FAQ

Are these ladies for real?

Yes, all the ladies on this site are actively trying to find a foreign partner for marriage or a long term relationship. We ask all of our ladies, on a regular basis, if they wish to be removed from our database so we only list the girls who are actively looking for a partner. Just have a look at our album page and you will see very beautiful ladies and the front, more modest looking ladies futher in, and ordinary looking ladies towards the back of the album. They are all for real.

I’m wondering if you could keep me updated when new ladies join to your agency?

We regularly improve and add more information to the site. We get new ladies joining us all the time. When we have a sufficient numbers, we update our database. You will automatically receive notification of updates by subscribing to our mailing list (at the bottom of every page), or by visiting the Latest Additions page.

Why do the ladies on your site want to find a foreign guy?

We get asked this question a lot. Many of the girls we speak to are very highly educated and professionally qualified (doctors, teachers etc). The answer is two fold, the disappointment in Russian men and the poor economic situation. I got a very good explanation of this from a Russian lady I spent some time with in Belarus. “They drink too much. If they don’t drink, they have many lovers. If they don’t have many lovers, they don’t have a job and can’t provide for our family. If they work and provide for our family, they beat us. Is it surprising we prefer foreign men?”

How many ladies should I write to, to ensure I get a response?

Most clients take advantage of the fact the price falls to $5 each per address, instead of the usual $10 per address, when you order 10 addresses or more. Members also get to retrieve 10 addresses per month free of charge, so they also tend to write to a lot of ladies. In short the answer is that if you write to only one or two ladies, you are severely limiting your chances. You should start with about ten ladies you like, write to them by postal mail if your in no hurry for a reply, or via our mail forwarding service, if you would like to get a reply more quickly, or can’t be bothered to address and post ten letters in one go. Remember to include a good photo of yourself. Then sit back and see how it goes, and the number of replies you get. If you don’t get many replies, revise your letter or expectations accordingly and try again.

I am 53, does this matter?

One of the many areas where Russian women differ from European and American women, is the age of the partner they prefer. Family is very important to Russian women. They typically marry men who are about ten years older than themselves. They look for stability and someone who will be a good father and can provide for a family. Many ladies will marry guys much, much older than themselves. Whilst this may appear very attractive, having too large an age gap may mean you don’t have much in common or the activities the two of you wish to do are very different.

I have been surfing your excellent web site and figure the ladies have an orientation to European and American men, as a single Australian male will this put me at a disadvantage due to Australia’s location.

Most of these women don’t have any great preference regarding citizenship. I am sure many would like to be close to home in Europe. Many are just looking for the right man, in which case, the location is just not all that important. I have come across some ladies who expressed a dislike for American men, just as I have met ladies who have a dislike for German men, or any other race you care to mention. It’s really down to what sort of guy you are and what the lady in question is looking for. Living in one western country provides fairly much the same sort of opportunities and life style as any other western country, be it America, England, France, Germany or Australia. You will have no problems as an Australian.

What benefit do I get from being a member of your site?

You get to retrieve up to ten addresses free per month, and an initial $30 worth of free email forwarding to start you off. Membership lasts for one year.

How much are your ladies addresses and how do I order them?

You click on the “Add to your list” button on the ladies profile page. Addresses are $10 each for a single address. For ten addresses or more, they are $5 each. You receive all the contact details the lady wishes to give out, including her phone number, if applicable.

I am interested in booking a tour with you. Is there anyone I can talk to, who has done a tour with your agency?

All of our client details are confidential. We do only individual tour. If you have any questions about the tours we arrange, please send them to [email protected]. Also you are welcome to read details here.

I didn’t fully understand the charges for your services, including e-mailing (the only way to contact a person in the FSU for my money).

It costs $5 for a normal letter, $6 for a registered letter, and $10 per page (650 words) for translation. Printing photos costs $4 each. To use the service, you need to retrieve the ladies address and have transferred sufficient funds into your mail forwarding account. The lady can also use the service to reply to you.

I’ve heard that a lot of mail from the USA or Europe goes missing. Is this true?

Mail from the USA or Europe can take up to three weeks in either direction. Some mail is lost, some is opened by postal workers, some is just never delivered, so don’t just give up if the lady fails to reply the first time around. If you’re serious about her, be persistent. Using registered post is the only way to guarantee delivery of international mail. Because of this, the three week delay, and some of our ladies not being able to speak English, we offer an email forwarding and translation service. You send us the letter by email. We then forward it to our office in the appropriate country within the former USSR. They then translate and address it in Russian and put it into the local postal system. Instructions for replying by email are included with the letter. The lady can reply by post or visit our office in person.

Your site looks fantastic, How do I get started?

Read about the services we provide. Decide on the membership or non membership route. Use the search page to find the ladies you are looking for. You will not get replies from all of the ladies you write to, so don’t just pick one or two. Order their addresses and write, email or phone them. From then on, it’s up to you. If you wish to meet any of the ladies you write to, we can arrange a personal tour when you get to that stage.

I am getting ready to write to some of your ladies, Do they have to pay to write back to me?

No, the ladies are not charged for replying to you. Your mail forwarding account is charged for the ladies correspondence, in the same way as you are charged for sending correspondence to the ladies. You can send mail through our service to any lady, providing you have her full address. It doesn’t matter if she is a member of our agency or not.

What is the point of me sending a letter if I do not know if she understands English?

The ladies English (German, French etc.) ability is shown on her profile page (5=Excellent, 1=Poor). If she doesn’t speak English, and you write to her in English she must either translate the letter using a dictionary, or ask a friend to translate it, if she knows one who can. This means it takes far longer to get a reply, and she may not even reply at all. This is why we provide a translation facility with our email forwarding service. You must say that you need the letter to be translated in the instructions part, and you also have to setup a mail forwarding account.

Do you have any girls who speak German?

You can do a search for ladies who speak languages from our search page.

Is it possible to meet with various women on a trip to Russia at the same time, providing they are located in the same particular area? It necessary to have all introductions performed by writing ahead of time or can they be made upon arrival?

Novosibirsk is the best place for this, and it is where our main office is located. You don’t have to introduce yourself before hand, but it helps because it gives them time to make arrangements. If you book a tour with us, you can just come along to our office, look through the catalogue and ask to meet whoever you want. You can meet as many women as you like, it’s all included in the tour price. One of our staff will phone her and arrange a meeting that day. We can even provide a translator if the lady doesn’t speak English that well.

What about having the girl I choose come to visit me in Arizona instead of me going there?

You can only ask her, you have nothing to loose. This is very unlikely because you will have problems obtaining a visa and the lady is unlikely to accept if she has never met you.

I tried to write to the email address of one of the ladies on your site, and it was returned. Do you have a better e-mail address for her?

I’m afraid that sending email to the former USSR can be problematic. You may have to try many times, or write or phone the lady concerned.

Do I need a visa for Russia?

For almost all the countries in the former USSR, you must arrange a visa with their embassy in your country. You usually require a formal letter of invitation from a tourist company, and to have booked somewhere to stay before you will be granted a visa.

I have transferred money into the mail forwarding account. Why does it say I can’t retrieve the ladies address?

Opening a mail forwarding account does not entitle you to retrieve the addresses of ladies on the server free of charge. If you wish to retrieve her address and use the email forwarding service, then membership may be a better option.

I have visited your website and am very impressed by your services. I am VERY interested in working with you. I have learned about the problems of modern American relationships the hard way, having been twice married to modern women who were too involved in their careers and my bank accounts. However, I have not given up on the hope that I will one day find a woman who will really love me and care for me forever.

One of the reasons why a lot of guys look elsewhere for love. The thinking in the former USSR is still that of twenty or thirty years ago, ie you marry your husband for life and look after him. Most Russian are not really interested in working, but in raising a family.

I think men do not respond to your ladies, because they have to pay for the service. True, there are some splendid ladies on you site, but we are not willing to pay for the service. Do you not charge the woman already?

We do not charge the ladies a single dime, and charge clients as little as $5 per address. In all fairness, the ladies on the service often have problems affording to buy stamps to write back to clients. We all live in a world which is so different from the one in which they live. It is neither practical or fair to charge the ladies for joining the service. It costs a considerable amount of money to run Alina, and the support network we have for ladies and clients in the former USSR. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.

I live in Russia and wish to register with your agency. How much does it cost.

Registration for ladies is free. You need to send an email to with all the information that is shown on the profile pages, and including some good photos and most importantly, you address and telephone number. If you can not provide any scanned photos, we can scan them for you, but you will need to visit our office closest to you. Email and we will provide you with the appropriate contact details.

I opened a mail forwarding account for $50 with you. How can I see how much money is left in the account?

You need to go to our members page and log in using your email and password. You do not need to have purchased membership, just have purchased something from the site.

How do I check my the balance in my mail account?

You need to go to the Members page and select “Account Details”, after entering your email and password.

I’ve lost the email you sent me with my password. Can you send it to me again?

All you need to do is to enter you email address without your password and the server will send the password associate with that email address to the email address.

I have received confirmation of a letter, 41718800 from Almira Tuktareva, ob3891 that has been processed by Alina staff. Thank you very much. Was the text of the letter sent separately? Is it an attachment? I am unable to find the letter.

What you have received, is the automated receipt, that is generated when we receive a letter from a lady at one our regional office. The actual letter usually follows in 24-48hrs, once we have processed it.

I have been seeing one of your ladies for some time and she has now asked to be removed from the site because we intend to marry. Can I still write to her through your email service?

The lady was removed, as she is no longer actively seeking a partner. However, this also means her profile page no longer appears. You can still write to her by clicking here and entering her ID number.

I would like to travel to Novosibirsk in May. What do I need to do?

Providing you book a tour with us, just select the ladies you want to visit, arrange your plane tickets and let us know the details. We arrange accommodation, visas, pickup from the airport, translators, arrange meetings with ladies, everything really. If you intend to make your own tour arrangements, you will need a letter of invitation in order to obtain a visa to Russia. The easiest way is to stay in a hotel in Russia and book the trip through a travel agent who can arrange a letter of invitation and a visa. The letter lists the specific dates you intend to travel on and where you intend to stay. Be sure to arrange an airport pickup or you will be overcharged for the taxi ride.

Sometimes I see boxes where the pictures supposed to be. How can I fix this?

The problem is cause by the browser timing out before the page has fully loaded. There are a lot of images on the site, so it’s best to increase the size of you browsers cache to a reasonably large value. If you don’t see an image, and the page has finished loading, try pressing the “Refresh” or “Reload” button on the browser, and this will try to load the page again.

How do I know if I need to have letters translated for a lady?

Each lady is given an English ability, from 1 to 5. Only ladies with ability 4 or 5 can reliably write and translate their own letters. The abilities are defined as follows: Level 0 – No knowledge.
Level 1 – Some forgotten knowledge from school or university.
Level 2 – Understands written text with help of dictionary.
Level 3 – Understands written text with some help of dictionary, can write a little or speak on the phone a little.
Level 4 – Understands written text, can write and speak on the phone (almost no communication barrier).
Level 5 – Fluent language ability.

I’m having trouble uploading photos when trying to send a letter. What am I doing wrong?

First, you first need to ensure the picture is less than 100kb in size. This is the maximum size allowed. Secondly, the file needs to be in JPG format. Most imaging packages can save in JPG format, so if the file has a different extension, convert it to JPG using a package such as Paint Shop Pro. Finally, the filename must NOT contain any spaces. If it does, rename the file to remove the spaces. The pictures should now upload without any problems. If you are sending a large number of pictures, it may take a few minutes for your modem to upload the pictures to our server.

I’ve ordered an address, but I deleted the email you sent me with the address. Can you send me the address again please?

To retrieve an address you have already purchases, simply go to the Members page and enter your email address and password. Then click on the “Show my addresses” button and the server will show you all the addresses you have retrieved in both English and Cyrillic languages.

How do I send some money to one of the ladies on your service?

We can not send money to any of the ladies for you I’m afraid. You should view with some concern a request from a lady to send you money, especially if this is a large amount. Remember that most people in the former USSR earn around $100 per month. If you do decide to send her money, then you can do so through the Western Union Bank.

I’ve changed my email address. Can you change my account?

To change your email address, simply go to the Members page and enter your old email address and password. Then click on the “Edit my profile” button, and the server will allow you to change your account details.

Sometimes, when I sent a long letter, I get the message “session expired”. What does this mean?

You only have a certain amount of time to type your letter, after which you need to log in again. If you exceed this time, when you come to submit the letter, the server has expired your login, and thus your letter is lost. To solve this problem, it’s best to write the letter in notepad and just copy and paste using the CTRL+C and CTRL+V keys into the letter box.