thinking on moving to the Ukraine

[Nick_Moscow 2]

I am wondering is their anyone that is an american citizen who may have retired and moved to the Ukraine, I whould like to know what all is involved in moving their as far as documents are concerned. I would like to talk with someone who made that move and can fill me in to what all I need to do. I am disabled and receive disability payments I know what I need to do in that matter. so if you did move and can let me know I would greatly apreciate your help. Mark

I've thought a bit about this issue, too, since I've seriously considered moving to Russia to live closer to my in-laws whom I hold so dear (Russia is not the Ukraine but I think there are some similarities with both being FSU countries). I'm by no means a tax expert but This information could be useful to you as it looks like if you get a gig over there (say teaching English) you won't be taxed by Uncle Sam on the first $95K! I've also toyed with the idea of inviting mom and dad-in-law to come here so I found this information interesting as I dug around a bit and I think it means they wouldn't be taxed by the US on their Russian pensions. If you look around you might find information on Disability Payments - maybe the Ukraine can't tax it, so you won't get double-taxed?

Be prepared for a lack of handicap accessibility.

Again my wife is from Russia and I've only done small trips to the Ukraine for visa renewals and vacations with friends in the Crimea but you're spot on with this. I remember seeing people in wheelchairs on the trains in the Moscow Metro and having no clue how they even got down there (no elevators)! When my sister-in-law visited with her baby this is sopmething she really liked - that in DC it's so easy to get around the Metro with a stroller as there are elevators everywhere!

a minor issue to us but maybe a real sore spot for them, drop your 'the' as in 'the Ukraine'! It is simply Ukraine.

Forgive me if I'm mistaken but I thought it was the other way around?? Ukraine in Russian literally translates as 'at the edge' so I thought Ukrainians prefer 'the Ukraine' since it shows their independence following the USSR collapse? I always thought that otherwise it looks like the Russians possess Ukraine as their own territory - it's not an independent country but rather the place 'at the edge of' Russia.

And what was said about handicapped people is right on. You are just out of luck! I had a heart attack a year after Alla arrived...had bypass surgery and I am better than ever. She says "If this happened in Ukraine, you would have died on the sidewalk and people would step over you"

Ukraine is NOT a good place to be if you are not in good health or handicapped. I was warned the day I arrived..."This is Ukraine, do NOT get sick"

Yes Gary, Eastern Europe is in general not a good place to be sick or disabled. Though I wonder if you see fewer disabled people over there because the conditions are so unaccommodating or if we see more disabled folk over here because of all our accommodations. Of course I'm not being offensive here and claiming people in the US fake disabilities - ADA was amazing legislation that did some necessary and wonderful things for disabled people. What I'm referring to is the unpleasant sight of a perfectly able-bodied person using the motorized scooter here in a store when over there seventy-year-olds get around on their own two feet even in treacherous icy conditions!

. Although I have experienced the decaying infrastructure, no heat and turned off water. My other concern would be work.

Anna continually reminds me of the corruption. But, I look at it this way.... At least Ukrainians know they are being screwed out of the gate. Here we have the pretense that the government is on our side and working for us.. HA!! What a farce!

I had the controlled heat and shut-off water issues when I was living in Russia, too. But I wonder how much this issue is related to the whole country vs. the age of your building. I stayed in old soviet-era apartments ("xrushyovki") but heard that people in newer apartments ("novostroiki") had individual climate control and uninterrupted access to water in the Summer months.

Also the corruption part is funny since at first I rolled my eyes when my wife called me hypocritical whenever I lambasted the corruption in Russia. But you're right, now I see how we also have corruption here in the US - it's just institutionalized while over there it's more like the Wild West.

[james&olya 1,121]

Forgive me if I'm mistaken but I thought it was the other way around?? Ukraine in Russian literally translates as 'at the edge' so I thought Ukrainians prefer 'the Ukraine' since it shows their independence following the USSR collapse? I always thought that otherwise it looks like the Russians possess Ukraine as their own territory - it's not an independent country but rather the place 'at the edge of' Russia.

The issue is what the grammar implies in the English language. Russian does not use 'articles' like 'the'. If you refer to 'the south' or the 'mid-atlantic', etc, you imply it is a region, not a country. Ukraine is the English name for the country. They do not like being thought of as just a region of greater Russia.

[Nick_Moscow 2]

The issue is what the grammar implies in the English language. Russian does not use 'articles' like 'the'. If you refer to 'the south' or the 'mid-atlantic', etc, you imply it is a region, not a country. Ukraine is the English name for the country. They do not like being thought of as just a region of greater Russia.

You're right! I just remembered. The real issue Ukrainians have is not about definite article usage- more of them consider Russian as a second language than English, and as you said, Russian doesn't have definite and indefinite articles. The issue is which preposition is used when referring to Ukraine - 'na' or 'v'. Both mean 'in', 'at', or 'to', but 'v' usually signifies a defined, enclosed space, while 'na' signifies a place with less-defined borders. If you ever learned Russian, you know there are rules that certain nouns are only used with one or the other - 'v' or 'na' - and countries always use 'v'. So the issue I was describing is that many Russians use 'na' when referring to Ukraine, signifying that it is a place on the edge of Russia with weakly defined borders rather than a specific, independent country. This as I recall from my time in Russia and also in Ukraine renewing visas is something the Ukrainians dislike terribly. LOL the Russians will stop at nothing to try to contine to exert their influence over the dissolved, FSU countries - they use their leverage with oil and gas everywhere, and they even use Grammar over Urkaine!

[Tnic 5]

Yes Ukrainians are very nationalistic generally. They do anything they can to try and separate themselves from Russia.

A couple years ago the Govt. even decided to make Ukrainian the official language of Ukraine and required only Ukrainian be spoken in schools, govt offices, etc. The problem was that very few of the school teachers spoke Ukrainian, especially in Eastern Ukraine. FOOP! Eto Ukraina!

My wife only speaks a little UA and had a heck of a time completing the UA parts of my Letter of Non-Impediment to Marriage last month.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

Yeah, infrastructure sucks. I took a bus from the airport to Dnepropetrovsk. The bus pretty much had to swerve left and right the entire way to avoid giant potholes on the road. Half the time he just went the wrong direction on the left side of the road as that half seemed to be better and just had to go back over to the right side whenever an incoming car was coming, sometimes had to go over to the shoulder (which is pretty much grass and gravel) as that was better than the road.

In 2009 going from Odessa to Nikolaev we drove through corn and wheatfields parallel to the highways because the potholes (well much bigger than potholes) were so bad. Almost lost both kidneys and my spine :-))))

[Tanya and Barry 59]

This is Handicap Accesible in Ukraine. Looks exciting, yes?

Edited May 17, 2013 by Tanya and Barry

[Martyshk 137]

This is Handicap Accesible in Ukraine. Looks exciting, yes?

handicapUA.jpg

To be 100% fair - this is not a handicap access at all. This is for pushing strollers.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

To be 100% fair - this is not a handicap access at all. This is for pushing strollers.

When I asked they told me it was for both. I have to admit I never saw them used for either during my time in and around Kharkov or other cities for that matter. But I saw them mostly in Kharkov. Then 0 access then, M? :-)