Dual Citizenship and surrendering Ukrainian one

[captainofiron 2]

My gut instinct guys is that Noel194 is Just bob, one and the same.

But I await for him to justify his trolling in this thread. But I somehow think that he isnt looking to contribute, just merely argue and aggravate the serious users.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My gut instinct guys is that Noel194 is Just bob, one and the same.

But I await for him to justify his trolling in this thread. But I somehow think that he isnt looking to contribute, just merely argue and aggravate the serious users.

My thought is that it is a "Friend of Bob's" called in for support. As it is a holiday, I will give him the benefit of the doubt before I post what I found regarding exit visas (which, incidentally have nothing to do with "dual citizenship")

Suffice to say, if Noel's wife paid for an exit visa, she was swindled. Big surprise. In Ukraine? Say it isn't so!

Anyway, this silliness has raised an issue and a concern for some people, I am sure (great job, Noel, thanks for helping out your fellow Ukrainiette enthusiasts..yeah that's why we're here!) others will be interested in what I found.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Alla intends to be a US citizen and keep her Ukrainian passport current. She will not have any need to use the Ukrainian passport except when we go to Russia. Using that she will not need a visa. Other than that, their is absolutely no benefit to traveling on a Ukrainian passport and it will stay in the sock drawer.

I read about this situation quite a bit here, and have to say that I don't entirely get it. Many Ukrainian women seem to want to maintain a separate identity in Ukraine. It seems a little strange to me. By the way, when we boarded a plane at Heathrow yesterday, there was a problem with Vika traveling under her Ukrainian passport with a GC. The ticket agent had to take a copy of her marraige certificate (we traveled with a certified copy), and see a supervisor before issuing a boarding pass. He said it was necessary to "link A to B" with names.

If she is departing for the USA, she will need to show that she has the proper permission to seek entry into the USA. Her Ukrainian passport alone without a visa does not work. So she will have to try and leave Ukraine on her US passport .... the problem is that it was never stamped for entry into Ukraine.... I assume they look for the entry stamp, but don't know for sure... If they do look for an entry stamp, how will she explain how she entered? If that is questioned, then she will have to produce her Ukrainian passport and then all of a sudden something is known. Will they inquire or do something? I don't know.

They always look for my entry stamp

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I read about this situation quite a bit here, and have to say that I don't entirely get it. Many Ukrainian women seem to :unsure:want to maintain a separate identity in Ukraine. It seems a little strange to me. By the way, when we boarded a plane at Heathrow yesterday, there was a problem with Vika traveling under her Ukrainian passport with a GC. The ticket agent had to take a copy of her marraige certificate (we traveled with a certified copy), and see a supervisor before issuing a boarding pass. He said it was necessary to "link A to B" with names.

They always look for my entry stamp

Alla does not try to maintain a seprate identity. Or anything like that (sounds nefarious).

She just wants to keep her options open if something happens to me, since we had a medical "scare" in December, I do not blame her. Alla never changed her name and I am glad she did not. Her green card and passport match, so there is never a question, but that is a personal decision.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Alla does not try to maintain a seprate identity. Or anything like that (sounds nefarious).

She just wants to keep her options open if something happens to me, since we had a medical "scare" in December, I do not blame her. Alla never changed her name and I am glad she did not. Her green card and passport match, so there is never a question, but that is a personal decision.

OK, Noel has had long enough to back up his babbling...Here is what I found regarding exit visas

The Soviet Union and its Eastern European allies required exit visas both for emigrants and for those who wanted to leave the USSR for some time. Uzbekistan is the last remaining former USSR country that still requires an exit visa (a visa is valid for a two year period[29]). There has been explicit UN criticism of this practice,[30] which can be a means of controlling political dissidents ("exit visa can be easily used to stop human rights defenders from leaving the country"[30]). The last remaining ex-allied regime, Cuba, still requires an exit visa or "white card" to all citizens intending to travel abroad.[31][32]

It is an outdated law, no longer enforced. No doubt there are old exit visa stamps laying around and no shoratge of officials that will take money to put one in your passport. EXIT VISAS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED for Ukrainians leaving the country.

Noel's wife was misled and Noel was not informed enough to tell her that she didn't need the stamp. (she may have done it anyway, being that she IS a Ukrainian woman, but Noel would know that and say so and not try to "prove" the existance of a law with a useless stamp) I also got a thrill from his insinuation that the "penalty" for not having it was "Life ...in Ukraine" Since when are Ukrainian women attracted to men that cannot handle admitting they are wrong? Good luck with that.

Actually I would be really curious to see this stamp and let Alla look at it. If you are out there Noel, any chance you will scan it for us?

[Brad and Vika 129]

Alla does not try to maintain a seprate identity. Or anything like that (sounds nefarious).

She just wants to keep her options open if something happens to me, since we had a medical "scare" in December, I do not blame her. Alla never changed her name and I am glad she did not. Her green card and passport match, so there is never a question, but that is a personal decision.

Gary, nothing personal here, but your statement above is a perfect example of the sort of thing I do not undestand. Taking or leaving a husbands last name is a personal choice imo, no right or wrong. The tradition was big in my family, so Vika did it (and she said that the same is true in Ukraine). I understand that changing a name in a Ukrainian passport, especially the internal one, can be a hassle and cause tax problems too.

What I don't get is how some one has any more or less opportunity or options with one last name as opposed to another. Do "options" include presenting herself to the government or any one else in Ukraine as an unmarried person? As I said - no offense intended, but I just do not get it. And the names can be matched up at any time with the appropriate documents.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Gary, nothing personal here, but your statement above is a perfect example of the sort of thing I do not undestand. Taking or leaving a husbands last name is a personal choice imo, no right or wrong. The tradition was big in my family, so Vika did it (and she said that the same is true in Ukraine). I understand that changing a name in a Ukrainian passport, especially the internal one, can be a hassle and cause tax problems too.

What I don't get is how some one has any more or less opportunity or options with one last name as opposed to another. Do "options" include presenting herself to the government or any one else in Ukraine as an unmarried person? As I said - no offense intended, but I just do not get it. And the names can be matched up at any time with the appropriate documents.

Huh? what? Really Brad, the name issue is a NON issue for me. I was not speaking of names when I spoke of options. The name a woman keeps has nothing to do with that.

Alla will keep her Ukrainian international passport "up to date" after she becomes a US citizen. If anything happens to me and she chooses to return to Ukraine (somethig she says she wouldn't do right now) It will be very easy for her to move right back in to Ukraine and start working, etc., rather than go through some Ukrainian ritual to "re-establish" her citizenship.

The name thing means nothing to me Brad, I even said it is a personal choice, for whatever reasons are important to you. I only note that a lot of problems other people have do not exist when you do not change names, but it is not a big deal.

[LvivLovers 39]

On the whole exit visa thing...the next time my wife returns to Ukraine she will be a US Citizen. Given that current Ukrainian law would automatically no longer recognize her as a Ukrainian citizen, I'm thinking they probably won't be looking to enforce an exit visa either. Problem solved.

On the whole name change thing, my wife took my last name and changed her Ukrainian internal and international passports to reflect that while we were waiting for her visa. We just figured that would alleviate any extra documents/confusion. I guess it's not an option for people coming on a fiance visa, but I'd recommend it just for simplifying things a bit for married folks waiting for their visa. One interesting note though...my wife went back to check on her new passport after a week or so only to find that they hadn't done any work on it yet. Reason being, the last name didn't like Ukrainian and they thought it might be a joke! They said they figured if it was legitimate the person would eventually come back. Only in Ukraine!!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

On the whole exit visa thing...the next time my wife returns to Ukraine she will be a US Citizen. Given that current Ukrainian law would automatically no longer recognize her as a Ukrainian citizen, I'm thinking they probably won't be looking to enforce an exit visa either. Problem solved.

On the whole name change thing, my wife took my last name and changed her Ukrainian internal and international passports to reflect that while we were waiting for her visa. We just figured that would alleviate any extra documents/confusion. I guess it's not an option for people coming on a fiance visa, but I'd recommend it just for simplifying things a bit for married folks waiting for their visa. One interesting note though...my wife went back to check on her new passport after a week or so only to find that they hadn't done any work on it yet. Reason being, the last name didn't like Ukrainian and they thought it might be a joke! They said they figured if it was legitimate the person would eventually come back. Only in Ukraine!!!

Sounds like "racial profiling" to me. We need to call Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton! Can you even IMAGINE the shitstorm that would come down on the state department here????

"Your name didn't 'sound American' so we just held your passport application until you came back"

[LvivLovers 39]

Sounds like "racial profiling" to me. We need to call Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton! Can you even IMAGINE the shitstorm that would come down on the state department here????

"Your name didn't 'sound American' so we just held your passport application until you came back"

No doubt! Although the DoS would probably just forward everyone to one of the help lines and let customer no-service deal with them. They'd eventually get exhausted and give up once they realized it would take some actualy work.

Edited July 7, 2010 by LvivLovers