Returning your Ukrainian passport before entering US on K1

[VFittipaldi 30]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had experience with this.

When you receive an approved K1 visa in your travel passport and were ready to move to the US (or before you got the visa):

~ Did you return your Ukrainian passport? (and do all of the paperwork related to that)

~ Did you remove yourself from your address in Ukraine (Виписка)

As far as i understand when you receive your green card in US later on you have to apply for the Ukrainian consulate in your district so that they can stamp your travel passport saying you live in the US and not Ukraine. This way you can renew your passport in the States at the consulate.

Any experience with this is Greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

[vbtwo 54]

My wife did neither of these. She did live with her parents in Ukraine though, and she is registered at the mother's apartment. Her passport still has a ways to go though and she'll probably become a US citizen before it expires so she might never need to renew it and will just get a US passport.

When leaving with the K1 visa, the customs guys asked if she did all the stuff to go out to "permanently live abroad", she said no, and they said ok and just let us out. We did recently go back to Ukraine for 2 weeks and she had no problems at all either getting in or out.

[VFittipaldi 30]

My wife did neither of these. She did live with her parents in Ukraine though, and she is registered at the mother's apartment. Her passport still has a ways to go though and she'll probably become a US citizen before it expires so she might never need to renew it and will just get a US passport.

When leaving with the K1 visa, the customs guys asked if she did all the stuff to go out to "permanently live abroad", she said no, and they said ok and just let us out. We did recently go back to Ukraine for 2 weeks and she had no problems at all either getting in or out.

Very interesting. Thank you for the information.

My fiance's passport has a long time to go too so that's not the problem and she lives with her parents too. I am more interested about travel back to UA since after the name change and AOS the green card and the passport will have different last names.

When you traveled back did she have different last names in the documents?

Thank you!

[vbtwo 54]

Very interesting. Thank you for the information.

My fiance's passport has a long time to go too so that's not the problem and she lives with her parents too. I am more interested about travel back to UA since after the name change and AOS the green card and the passport will have different last names.

When you traveled back did she have different last names in the documents?

Thank you!

Yes, we used AP card (as GC came while we were in Ukraine). It had married name on it, her passport had maiden name. No problems whatsoever, nobody asked us about it, not in Ukraine, not in the US. When coming in, don't show any US cards at all, just Ukrainian passport. When leaving, you only need to show the US card to airline officials during check-in and then in the US to immigration officer. You don't need to show it in Ukraine to customs or passport control. From what I've read here we aren't the only ones to have traveled using different name on the documents, there are a lot of people here that never bothered to change anything in their foreign passports. Have your marriage certificate with you just in case you're asked about it.

[VFittipaldi 30]

Yes, we used AP card (as GC came while we were in Ukraine). It had married name on it, her passport had maiden name. No problems whatsoever, nobody asked us about it, not in Ukraine, not in the US. When coming in, don't show any US cards at all, just Ukrainian passport. When leaving, you only need to show the US card to airline officials during check-in and then in the US to immigration officer. You don't need to show it in Ukraine to customs or passport control. From what I've read here we aren't the only ones to have traveled using different name on the documents, there are a lot of people here that never bothered to change anything in their foreign passports. Have your marriage certificate with you just in case you're asked about it.

That's very good to know. Makes me feel better.

When we moved to the US with my parents we had to do all of those things that i mentioned in the first post and than apply at the US consulate in San Francisco and we got a stamp in our Ukrainian travel passports stating that we live abroad so that's why i was wondering how it works with K1

Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

[Loving_girl 38]

My ukrainian passport is with me. never changed or plan to change my registration (vypuska) in Ukraine. you never know what you may need in future. Lots of people have homes, bank accounts etc in Ukraine, so I don't see the point of burning bridges with the native country. And one more thing, ukraine does not recognize dual citizenship, so there is another good point of keeping UA passport, cos it makes things easier to operate in UA.

[VFittipaldi 30]

My ukrainian passport is with me. never changed or plan to change my registration (vypuska) in Ukraine. you never know what you may need in future. Lots of people have homes, bank accounts etc in Ukraine, so I don't see the point of burning bridges with the native country. And one more thing, ukraine does not recognize dual citizenship, so there is another good point of keeping UA passport, cos it makes things easier to operate in UA.

Its a good point for sure, i was worried about being able to legally stay here as far as both countries are concerned and be able to travel home when needed. So this helps me understand how people go about it. Thank you!

[Loving_girl 38]

Its a good point for sure, i was worried about being able to legally stay here as far as both countries are concerned and be able to travel home when needed. So this helps me understand how people go about it. Thank you!

U are welcome and good luck with life in the US!

[1HappyGuy 45]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had experience with this.

When you receive an approved K1 visa in your travel passport and were ready to move to the US (or before you got the visa):

~ Did you return your Ukrainian passport? (and do all of the paperwork related to that)

~ Did you remove yourself from your address in Ukraine (Виписка)

As far as i understand when you receive your green card in US later on you have to apply for the Ukrainian consulate in your district so that they can stamp your travel passport saying you live in the US and not Ukraine. This way you can renew your passport in the States at the consulate.

Any experience with this is Greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

My wife still has her Ukrainian passport which should expire sometime next year. She has always used her Ukrainian passport and brought her marriage certificate and green card while traveling. She has never had a problem and I doubt your fiancee/wife will either. There are a lot of people looking to scam you out of money saying you need this thing or that or trying to convince you about something that does not exist. You have several good sources for information available to you starting with Visa Journey and then the U.S. embassy in the country of your fiancee and lastly the USCIS. Stay with those sources and you can't go wrong.