Fr. Joseph Gleason lives and serves as a priest in Russia with his large family. Seven years ago, he, his wife, and eight children moved from America to the rural Russian countryside
I recently became a subscriber and I am enjoying your content. I also have substack focused on investing in real estate overseas. I saw a post you did in 2022 about Homes in Rostov. I'm working on a post about the Russian real estate market for foreign investors. Has the recent friendly countries list impacted the ability for Americans to buy in Russia? And do you have a good real estate agent or lawyer that speaks english I can get in contact with? Thanks G-d bless!
Americans and other foreigners are allowed to purchase real estate that is zoned residential, such as a family home.
However, foreigners are not allowed to purchase agricultural land. The normal way around that is to find a Russian citizen who you really trust, provide him the money to purchase the land in his name, and then "rent" the land from him, with a provision in the contract that he agrees to turn the land title over to you whenever you acquire citizenship.
I don't really know any realtors. I normally just look on the various Russian real estate websites. Then when you find a house or apartment that looks interesting, have a bilingual friend call for more info.
We can chat via the Telegram app if you want to discuss more details.
Thanks for the info. I would love to continue the discussion. And I will share the post with you once its out. Russia is amazing place despite on the media noise. I cant wait to visit myself and maybe buy a property out there.
Vadim from Bellevue, WA is a friend of ours and put us in touch by email.
Tatyana and I have been married for 15+ years and moved to Yekaterinburg just recently. We were married in the Pokrov Church in Seattle and I too was a Protestant. I also love the Russian Orthodox Church! It’s the way Jesus wanted a church to be. It’s so right to have a service full of worship!
Can you tell me - which village do you live in? Is it near St Petersburg?
We’d like to meet you and your family someday in the near future.
I just saw a video of the Feenstra family from Canada who are now in Russia. They have 8 children and have a farm lined up to buy here in Russia. However - they were not 100% advised by their immigration lawyer before traveling here.
They could only get a 3 month tourist visa because they are Canadians. They have been here for 2 1/4 months so have only 3 weeks left to learn enough Russian to pass the language test. If they fail that test then they must leave Russia and can return for another 3 months only after they’ve been outside of Russia for 3 months. This is adding up to a lot of wasted money and time.
He - I think his name is Paul - is a farmer. He probably doesn’t know that he needs Russian citizenship first before buying the farm.
The only way he mentioned to increase his visa time here is to get a work visa for 3 years.
I think I saw his plight on Substack but I can’t find it quickly. I think his blog or website had Countryside Corner in it.
I’m a convert living in the Midwest myself, and I am potentially interested in moving to Russia myself. The trouble is that I don’t speak Russian, and foreign languages have always been very difficult to learn for me. Moreover, I’m not sure where I would be able to work even if I did move to Russia. Any advice?
I recently became a subscriber and I am enjoying your content. I also have substack focused on investing in real estate overseas. I saw a post you did in 2022 about Homes in Rostov. I'm working on a post about the Russian real estate market for foreign investors. Has the recent friendly countries list impacted the ability for Americans to buy in Russia? And do you have a good real estate agent or lawyer that speaks english I can get in contact with? Thanks G-d bless!
Americans and other foreigners are allowed to purchase real estate that is zoned residential, such as a family home.
However, foreigners are not allowed to purchase agricultural land. The normal way around that is to find a Russian citizen who you really trust, provide him the money to purchase the land in his name, and then "rent" the land from him, with a provision in the contract that he agrees to turn the land title over to you whenever you acquire citizenship.
I don't really know any realtors. I normally just look on the various Russian real estate websites. Then when you find a house or apartment that looks interesting, have a bilingual friend call for more info.
We can chat via the Telegram app if you want to discuss more details.
Thanks for the info. I would love to continue the discussion. And I will share the post with you once its out. Russia is amazing place despite on the media noise. I cant wait to visit myself and maybe buy a property out there.
Hello Father Joseph,
It was so interesting to read your interview!
Vadim from Bellevue, WA is a friend of ours and put us in touch by email.
Tatyana and I have been married for 15+ years and moved to Yekaterinburg just recently. We were married in the Pokrov Church in Seattle and I too was a Protestant. I also love the Russian Orthodox Church! It’s the way Jesus wanted a church to be. It’s so right to have a service full of worship!
Can you tell me - which village do you live in? Is it near St Petersburg?
We’d like to meet you and your family someday in the near future.
God Bless from
Vladimir and Tatyana
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Blessings to you and your family! We live fairly close to Rostov Veliky, a couple hundred km north of Moscow.
Hello Father Joe,
I just saw a video of the Feenstra family from Canada who are now in Russia. They have 8 children and have a farm lined up to buy here in Russia. However - they were not 100% advised by their immigration lawyer before traveling here.
Sorry - I hit the send button too soon!
They could only get a 3 month tourist visa because they are Canadians. They have been here for 2 1/4 months so have only 3 weeks left to learn enough Russian to pass the language test. If they fail that test then they must leave Russia and can return for another 3 months only after they’ve been outside of Russia for 3 months. This is adding up to a lot of wasted money and time.
He - I think his name is Paul - is a farmer. He probably doesn’t know that he needs Russian citizenship first before buying the farm.
The only way he mentioned to increase his visa time here is to get a work visa for 3 years.
I think I saw his plight on Substack but I can’t find it quickly. I think his blog or website had Countryside Corner in it.
Any advice you have I will forward to him.
God Bless
From Vladimir and Tatyana
Hello Father,
I’m a convert living in the Midwest myself, and I am potentially interested in moving to Russia myself. The trouble is that I don’t speak Russian, and foreign languages have always been very difficult to learn for me. Moreover, I’m not sure where I would be able to work even if I did move to Russia. Any advice?
We love reading your articles and they are very relevant to our family. We are a family of 9 from Canada.