Sister in Moscow - should I pressure her to leave

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I thought you’re supposed to use the same passport for the same trip? An Irish/American coworker said that post-9/11 he has to travel only on his US passport when coming/going in the US as US Immigration looks for the stamp of entry to wherever he was coming from? Or maybe he just means it’s easier to do that versus show the Irish passport and the US one so they see the stamp?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I am having a hard time understanding why you are objecting to as not true. We are a dual citizen family with American and an EU country passport. We absolutely cannot enter the US on our EU passport. But we can definitely enter the EU country on that passport and that is what we normally do. We travel to that country about 4 times a year. So I am not sure what your father is doing, or what your statement means. Not trying to be rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I am having a hard time understanding why you are objecting to as not true. We are a dual citizen family with American and an EU country passport. We absolutely cannot enter the US on our EU passport. But we can definitely enter the EU country on that passport and that is what we normally do. We travel to that country about 4 times a year. So I am not sure what your father is doing, or what your statement means. Not trying to be rude.

I'm the PP- You are not obligated to enter a country for which you have citizenship with that passport. You can enter the UK with your American passport. In fact should anything happen to you while you're in the Uk and you didn't enter with your American passport the embassy won't help you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I thought you’re supposed to use the same passport for the same trip? An Irish/American coworker said that post-9/11 he has to travel only on his US passport when coming/going in the US as US Immigration looks for the stamp of entry to wherever he was coming from? Or maybe he just means it’s easier to do that versus show the Irish passport and the US one so they see the stamp?

This is true, and proves my point. He was an Irish citizen but entered Ireland with his US passport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I am having a hard time understanding why you are objecting to as not true. We are a dual citizen family with American and an EU country passport. We absolutely cannot enter the US on our EU passport. But we can definitely enter the EU country on that passport and that is what we normally do. We travel to that country about 4 times a year. So I am not sure what your father is doing, or what your statement means. Not trying to be rude.

I'm the PP- You are not obligated to enter a country for which you have citizenship with that passport. You can enter the UK with your American passport. In fact should anything happen to you while you're in the Uk and you didn't enter with your American passport the embassy won't help you.

I don't know about other countries, but for the US you do. I have citizenship for another country, and when I became a US citizen, they took my green card at the actual ceremony and handed me a passport application and were very clear about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

I thought you’re supposed to use the same passport for the same trip? An Irish/American coworker said that post-9/11 he has to travel only on his US passport when coming/going in the US as US Immigration looks for the stamp of entry to wherever he was coming from? Or maybe he just means it’s easier to do that versus show the Irish passport and the US one so they see the stamp?

This is true, and proves my point. He was an Irish citizen but entered Ireland with his US passport.

Sorry, I misread your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

So the 1st PP is a citizen of 4 countries: USA, France, Canada, Japan. Her sister is a citizen of 5-add in Russia. 2nd PP refers to a dual as having a USA passport therefore citizen but other country is home not country of origin.

How does voting work? Do people vote in 2 to 5 countries elections? What about Japan and the family registry with contact numbers and loctions of relatives etc in Japan?

[Anonymous]

i would definitely try to pressure your sister to come home and bring her daughter. it doesn't sound like she wants to leave, but tell her to come "until this all blows over." that way, in her mind, she'll return. (and maybe she will one day.) turkish air is running flights to moscow. (unfortunately we had a friend who had to go back to help an elderly parent.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If it helps anyone, here's my family's passport situation:

My mother was a Canadian-Japanese citizen. She met our French-born father in Paris and they relocated to Vancouver, so we (the children) have EU citizenship, Canadian citizenship, and Japanese citizenship.

Most of my siblings and I have relocated to the US, so we also have US citizenship. My sister subsequently moved to Russia, and has Russian citizenship through her husband without relinquishing her other citizenships.

Yes, going through customs is a f--ing mess, and we have a million passports thanks to my messy parents. Yay.

Why is it a mess? Don't you present just one passport at customs? DW is dual citizen (US and an EU country) and she just uses the US passport all the time, unless entering her home country.

NP here. When you enter a country in which you are a citizen you must use that country’s passport. You cannot use your Canadian passport to enter the US if you’re a US citizen. You must use the US passport. You can’t walk up to the immigration counter at the airport and throw 5 different passports like you’re James Bond and just pick one.

So it’s not a mess. The OP or whoever poster is being dramatic. We are a family with multiple citizenships and that’s how it works.

Absolutely not true. My dad has British and Argentine citizenship and only travels on his American passport.

+1

DH UK citizen and only travels internationally using US passport. It’s frowned upon to use two different passports to enter UK, then enter US, on same journey.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a sister, married to a Russian citizen, with a Russian daughter, who has been living in Moscow since 1993. She's long been employed by an US-based corporation that has announced it is suspending its operations in RU. She's lost access to most of her bank accounts and credit cards, and life is getting increasingly difficult for her.

I'd love to convince her to take her family to Europe or the US (we have EU citizenship as well as American), but she's stuck in place because she lives with her in-laws, who are Russian citizens and will not relocate. My family is in general freaking out, wondering when we'll be able to see her again, how safe she'll be, what she's doing to her professional reputation, etc., but on the other hand: it's her life, not ours.

What would you do in this situation? Back off and mind our own business, or continue to try to convince her to leave with her husband and child?

I would beg and plead with her until I was blue in the face to leave with her child. The rest can stay. I hope and pray her child has her US passport.

As Putin becomes increasingly desperate people like your sister and her daughter will become his targets. She is a GD fool if she does not get out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do what the other pp have said. Tell her you are worried about her and her family. Tell you you will help her leave and will help her find a place to live. But if she decides to stay the offer is always available and that you will pray for all of her family (including her husband and in-laws)

If it was my sister then I'd do this plus offer her a place for her, her husband and her kids to live. I wouldn't be excited about hosting the in laws too, but if my sister asked, I'd say yes. But we have a large house with an in law suite.

I assume it will be impossible for Russians without another passport to get a visa to come to the US. I don't think the issue is OP's reluctance to host the inlaws but more likely that the inlaws can't land in any Western country at the moment?

Personally, I don't care about the in-laws or the husband, but I'm not the OP. I'd do or say whatever I needed to get my sister and niece out and figure out the rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Russians are more resilient than us toward financial hardship. They are also deeply nationalistic and anti-western. My guess is that the parents and husband have no interest in leaving. All you can do is keep the communication gates open in case they do end up wanting some help.

OP here: Yes, this is exactly the case. My sister's FIL is a retired RU submarine captain with strong nationalistic tendencies. He and the MIL have no interest in leaving and, as far as I can tell (we are very hesitant with email communications), support Russia's war against Ukraine. But it is terrible to think that my sister is resigned to a life of economic hardship and isolation because of her inlaws' allegiances. It just sucks all around. I can't help her and so much want to help her.

But what does your sister think? Is she willing to leave the in laws behind?

Nope. She's not willing to leave them behind; neither is her husband. That's the crux of the issue.

Then it's not her inlaws allegiances, it's hers.

+1 op, if she’s already stated this to you, I’m not sure what you are hoping to accomplish. There is no ‘issue’. She has chosen to live there, marry someone there, and support her in laws there. I don’t understand the ‘issue’.

Op here. The issue is that I love her (and her child) and do not want them to suffer. That's all.

Keep talking to her. I say talk, talk, talk. As much as you can. Not to convince her to leave but to convey your worry and build trust.

Start plotting an escape route for her. If her daughter doesn't have a US passport, then start building the documentary case for one in case they decide to flee - birth certificate, picture, proof of your sister's residency in the US, etc. But all of that should go to you and she should delete those pictures.

Start figuring out the network. People are leaving Russia on their own right now. I predict that changes within four weeks. When that change happens there will be altruistic people that will help a woman and child. That lasts maybe a week before it's totally financially driven.

I am sorry this is happening and I am even more sorry that your sister is in denial, but if you prepare and everything is ok then you are only embarrassed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Russians are more resilient than us toward financial hardship. They are also deeply nationalistic and anti-western. My guess is that the parents and husband have no interest in leaving. All you can do is keep the communication gates open in case they do end up wanting some help.

OP here: Yes, this is exactly the case. My sister's FIL is a retired RU submarine captain with strong nationalistic tendencies. He and the MIL have no interest in leaving and, as far as I can tell (we are very hesitant with email communications), support Russia's war against Ukraine. But it is terrible to think that my sister is resigned to a life of economic hardship and isolation because of her inlaws' allegiances. It just sucks all around. I can't help her and so much want to help her.

But what does your sister think? Is she willing to leave the in laws behind?

Your sister has been there going on 30 years. Why do you assume she sees the war the same way we do in the US? She picked her side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do what the other pp have said. Tell her you are worried about her and her family. Tell you you will help her leave and will help her find a place to live. But if she decides to stay the offer is always available and that you will pray for all of her family (including her husband and in-laws)

If it was my sister then I'd do this plus offer her a place for her, her husband and her kids to live. I wouldn't be excited about hosting the in laws too, but if my sister asked, I'd say yes. But we have a large house with an in law suite.

The in-laws are Russian citizens. They won’t be allowed into the US.

So much disinformation on this thread.

So, the first hurdle is that the in-laws don't want to leave. That's the biggest issue, not the visa situation.

But, insofar as the visa situation is concerned, it's not a matter of Russian nationals being barred from the US. It's that they cannot obtain a visa inside Russia right now. They would need to first travel to Warsaw and apply for a visa, and then travel onward. This assumes of course that they don't already have a visa.

As for whether Russians can leave Russia, they can and are, but most are headed to other post-Soviet states rather than Western Europe.

We have family in Russia who has been denied visa to visit several times. It’s not easy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do what the other pp have said. Tell her you are worried about her and her family. Tell you you will help her leave and will help her find a place to live. But if she decides to stay the offer is always available and that you will pray for all of her family (including her husband and in-laws)

If it was my sister then I'd do this plus offer her a place for her, her husband and her kids to live. I wouldn't be excited about hosting the in laws too, but if my sister asked, I'd say yes. But we have a large house with an in law suite.

I assume it will be impossible for Russians without another passport to get a visa to come to the US. I don't think the issue is OP's reluctance to host the inlaws but more likely that the inlaws can't land in any Western country at the moment?

Personally, I don't care about the in-laws or the husband, but I'm not the OP. I'd do or say whatever I needed to get my sister and niece out and figure out the rest.

You don’t think the sister might not want to leave her husband? Would you, in a similar situation?