Russian Women and Employment

Apr 22nd, 2006

When my fiance arrived in the US, she was unable to work. This is true for all women that arrive on a K-1 visa (fiance visa).

When she arrived with her daughter, I was not anxious for her to work. I wanted her to relax and get to know my family and get her daughter situated in school. This is what she did, although she was board a lot. Most Russian women work just like the men do. Their culture is a little different than ours. Although, don’t let me stick my foot in my mouth. There are plenty of American women who work and plenty of Russian housewives. But in Soviet times, I think almost everyone worked in some way or another and that’s the way it is in Russia.

We kept this up for a few months. In the meantime, I was laid off from my job and I accepted a position back in my home state close to my children. So we moved.

When we got settled in our new place, Lena started the process to go to work. She applied for a “Social Security Card” and then was able to receive an “Employment Authorization” card from INS. These are the keys to working in the US.

A couple of months passed and she could not even get an interview. This is the problem in the US. Unless you live close to a large Russian community, work is often difficult for them to find.

Russian women are taught to work.

She wanted to work and I knew her skills were valuable, so we started our own business. I called a couple of friends with small businesses I knew could use her help and she got started. Of course, she was a complete success! We kept this business for about 4 years and sold it. She now freelances in that type of work and is in big demand.