Sooo...what now?!?!?!

Mark is tentatively scheduled to fly to Moscow on March 18th. The trip will be short (about three days) and a lot will need to be accomplished. In Moscow, Mark will officially sign his contract. He will also complete medical tests required for expats applying for a work visa in Russia. Mark will meet with a property management group to start the process of securing a place to live while in Moscow. The initial meeting with a tax representative will also take place. Russian tax laws are pretty straight forward, but it is always difficult to get those things straight in a new country, especially with a language barrier.

After Mark’s visit, the Organizing Committee will submit visa paperwork and he will receive an official work visa invitation. Upon receiving the invitation, Mark will have to go to a Russian Embassy to apply for his work visa. There are four embassies in the United States; one each in New York, Washington D.C., Seattle and San Francisco. Depending on when the invitation is received, Mark may fly to Seattle for this, or we will stop in San Francisco on the way to Southern California. It will take at least two days to complete the visa application process. Once everything has been submitted, it will take 6-8 weeks for the visa to be issued. Once the work visa is received, we will leave for Moscow. The Organizing Committee is shooting for us to be in Moscow mid-April/beginning of May. That is a fairly optimistic time line based on all that needs to occur between now and then. But, we’ll see.

Prior to this taking place, we have to wrap everything up in Boise. Mark’s last day at the Sheriff’s Office will be March 6^th. Danielle‘s last day at New Horizon will be March 23^rd. Our lease is up on April 1^st. Assuming everything is order, we will leave Boise and head to Southern California for a few weeks to spend time with family and friends prior to leaving for Moscow. The plan is to make a stop in the Bay Area, where Danielle has family. We will spend time with Danielle's family and potentially take care of visa stuff in San Francisco too. Mark will use the extra time between his last day of work and leaving Boise to get things packed up and moved into a storage unit. He will also travel to Moscow and take care of all of the visa requirements during this time.