After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, immigration from its former states increased dramatically. The process differed slightly, as immigrants like Mrs. Agayeva would come through Switzerland as well,
“It was a long wait to get the papers that gave us permission to leave. We only got the final papers we needed in June of 2000, and since the medical exam happened over a year ago, they needed us to come back to Moscow and redo it. Other than that, we were ready. We already found someone who’d buy the apartment so we sold it that month, and then the four of us went to Moscow with all our things. After passing the medical exam again, we boarded a flight to America that had a transfer in Switzerland, and June 16th is when we finally made it here.”
