"Unpack your bags and move on with your life": An American who produced cheese in Altai and criticized local officials has been allowed to stay in Russia.

Justas walker, known to Russian internet users as "The Jolly Milkman," will not be deported from the country. He confirmed this after his visit to the migration service today, where he was summoned for an interview.

"We had a good conversation with the immigration service. Everything seems clear. There was some misunderstanding, some confusion, but they say there are no grounds for deportation. They simply strongly recommended that we proceed with the citizenship application process." quote his journalists.

Walker I arrived to Russia back in 1994, at the age of 12 - his religious Protestant family was conducting missionary work in the village near KrasnoyarskIn 2000, his parents returned to the United States, but he stayed because he fell in love with rural life. At first, he tried to earn money by teaching English, then he turned to farming and began making cheese. He has a wife and three daughters.

In 2014, Walker gained notoriety when, in an interview with the Rossiya TV channel about the ban on imported food products, he laughed loudly and celebrated the success of his own cheese factory. This earned him the nickname "The Merry Milkman."

He also criticized officials. For example, in March of this year, he accused the Ministry of Agriculture of exerting pressure on agribusiness, constantly "threatening, prohibiting, and pressuring."

Walker reportedly received a Russian passport back in 2022, but his family members failed to do so and missed the required deadlines for residency renewals. Now, according to the farmer, he will work on obtaining Russian citizenship for his wife and daughters.

"We're going home, everything's fine. We're unpacking our bags and moving on with our lives,"сказал Walker.