I found it was perfectly fine to write one general letter and send out out. Since they asked you no questions yet, you can't fail to answer them. As far a age difference, I'm not good looking, am not rich, and am 20 years older than my Ukrainian wife. She's completely beautiful on the inside and out and e could not be happier.
Tom Shea: congrats buddy!!! you make us all proud! love to hear success stories!
Wifeseeker: I hear you, sounds your girl is the exception. She didn't give you her email but she warned she wouldn't. I just don't see why none of the agency girls will give out their email, likely because it's the agency dudes who write the replies:) I write two lines, then fifteen minutes later, the reply pops, what the heck these girls live next door from the agency and show up on demand??? let alone all the invites for video chats that are obviously cam girls, sorry me no take the bait:)
Anyways, it's not hard to weed out the scumbags, you were right.
WIFESEEKER what are you going to do if you go there and she hates you? You got a backup plan?
Never go without spending hours a day on Skype video. If you can't spend hours together on Skype video you probably won't be able to spend hours together in person.
The answer is in the term back-up, go back and start again, simple. It is very unlikely that she will hate me unless l do something like jumping on her on our first date. What can happen is that she decides that I am not the man for her after she smells my chemicals. I could think the same thing.That is what the meeting is about.
What did people of different countries use to do in the days before Skype, never meet each other and marry? you need to accept it, Skype is not for everyone. The lady simply cannot carry out her unconscious check of detecting your chemicals, for biological compatibility, without meeting in person. Let alone other checks like any form of physical contact. if you want an online girlfriend for life, then yes by all means Skype and Facebook are the things for you.
I am sorry but the problems you are listing you will always have for as long as you use a pay per everything agency. In reputable agencies, the matter of the email address is the opposite, the scammers will want to give you their email and Skype address as soon as possible so as to get you away from the watchful eye of the scammer checkers in the agency.
In the agency that I use, girls who send me their external contact details on their first message normally do not last a couple of hours, after they register, before they get removed by the administrators.
Skype requires the girl speaks English. The majority don't. It's not an option. It can be awkward. Better to ask for a video.
Wifeseeker: how can you tell "reputable agencies"? we don't even know the name of the agency and have no idea who is replying to our emails. Of course, this can also be the case with the independent girls.
OK, I cannot give you the websites of the agencies I use but here is a link to somebody who has been investigating and reviewing agencies. I believe him:
http://www.meeting-russian-women.com/index.html
Many girls speak good enough English to converse in Skype and when you both have trouble understanding or expressing yourselves, you can type what you are trying to say.
WIFESEEKER that's true. 10 years ago we didn't have the benefit of Skype or other technologies that would help us in our search.
I can't tell you the number of times I've saved myself thousands on a trip because we spoke on Skype video and found we were not compatible. Not to mention the time of energy of a trip.
You can't really lump Skype and Facebook together. They are two totally different things serving two different purposes. But by all means if she has a Facebook or VK profile check her out and her friends.
Yes Skype can be useful to find conversation compatibility, especially when you are typing rather than struggling to make yourself understood by talking. But the old written long letter can also be useful, if you exchange several of them. Only this time it is sent by email or in the dating site messaging service instead of snail mail. But the time test is important too. If you cannot keep exchanging letters after a few weeks and one or both or you start losing interest, then save yourself the money on the trip.
I have had a number of very animated conversations on Skype, where both of us have said that we thoroughly enjoyed the conversations, and then we started losing the contact until I ended up removing the girl from my Skype contacts as we had not talked for several weeks.
I know why my girl refuses to use video Skype, she is embarrassed of her poor English. When I spoke to her on the phone,I ended up speaking as much in Russian as she did in English!
WIFESEEKER I'd still want to see her on video (before committing to the time and expense of a trip). Have her turn her video on even if she only types.
At least you'll be getting a live view of how she looks TODAY and her the same for you.
Let's not forget - even the women that are real are sometimes using outdated pics in their profile. Not how they look today but 5-6 years ago or even more.
I admire your patience to stick to this charade for months. I changed my mind about skype. It is definitely a must. Why waste the time to keep writing letters or going over there.
I have narrowed it down to two girls, not because I intended to, rather the others either don't do it for me, or they don't pass the sniff test. So, both are 10's and have received many letters, so I am careful. The one politely asks me to show her, and I show her a teaser, all of a sudden she gets very interested. Then I decide to pull one of the tops guns (thinking with p**** I guess) and I suddenly become the guy she really really likes:) and asks me what is the future for us. So, I tell her the plan, but she wants me to bring her here as a visitor. Are these girls really so ignorant? do they think you can go to the embassy, bribe someone and get a visa on the spot?
How do we even know the girl is not a pro? have others hired someone over there to look at the girl closely after your meet her?
I have pictures of her with the camera dates on them and taken at home or outside a studio. I repeat, if I was one of those guys who suspect everything about the girl they are really interested in, I would not bother to go and see her.
The trick is to start from the correct square, that is using reputable agencies who only charge you for the subscription and who have a system in place to investigate and remove scammers.
If you start with pay per everything agencies and you go for the girls who are obviously models and bait for men with more money than sense, of course you are going to spend the rest of the time as a paranoid and paying and paying for girls who make a living that way.
I perfectly understand genuine girls who hate the way they look on the webcam of their old laptop, with an old light bulb -casting shadows down their faces- at home for lighting, as opposed to a quality camera with studio lights which is what agency girls use. They know that men who want to talk to them on video will be scrutinising their looks.
I hate the way I look in my webcam too. I think I look like a criminal on it. However, my daughters insist I look just fine in real life.
Between old fashioned letters with genuine girls and spending money talking to paid models on video I go for the former every time.
Think about it, it is in dating sites that do not charge for video chat where there are several ladies who say they will not be treated like objects sitting in front of a video camera to be examined for every wrinkle and the size of their tits. The girls in pay per everything agencies (or the people who write their profiles) never say they do not want video chat. Comprende?
You will ALWAYS get a response from Anastasia.com. In fact, you will ALWAYS get letters from girls who purportedly written to you. Interestingly, I wrote to that website and they admitted that the "letters" sent unsolicited to me were from women who met a profile that I was looking for, that they were in fact computer generated. Caveat emptor
Ok, it seems she tries to play the travel agency scam on me. She hasn't asked for money, yet, but that's where it's going. It is possible to get a visitor's visa through a travel agency that can arrange everything, etc. (yeah right:) her friend visited America this way and so on. Another email or two and she'll ask for money. All bets are off with this one, just want to confirm she's a scammer and if shes is, I will report her to the admin.
The other girl though is very real and seems genuine so far.
WIFESEEKER still I would do it as a kind of test. If she refuses to go on (Skype) video that immediately sets off a red flag for me. Even if she looks like hell there are other indicators you can get via video. An old hag is going still going to look like an old hag. And a stunner still a stunner cam or not.
It is too difficult to believe a girl who tells you she wants to come and visit you. Even if she says she will arrange everything, at one point she will insinuate that a gentleman would send her money. I have once met a girl who came to England on a tour, she wrote and told me she would be here, the only thing is another man was paying for her travel agency tour......Looking back I should have refused to meet her again when she told me the other man paid, the first time we met.
Lead her on and wait for her to ask for money, then report her.
My girl specifically said in her profile that she would not travel to meet the men in their countries, they come to see her if they want to meet her.
Like I have said, narrowing it down to only one girl, especially an agency girl, is not likely to work even if she is very genuine.
WIFESEEKER "Looking back I should have refused to meet her again when she told me the other man paid, the first time we met." Why? You paid nothing so the meeting was virtually at no cost to you.
What you had there was a visa-rider. A visa-rider is someone who uses a man to pay her travel, visa and then meets other men once she gets there. A visa-rider can also be called a BBD girl (bigger, better deal).
Still no harm in meeting her. When you deal with enough of these scammers, pro-daters they are easy to spot a mile away.
I agree with what Tomz said. She refused to skype. I'm done with her, I just don't have the time to play the game. She didn't ask for money, but the whole thing smells funny.
Wifeseeker: I respect your views as well as those of others. I agree that going there to see just one girl is risky. But not all girls are scammers or gold diggers. I have a girl with whom I have daily communication and have skyped (in fact, she asked because she wanted me to see her and she wanted to see me). We have shared incredible things although she hardly speaks English. I've made plans to go see her, but I feel like getting on a plane sooner and going over there. I know for a fact she's the real thing. There is always a chance of disappointment, but hey that's life, if everything was certain, would it be any fun:) That said, I do have backups, as well:) Slavic beauty and mindset are irresistible!