I am an British Citizen. I left London 12 years ago and working for an international company since, with various assignments.

I married a Russian girl in July 2012 - Catholic Ceremony - NO civil Marriage. We currently live & work now in China and will both be here on work permits shortly.

We are now expecting a baby boy in July 2013. In order for the bay boy to have my surname - we must be married (i.e Civil marriage). We are currently NOT civilly married in any country.

So, we are traveling to Moscow in March to get civil marriage. My wife is preparing the paper works. I have got a notarized letter in British confirming that I have never been married.

Could you provide some advise on British Citizen (myself) getting married to a Russian Citizen in Russia. i.e in the event of a problem what is the Divorce law in Russia; and are there any course where an application could be made within the British court system?

Hi my name is Arthur. I would like to ask you some questions, for payment, and possibly retain your services.

The facts of my case are as follows.

I am a resident of New York.

My girlfriend is a resident of St. Petersburg here on a H1B visa that is good for 2 1/2 more years she is 24.

She got pregnant and left to live with her mom in Russia She is currently 3 months pregnant.

Questions:

if she stays in Russia do I have to pay child support (I want to support the child just don't want to me taken to the cleaners)?

if she come back to NY can the child be kept here?

dose she sue for support here in NY or in Russia?

will I need an attorney in both places?

if a judgement is entered in Russia can it be enforced in NY even though I haven't seen the child

I do want joint custody, and I do want to be a part of this child life and care for him/her

I will be happy to pay for your time in answering theses questions and more.

I am an American citizen and My wife is Russian. We were married in Moscow 5 years ago. She immigrated to America. Our time together was not pleasant because she was never satisfied with anything. Even though I have a very good income, there was never enough money to satisfy her. Nothing was ever good enough. She was not affectionate and certainly not passionate in any way often refusing sexual relations with me. It is obvious that she married me for a green card, for money and for material goods.

Last October, I sent her back to home to St. Petersburg where she remains today. I had hoped that this would affect a change in her attitude but it has not. So, how do I get divorced from her in Russia? Do I have to appear in Russia? Does she have to agree to the divorce?

The only community property we have is our house in America. She took the money from our joint bank account ($20000) with her when she left. The equity in our house is about the same as the cash. So, I believe that I should get the house. She does not live here any more and it is best if she does not return. She now lives with her family in Saint Petersburg which is exactly where she was before our marriage.

We do not have children. We do not have a pre-nup agreement.

Questions for our consultation:

My wife is in Saint Petersburg & I am in New York. Do we file for divorce in Moscow? We were married in Moscow.

If she agrees to the divorce, it becomes an administrative process, right?

She won't agree because she wants a big cash settlement - above the $20000 she already took.

What happens if she does not respond?

The only community property we have is our house. Is it possible that the court would award that to me? There is about $40000 equity that all came from my earnings.

We were married only 5 years and 3 of them were terrible. About how much would court awarded monthly alimony be? For how long? She's lives with her mother - which is exactly where I found her 5 years ago.

What documents am I required to provide? I may not have our original marriage certificate but I certainly have a copy.

How quickly can you file for the divorce?

How long until it's over?

I assume that I have to appear in court - which is an expensive trip. It would be better to settle out of court (cash bonus, no alimony, I get the house).

I am afraid that if we go to court, my wife will start ranting & screaming charging me with all kinds of abuse & atrocities (that is her style & she's good at it). My fear is that I get arrested in Russia for charges my wife makes. Is that possible? I cannot count the times that she threatened to call the police or go to my office and start screaming or go to the neighbors & start screaming. This extortion technique was employed by her any time she ran out of money and demanded more. She should be in the mafia.

Dear Ms. Krasnova:

I live in Florida USA, but I travel to Moscow for business. While here last year I met a nice lady. The relationship is developing very well, and I anticipate marriage sometime in the future.

So, I was wandering about laws covering marriage in Russia. I am currently divorced and I would like to understand how to protect myself from losing what assets I have left.

Please let me know if you can help me.

Dear Karina, I saw your web site a brief of my problem, I am to marry a lady from the Ukraine, but her ex will not sign papers to take her daughter out of Ukraine unless I pay him a large sum of money I saw on your site their is a way to do it with out his consent as long as i can prove her living will be better, if you can help or tell me some one who can you would have my thanks.

Dear Karina, I have consulted a lawyer in Russia and I was told that my child and I will not be able to pass the customs control without a notarized consent of my former husband as I have a fiancé(e) visa. Is it true?

I am looking to get divorced from my wife, she is Russian and is currently living in St Petersburg, and has been for 4-5 years, we have 2 children 3 and 6 also who live with her.

The problem has been that we have a business and flats all purchased in St Petersburg using money I borrowed in United States, so have an outstanding mortgage which needs to be settled, but she refuses to sell any property in Russia.

We have 2 apartments and 1 guest house business, she lives in 1 apartment and receives rent from the other apartment They all been purchased and refurbished using money from U.S., although 1 apartment was originally a gift from her mother but was sold and renovated and then sold again and another one purchased and again money from New York sent to renovate, so I would hope I have some claim over this property also.

Is it possible to force a sale of 1 or 2 properties to repatriate some money to the U.S. to settle all the debts I have. As I don’t want my children to suffer I would want them to stay in the flat they have and continue to receive the rent from the other. Maybe the guest house could be sold and money sent back to United States so I could pay off my debt here?

How could I have access to see my children, could they be allowed to visit USA for holidays?

What would be the quickest solution to this problem. What are the costs involved, what documentation is required?

Thank you for time and consideration.

I am married to a Russian woman. We have a 3-year-old child who lives with us in the USA. My wife is a citizen of Russia and a holder of the US permanent residence card. Our son has double citizenship. We are currently going through a divorce and child custody proceedings. I am afraid that my wife will take our child to Russia and I will lose my parental rights. What should I do?

Does my middle initial have to match on all documents? My passport says my full name with middle name, my divorce paper has my name but does not have my middle name; my notary has my name with middle initial.

Is there is a way to get a marriage letter or certificate of non-impediment done in the US? I have learned that no US agency will provide that but ZAGS in Moscow told my fiancé that is can be done in the US with an affidavit before a US consular official. Or if I fill out the appropriate free to marry form and have it notarized, can the notary signature or marriage letter be apostilled? Would that be acceptable by ZAGS?

Hi Karina, my name is Scott and I live in Australia. I am an Australian Citizen and my wife is a dual Russian and Australian Citizen. We have a 3.5 year old son who is an Australian Citizen. My wife and I were married in Saint Petersburg in 2008 but have now initiated separation in Australia. I would like Child Custody and Property to be settled her in Australia however I would like the actual divorce to be completed in Saint Petersburg as soon as possible. My wife is not consenting to the divorce in Saint Petersburg so I will have to initiate myself.

I am seeking your services as follows:

1) Arranging for divorce in Saint Petersburg (I have a copy of the marriage certificate and my passport and address of my wife in Saint Petersburg.

2) I would like to understand under what circumstances my wife can apply for a Russian passport, citizenship for my son David. If we are divorced does she still need my consent to apply for such documents? Can I put any order in place to prevent my daughter from obtaining any such document without my consent?

I’d appreciate if you could advise me.

My issue has to do with Olga’s Russian passport. Olga was born in Ukraine and lived there until her early twenties when she moved to St. Petersburg with her family. After her daughter was born prematurely, she developed serious medical issues that required surgical intervention. As a post-natal nurse, Olga wanted her daughter to have the best care possible in Russia. As such, Olga was told that she needed to be a Russian citizen for her daughter to receive the appropriate care in Russia. As she was concerned about the urgency of her daughter’s condition and upon bad advice, she obtained a Russian passport for herself through questionable means; I am uncertain as to the details. However, that same passport has been subsequently renewed through the proper Russian agency.

My fiancee has an five year old daughter that I have come to know and love as well. Her daughter was born in St. Petersburg to Olga and her Indian boyfriend who were never married. Several years ago, he decided to take daughter to the Indian embassy and have her nationalized as a Indian citizen, all without Olga’s knowledge. This is one of the first issues with Olga and her daughter being granted a visa to come to the US.

A question arose whether the affidavit of service is in compliance with the laws of the Russian Federation.

Dear Karina:

I have been looking at your website and can see that you give very helpful advice and information to people in difficult and confusing situations.

I am American and my husband is Russian. We were married in Moscow, where we were living at the time, but after a couple of years we moved to the United States, where we settled and raised a family.

We are now planning to divorce – there are no minor children involved and we have agreed privately how to divide our assets.

We thought it would be logical to file the papers in Russia since we were married there and we also have an apartment there, which is to go to my husband.

The Russian Embassy has advised that they can witness a statement from myself to enable my husband to lodge the papers in Moscow in my absence (he has agreed that they should be filed in my name on the grounds of his unreasonable behaviour).

However, we have also been advised to file in parallel in the United States, since we have our home here and a holiday apartment in Spain. Is this correct? Wouldn't one of the proceedings override the other?

I will be seeking advice here in the United States, but I would be very grateful for your opinion from the Russian legal point of view. I simply find it hard to believe that we can be divorced twice at the same time in different countries.


Thank you in anticipation.

I am an Indian engaged to a Russian lady in Moscow, Russia, who was recently denied a tourist visa to come to India because she did not have a notarized consent letter from her ex husband, allowing her daughter to travel. She is a divorcee for 10 years now, and her daughter is in sole custody with her. There is no contact with her ex husband and he is not supporting them in any way. Is this a valid reason? I read at Russian-divorce.com that this is not so and also on the Indian embassy visa agency website that this letter is only required when the child is traveling without parents. We wish to get married next month and I also want to know whether the ex husband will or can create any hindrance to his daughter living in India with me and her mother, or traveling to and from India to Moscow. I would greatly appreciate a prompt reply.

I live in New york and have a girlfriend in Russia, she is 29. We have not met. It is my intent to travel to Russia soon. The ultimate goal is to possibly bring her to the US. She is a very sweet girl who's husband has left and has filed for divorce with the court date being in late May, she has a small child that is not quite three yet.

I have read some on your site and have a general understanding of Russian law. Her ex is telling her that he will ask for custody, I realize it will be hard for him to get it.

My questions and concerns are: Will custody be settled along with the divorce or will a separate petition have to be filed by her to start that process?

Also do you think the father will be awarded visitation at that time and if so how often would it typically be?

My concern being, how would she comply if he was to see the child every other weekend or something like that if she is in the US? It is not the intent to deprive the father from the child, just can’t go to Russia every other week.

Also I have read on your site that the mother shouldn’t have any problem bringing the child to the US as long as the father doesn’t write a formal protest to the authorities. Will he be notified that she is attempting to remove the child from the country? if he does protest and she has custody will that prevent her leaving the country or will it just be that a visitation schedule would have to be worked out?

Also are you interested in helping in the visa process for her? I think she needs legal representation through the divorce/custody process, wouldn’t you agree? If so can you or do you have someone in that area to represent her?

I have contacted you in the past with regards to visit my child in Russia however since then my wife came to live with me in U.S. as I managed to get them both back in U.S. I made an American Passport for my daughter.

Due to the work, I went back to England in search of work I then discovered my wife had left my parents home and took my child out of my country back to Russia I am totally devastated and a loss as what to do I did everything within my power and so did my family to make a happy and secure family but this was never enough I have been threatened today on the phone by a man with her sister if i didn't make what her sister wanted I will be harmed this has mad me extremely worried in case i go to visit my child in case some harm will come to me all i need to do is visit my child in peace and be allowed my right as her father to have regular contact either by phone or webcam in between visits I think there maybe a problem with the mother as she is very controlling and in the past has only been interested in me sending money and what i have sent is never enough i would appreciate your advise and how you could help me in this matter.

I live in USA and I would like to know if you can help me with getting an annulment of marriage. My wife is a Russian citizen and has been living in New York for 9 months. She has returned to Russia last week and is now living at her mothers apartment. We were married in St. Petersburg in September of 2009 then she arrived here in May of 2011. She has two children from a previous marriage, she was registered last living with her mother in St. Petersburg. I met her on internet and then i came to St. Petersburg and stayed 3 weeks, at that point in my life i had just went through suffering a death of a very close family member, my finance was very comforting to me and i explained to her while there that i wanted some time but she told me that she could not continue our relationship and we needed to be married. I went ahead while there and we were married, we went on talking online and i felt maybe i was just not thinking right about the situation and that everything would work out. After the last nine months she has told me that she wanted a divorce and that she wanted to go back to Russia , then before leaving she said that she really did not want to leave. The relationship has been very disappointing for both of us . We do not have any property together and or children, can this marriage be annulled or would a divorce be the only way and can you help in this matter?

We have adopted three children from Ukraine that want to return to their grandparents. We are in agreement with this. The parents lost custodial rights due to drinking. We have made contact with the grandparents who have been trying to find the children since we adopted them four years ago. How would we do this? Would we set up the grandparents as custodians or guardians? Is there another way to do this?

I have decided to try reconnecting with the paternal grandparents, who are in their mid 50's, to approach them about letting the kids live with them in Ukraine. The maternal grandmother died when the mom was 14 and the maternal grandfather never visited them in the orphanage and lived too far away. The paternal grandparents live just in Ukraine, where the kids were born.

Our adopted kids are biological siblings and have told us non-stop they miss the paternal grandparents and want to go back to Ukraine. They have even told us over and over they would run away so they could get to Ukraine, or "go to jail", so the jail would send them back to Ukraine. They obviously miss Ukraine a huge amount since being adopted 4 years ago.

Also I have found I have worsening health (Lupus) and very poor eye sight (I have had 17 eye surgeries now) and I really want these kids to be happy and safe. My health is so bad I cannot easily care for them and I cannot see. My husband works very late each day so they will need someone.

The grandparents told a translator a few weeks ago (when we asked him to find them) that these children were their ONLY grand kids and they missed them very much. I did not get to ask them about transferring guardianship or letting them "adopt" the kids, because the translator was only talking to them without me present (after I wrote letters). The translator was upset we did not want to just "visit", but to instead try letting the kids stay in Ukraine. He said it would never work out to try to give the grandparents guardianship and the kids had to wait till each reached 18 to reconnect with their family. Is this true or can we give guardianship to the grandparents?

Please let me know if you can help us. Our adopted kids are healthy and happy, but miss family in Ukraine a lot. It was very helpful to receive pictures of family a few weeks ago from Ukraine, but it has only made them more homesick for their biological family.

Let me know if we can do something to return children to Ukraine. They repeatedly said 4 years ago they did not want to be adopted and taken away from their family in Ukraine, but we did not know Russian and did not understand what they were saying. John of course was too young to talk, but he would rather die than be split off from his brother and sister.

Please let me know if you can help us.