Need help addressing an envelope to Russia from the U.S.!?

Question

Do i address it like a normal american, in english, and then somehow it magically makes it to my russian friends mailbox? or do i have to have her tell me how to write in russian? but then the post office won't understand it. And i know i gotta put more stamps than normal on it too. Anyone know how this would work?

My friend Elvira is sending me a letter from there just like an American would write on the envelope.

Answer 1

Postage depends on weight. For a 1 oz (about 3 pages) letter it'll be 84 cents. For other weights - check yourself here:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/intl_speed.asp?CID=10369&MailType=envelope&Pounds=0&Ounces=1

For address itself - although you can write everything using a Latin alphabet, if you know how to write the address in Russian (cyrillic) I would recommend to write it this way and then at the bottom write "RUSSIA". For an American postal worker that's all she/he needs, while for the Russians you'll save some time. I used this practice all the time.

Answer 2

If you copy her sender's address, it's fine - the alphabet is not that different, the amount of letters is quite the same, and there is a 1:1 "translation" of letters every Russian postman should know.

Just, some letters don't arrive anyway, or very late, so just give it a try - and don't put any valuables into the letter...

Your mail office (or their website) would know many stamps you'd have to attach, I don't live in the US.

Answer 3

Send it via airmail through your local post office. Most post offices in the Russia and the former Soviet Union have multi-lingual employees, so no need for Cyrillic letters. Now the fee should vary anywhere from 2.50 to 5.00 if it is just a standard envelope.