Re: Question about leaving the Soviet Union

[Boroda]

Didnt some church pastor get sent to a Russian prison for bringing a box of hunting ammo to a friend in Russia who was on a hunting trip?

You guys are not immune to local laws just because you are from the US of A.

That guy was caught with illegal rifle ammo, that he's not allowed to possess here if he doesn't own a licensed weapon that can use it.

If i'll get caught with a single .22LR cartridge in my pocket - I may go to jail. I am a Russian citizen and I don't think that some foreigner should have privileges over me. BTW, such restrictions appeared only after Stalin's death. Before 1960 (IIRC) it was possible to just go and buy a hunting gun in a village store...

As for fingerprints: I don't care that your Homeland Security has my fingerprints. I am a law-abiding person and I have nothing to fear. And I respect the laws of the country I visit.

[Boroda]

IIRC most people couldn't leave Soviet Union at all and those that did were never able to travel with their full family with them.

People who really wanted to emigrate - emigrated, if they were not involved in defense and didn't deal with classified information.

I have many friends who lived abroad for years with their parents in Soviet times.

Now everyone is allowed to leave the country (if they are not under trial and didn't have access to Top Secret materials in last 5 years, in such cases they'll not get a "foreign passport"). So what? Now it's getting a little better, but I was really surprised when I got an American visa in 2006. But I got a bullet-proof invitation, already had a working Australian visa and I have visited the US before (I mean - in Soviet times). For most of the single males, age 30-35, no kids, it's really hard to get a visa to so-called "free world".