Can I trust the Russian Postal Service ?

[thorpedo]

I have read on this board that there is alot of misinformation floating around in Russia about procedures etc. Ive prepared all the documents to invite a girl Ive been in touch with for 2 years (and met for a month last year) to Australia. Today I will post the documents to her in Taganrog. Its not that I dont trust her but now a friend of hers who applied for a visa to the US tells her its dangerous to post her passport and documents to Moscow. Has anyone had any experience with this ? She tells me some new 'firm' in her town can 'arrange' for the documents to be safely transported to Moscow for a fee of $80. Not massive bucks but is it a 'rip off' or is the posting of passports in Moscow really that dangerous ? All information welcome !

[Mick]

... in response to Can I trust the Russian Postal Service ?, posted by thorpedo on Apr 17, 2002

Thorpedo,

Your girl should consider going to Moscow herself to lodge her application (I believe that Taganrog is not that far fom Moscow). Not only it eliminates the possibility of documents being lost in mail, but it may also give her a better chance in case they would interview her there.
BTW, getting a tourist visa to Australia for a single lady from Russia or Ukraine is not easy, as a matter of fact my then fiancee was refused - back in 2000. It's history now, we are married for more than a month now and live together here in Australia, but I have learnt a lot through the whole process so now I would have done things differently. I was just too naive and inexperienced with the whole immigration procedure. I would give you a few hints, just let me know.

Cheers and good luck

Mick

[BrianN]

... in response to Can I trust the Russian Postal Service ?, posted by thorpedo on Apr 17, 2002

[ChuckRM]

... in response to Can I trust the Russian Postal Service ?, posted by thorpedo on Apr 17, 2002

Absolutely Not!!!

The Russian Postal Service is very slow and unreliable.  Postal employees there often open letters and packages looking for money and valuable items.  Letters and packages from foreign countries are likely targets for them.  

Many Russians don't trust the Russian Postal Service.  Why should you?

If you need to send important documents, it would be wise to use a private parcel delivery service.

[Mike]

... in response to Can I trust the Russian Postal Service ?, posted by thorpedo on Apr 17, 2002

If there is a private service such as UPS,DHL, FedEx, or anything that is proffesional and trusting then I recommend using one of these. My wife has constantly complained about the Russian mail system, and 4 or 5 weeks back we mailed some documents to her mom in Moscow by regular mail (post) and she only recieved half of them.

[thorpedo]

... in response to here we call it mailing, but anyway, posted by Mike on Apr 17, 2002

Thanks guys Ill do it