invitations to other countries. You will then 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.

Can you help me with bringing my bride-to-be to my home country?

If you are in the US and are our customer, we can help you with some general advice on visas, procedures, forms, etc. Feel free to contact us and we will point you in the right direction. Note that we don't have an attorney on staff, and your particular situation may require one. If you need an attorney, we will refer you to a good one who specializes in Immigration Law and has been working with us for a long time.

What is the process and how much will it cost to bring a woman here?

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

IMPORTANT: Never send money to people you have never met in person, and even if you have met them, exercise common sense before you trust them with significant funds. Internet 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 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 fake. If you are asked for money for any reason, please contact us for advice before you send it.

Generally you won't be able to bring a woman here until you have met her in person. Her chances of getting a "tourist" or "guest" visa to the US are very slim. The best way to proceed is to apply for her "K" (fiancée) visa. Note that in order to apply for this type of visa, the immigration law requires that you have met your lady in person. You have to have proof of that (pcitures of the two of you together, tickets, etc). The best place to meet her in person would be her home country. Some of our clients choose to meet in a third country, like Cyprus, or the Dominican Republic, where Russian citizens do not need a visa. It is acceptable from the Immigration law standpoint, but it makes you vulnerable to possible scams, as you will most likely be expected to pay for her ticket (or send her money) in advance.

Most likely she will not have the funds needed 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 her, but it would be a nice gesture if you can afford it. A one way ticket will cost around $600-$900. If you decide to accompany her, your two-way airfare could be anywhere between $1000 and $1800, depending on the season and how early in advance you buy your ticket.

After you have met her in person, you need to file a petition with the USCIS, known as form I-129F. The petition can be filled out by yourself. You need to file the petition with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over your state. Processing times vary from state to state, but on average it takes about 6 months for the USCIS to approve it. The fee as of this writing is $455. After you get it approved, you send it to your lady and she takes it to the US Consulate in her home country and applies for the visa. Add the USCIS fee, postage, visa processing fee and you get about $650 for that step. Contrary to tourist visas to the US, which are notoriously difficult to get, "K" visas are usually granted without a problem, provided that the documents are filed properly, she does not have a police record, and neither one of you has violated any Immigration law provisions in the past (i.e. overstayed a prior "K" visa). If one of you has applied for a "K" visa in the past, it may also be a reason for a denial of the current application.

Once she arrives, she can stay in the US for 90 days in the "fiancée" status. By the end of that time you either get legally married, or she has to go back to her home country. Neither you nor her are obligated to get married, but you may be financially responsible for her return ticket if things don't work out.

When you do get married, you will need to apply for a permanent resident status for her. There is a special form for that, and an application fee. When you get to that point, you can give us a call. This is going to set you back about $1000 in fees and required medical tests, if you fill out the forms by yourself.

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.

How long does it take for a Russian woman to be issued a US visa?

The actual process should take place within 2 weeks from the time she applies at the US Consulate in her home country, if there are no complications. That does not include filing your petition.

Can money speed things up?

It can if you are a US citizen applying for a Russian visa. However, US Consulates do not offer expedited service, and the waiting times are the same for everybody.

Do you have to marry the women in their home country or can you bring them here to the US?

It is recommended to bring your bride to the US on a K (fiancée) visa and then marry her here. This way, while she is waiting for her permanent residency papers, she is in the US with you. If you get officially married in Russia, she will have to wait for those papers in her home country. The process is lengthy, might take as long as 6 or more months, so you really need to take this into consideration.