Purchasing Real Estate in Russia

[Roland McEachron]

Good morning;

My name is Roland McEachron from Wisconsin.  I do happen to be a conservative and follow politics closely and am certainly very concerned about the future of America. I am also very informed about world events.

My fiance' and her daughter are in Donetsk, Ukraine, the area where a horrible war has been raging on since early 2014. Since meeting my fiance', I have been to Donetsk 6 times and also have been to Moscow. This area is no longer part of the country of Ukraine and is now a separate "unrecognized" territory/country, called People's Republic of Donetsk. It is very unsafe and very dangerous for her and her daughter to travel at all in the remaining part of Country of Ukraine, let alone travel to Kiev. My fiance' has had numerous nervous breakdowns due to stress from the war. Her health has really suffered greatly. The only way for her to be able to receive an international passport and be able to come to be with me on a fiance' visa, is to become a Russian citizen. (She, along with 95% of people from this area, speak Russian language). Being from the SE part of Ukraine where the war continues and the political situation being VERY unstable, the only way out is to become a Russian citizen, as where she is at now continues to life-threatening both for her and her young daughter. Russia passed a law for potential immigrants wanting to come to Russia from this war torn area in early 2015. In this new law, if a person is born in Russia (my fiance' was born in Lipetsk, Russia) and they purchase some type of real estate in Russia, they will be allowed to become a Russian citizen in only 6 months after purchasing some real estate. Then they will be granted Russian citizenship and be able to acquire Russian international passport. Normally, to become a Russian citizen, the process takes about 3+ years. I have known my fiance' for almost 4 years and have been engaged for 3+ years. We both greatly appreciate any help/ideas, etc. we can find to be able to purchase real estate (apartment) in Russia. My fiance' has negotiated with a realtor in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, where my fiance' and her young daughter are trying to relocate to. The going price for an average apartment is about $170000 to $185000. This, of course, has a lot to do with American and European sanctions which have caused prices in Russia to double or even triple. My fiance' has worked out a "deal" with a realtor to be able to purchase one of these apartments for just $60000. The stipulation being my fiance sells the apartment back to the realtor for the same price of $60000 after she achieves citizenship six months after becoming owner of the apartment. My situation is currently as follows.....I own 26 acres with house and buildings in the country, debt-free. I used to be farmer but had to quit because of many surgeries. I have a B.S. degree in Agriculture and am currently looking for employment. (after I quit farming, I had rented my farm out for awhile; however it was too much to do that and work full-time job, as well as back and shoulder surgeries limiting the physical work I can do). My last employment was salesman with a lumber company; I got laid off from that job. Because I currently am unemployed, the banks will not consider loaning me the $60000. I do have other misc. income right now which is about $1500/month. My property is currently worth about $170,000. Of course, if the Koch brothers would consider some kind of financial help, that would be great. I realize I am an unknown person to them and you may often get letters like this. I do often get frustrated when I hear all about Syrian men immigrating to America without being vetted and of course all the illegal immigrants coming across our southern border. We are trying to do everything legally and is very frustrating situation for both of us. Of course, the war has a LOT to do with our situation.

I am very, very grateful that you have taken the time to read my letter and listen to my situation.

If you have any questions at all, or any ideas to help us, please, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you!!! Roland McEachron