Job Discussion Forums

[teacherus]

Hi Folks,

Just wondering, is there anyone there in Russia who teaches freelance? or at least part time in a few schools?

how would you organise a visa for such a venture?

Is it worth it?

would be interesting to hear any stories....

[canucktechie]

Yes there are lots of them.

Getting the visa itself is not a problem. There are many agencies that can get you an invitation for a year-long business visa.

The big problem is registration. If you work for a school they do this for you. If you don't you have to do it yourself, and it requires your landlord, who will probably not want to get involved. Oh getting a place to live on your own is a major hassle in itself. Do not underestimate all the hassles that living in Russia can involve.

Just not viable for a newcomer. All the freelancers I've met have previous employment with a school, Russian spouses or some other "in".

[maruss]

If you have never been to Moscow before,Canucteckie is right,the obstacles are quite formidable:It's not that difficult to buy a one year business visa invitation and then a visa and if anything this is the easy part!Finding affordable accomodation in Moscow is a major headache which Russians, not just foreigners face and he is quite right about registration because a lot of appartment owners are afraid of registering you in case they get subsequent demands for tax etc!Millions of people there of course earn income from the so-called' black economy' just to survive and the lucky ones have become very rich in this way.You can bribe your way around a lot of rules in Russia,but definitely not registration so you have to comply or you will eventually be fined or worse!
So how did I do it?Firstly.my many previous visits to the place,having a few good Russian friends and a working knowledge of the language of course made a tremendous difference.But even I had difficulties, especially when I returned after my Christmas/ New Year break to find firstly that I had nowhere to stay due to a misunderstanding with my new landlord,and in the middle of an extended holiday when nobody was available for days, and then problems with my work etc.Without the help and encouragement of trusted friends,I'm sure anyone else would have given up and gone home again.Having experienced both the highs and the lows of trying to live there,I would strongly advise anyone to heed the well-meaning advice given by both myself and other people on this site before making a decision to go to live and work in Moscow:always have a plan 'B' in case things go wrong,which they often do,as well as spare cash because it is surprising how easy it goes in Moscow.If you are going almost anywhere else in Russia independently. all the above applies even more because the work options will probably be very limited if it doesn't go as planned.
Good luck!

[kazachka]

Freelancing is definitely possible, but I wouldn't recommend it cold turkey. I freelanced off the bat , BUT I had been living here part of the yr and establishing contacts prior to doing that. I still think it's good to have a base salary of sorts to supplement when your private students are out of town etc. I taught classes for English Unlimited for about a yr and had(still have ) a good base of privates. To be perfectly honest, I decided life was too short for all the chasing around and went to work for Bonne nearly a yr ago and have no regrets and feel much more well rested