Ukrainian stepson with GC & expired UKR passport

[Larry and Iryna 0]

Hello all! We be newbies. Here's the situation. My wife and son are from Ukraine and have been in the USA for about 5 years. Both have their 10 yr green cards. My wife also has a valid Ukrainian passport in her married name (but she didn't think to have my 11 year old stepson's name added to it when she renewed in Ukraine during their last visit). His Ukrainian passport has since expired. Recently she learned that her father has terminal cancer so she and her son wish to visit him in the next month or two.

What we need to learn are the following:

What are his travel options? Can he enter Ukraine on the expired passport after paying a fee (as we heard from one source)? Or can we get travel documents from a Ukrainian Embassy to allow him to enter Ukraine (and if so, how long does this take)?

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation? We will also be contacting an embassy but thought we would try here first. Thanks in advance.

Larry and Iryna

[payxibka 10,045]

Hello all! We be newbies. Here's the situation. My wife and son are from Ukraine and have been in the USA for about 5 years. Both have their 10 yr green cards. My wife also has a valid Ukrainian passport in her married name (but she didn't think to have my 11 year old stepson's name added to it when she renewed in Ukraine during their last visit). His Ukrainian passport has since expired. Recently she learned that her father has terminal cancer so she and her son wish to visit him in the next month or two.

What we need to learn are the following:

What are his travel options? Can he enter Ukraine on the expired passport after paying a fee (as we heard from one source)? Or can we get travel documents from a Ukrainian Embassy to allow him to enter Ukraine (and if so, how long does this take)?

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation? We will also be contacting an embassy but thought we would try here first. Thanks in advance.

Larry and Iryna

You need to contact the Embassy/Consulate in DC to get temporary travel authorization. Someone I know had a similar problem (his daughter aged out off of the mom's passport) and that was there solution.

[Larry and Iryna 0]

Hello all! We be newbies. Here's the situation. My wife and son are from Ukraine and have been in the USA for about 5 years. Both have their 10 yr green cards. My wife also has a valid Ukrainian passport in her married name (but she didn't think to have my 11 year old stepson's name added to it when she renewed in Ukraine during their last visit). His Ukrainian passport has since expired. Recently she learned that her father has terminal cancer so she and her son wish to visit him in the next month or two.

What we need to learn are the following:

What are his travel options? Can he enter Ukraine on the expired passport after paying a fee (as we heard from one source)? Or can we get travel documents from a Ukrainian Embassy to allow him to enter Ukraine (and if so, how long does this take)?

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation? We will also be contacting an embassy but thought we would try here first. Thanks in advance.

Larry and Iryna

You need to contact the Embassy/Consulate in DC to get temporary travel authorization. Someone I know had a similar problem (his daughter aged out off of the mom's passport) and that was there solution.

Thank you. We will give it a try.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello all! We be newbies. Here's the situation. My wife and son are from Ukraine and have been in the USA for about 5 years. Both have their 10 yr green cards. My wife also has a valid Ukrainian passport in her married name (but she didn't think to have my 11 year old stepson's name added to it when she renewed in Ukraine during their last visit). His Ukrainian passport has since expired. Recently she learned that her father has terminal cancer so she and her son wish to visit him in the next month or two.

What we need to learn are the following:

What are his travel options? Can he enter Ukraine on the expired passport after paying a fee (as we heard from one source)? Or can we get travel documents from a Ukrainian Embassy to allow him to enter Ukraine (and if so, how long does this take)?

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation? We will also be contacting an embassy but thought we would try here first. Thanks in advance.

Larry and Iryna

we have gone through exactly the same except we caught it before anything expired. I strongly suggest ALL children ahve their own passports and keep them current, it really is a pain unless you do.

Sounds like your wife is registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident? Is this so? If so, she can get a travel document through the Ukraine consulate in the USA fairly easily and quickly. They will need to know exact dates of travel. There are Ukrainian consulates in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, they handle particular states and these are listed in their website. He could also renew his passport there but it takes longer.

If she is not registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident then he must renew his passport in Ukraine or take REALLY long to do it through a consulate here (6 months +).

There is a very good possibility he could be admitted to Ukraine with the expired passport and paying a fee (this is a bribe, there is no other word for it) Expect to pay $50 to $100. Trying to play "poor" when getting off a plane from the USA will not work. They will shake you down for as much as they can so don't have a lot of cash with you. Ukraine has implemented a new passport system that gets you a passport in as little as 3 days by paying an addtional (legitimate) fee. This is been implemented so far in the larger populated Oblasts. The fees range from $20-$50 (approx. in grivnya) in additio to the normal passport fee, and you receive the passport in 3-30 days depending on which fee you pay. I am also told you should expect to pay a bribe to the clerk in order to "really" get the expedited service. The government clerks are not too happy about the government horning in on their "expedite" action with legitimate fees and so tend to still shake you down for something for them in order to put the papers through.

[1HappyGuy 45]

You should definitely contact the Ukrainian embassy in D.C. as soon as possible. Get the telephone number and have your wife call. They can advise her properly and expedite the situation. Obviously this is not an unusual situation but you don't want it to be delayed any longer.

[Larry and Iryna 0]

Hello all! We be newbies. Here's the situation. My wife and son are from Ukraine and have been in the USA for about 5 years. Both have their 10 yr green cards. My wife also has a valid Ukrainian passport in her married name (but she didn't think to have my 11 year old stepson's name added to it when she renewed in Ukraine during their last visit). His Ukrainian passport has since expired. Recently she learned that her father has terminal cancer so she and her son wish to visit him in the next month or two.

What we need to learn are the following:

What are his travel options? Can he enter Ukraine on the expired passport after paying a fee (as we heard from one source)? Or can we get travel documents from a Ukrainian Embassy to allow him to enter Ukraine (and if so, how long does this take)?

Has anyone here gone through a similar situation? We will also be contacting an embassy but thought we would try here first. Thanks in advance.

Larry and Iryna

we have gone through exactly the same except we caught it before anything expired. I strongly suggest ALL children ahve their own passports and keep them current, it really is a pain unless you do.

Sounds like your wife is registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident? Is this so? If so, she can get a travel document through the Ukraine consulate in the USA fairly easily and quickly. They will need to know exact dates of travel. There are Ukrainian consulates in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, they handle particular states and these are listed in their website. He could also renew his passport there but it takes longer.

If she is not registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident then he must renew his passport in Ukraine or take REALLY long to do it through a consulate here (6 months +).

There is a very good possibility he could be admitted to Ukraine with the expired passport and paying a fee (this is a bribe, there is no other word for it) Expect to pay $50 to $100. Trying to play "poor" when getting off a plane from the USA will not work. They will shake you down for as much as they can so don't have a lot of cash with you. Ukraine has implemented a new passport system that gets you a passport in as little as 3 days by paying an addtional (legitimate) fee. This is been implemented so far in the larger populated Oblasts. The fees range from $20-$50 (approx. in grivnya) in additio to the normal passport fee, and you receive the passport in 3-30 days depending on which fee you pay. I am also told you should expect to pay a bribe to the clerk in order to "really" get the expedited service. The government clerks are not too happy about the government horning in on their "expedite" action with legitimate fees and so tend to still shake you down for something for them in order to put the papers through.

Thank you for such an informative answer. It ties in well with what she has learned so far. My wife isn't registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident. She will be calling the San Francisco Consulate ASAP.

Edited July 30, 2009 by Larry and Iryna

[Masha276 0]

"we have gone through exactly the same except we caught it before anything expired. I strongly suggest ALL children ahve their own passports and keep them current, it really is a pain unless you do.

Sounds like your wife is registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident? Is this so? If so, she can get a travel document through the Ukraine consulate in the USA fairly easily and quickly. They will need to know exact dates of travel. There are Ukrainian consulates in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, they handle particular states and these are listed in their website. He could also renew his passport there but it takes longer.

If she is not registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident then he must renew his passport in Ukraine or take REALLY long to do it through a consulate here (6 months +).

There is a very good possibility he could be admitted to Ukraine with the expired passport and paying a fee (this is a bribe, there is no other word for it) Expect to pay $50 to $100. Trying to play "poor" when getting off a plane from the USA will not work. They will shake you down for as much as they can so don't have a lot of cash with you. Ukraine has implemented a new passport system that gets you a passport in as little as 3 days by paying an addtional (legitimate) fee. This is been implemented so far in the larger populated Oblasts. The fees range from $20-$50 (approx. in grivnya) in additio to the normal passport fee, and you receive the passport in 3-30 days depending on which fee you pay. I am also told you should expect to pay a bribe to the clerk in order to "really" get the expedited service. The government clerks are not too happy about the government horning in on their "expedite" action with legitimate fees and so tend to still shake you down for something for them in order to put the papers through.

Alla, what is your experience with entering Ukraine on a valid Ukrainian passport without a stamp of registration as a US permanent resident? The name in my GC and passport are differnet (married vs. maiden), but I'm not sure if the problems others have faced have to do with the name discrepancy or with not having a stamp (not being "registered in Ukraine as a US permanent resident," like you said). You said the passport can be renewed in Ukraine. Can the registration be done in Ukraine as well?

[payxibka 10,045]

We have had no issues with the name in the passport and the name on the greencard being different... we were asked to provide the marriage certificate that showed the name change though...