ambitious-outsider

My wife and I have gone back to Ukraine twice with her name maiden name in her passport. It's no problem if you bring your marriage cert. However, on our last trip the passport control guy said she needed a stamp in her passport. I think it has something to do with registering with the Ukraine embassy here in the states. That is my big problem now. They said they could hold her if she returns to Ukraine without the stamp. Nobody at the Ukraine embassy answers the phone. I have faxed the DC, SanFran and Chicago consulates, but have received no reply. Their website directions are in Ukrainian and seem to be somewhat insane (according to my wife). I'm a bit lost right now and looking for a lawyer. Her friend from England doesn't have any stamp issues, so I'm not sure why they are picking on us.

Has no one gone back to the Ukraine with a changed married name and a green card/travel docs?

You guys are first, let us know what happens as we might have the same issue soon.

P.S. As much as I hate the practice, $100 usually solves pretty much any problem on the spot. Speaking from very unfortunate personal experience.

I have an old post on here somewhere about what my wife had to go through to get her police report. Her dad ended up having to give them a case of vodka and about $100 to get the report made. The police chief ended up giving him the key to the police station and he wrote it himself (it was a holiday).

Hello,

My fiance is originally from Ukraine so I sent him to the ukrainian embassy to order his police report. I read on their website that it should be FREE. Today my fiance went there and had to pay up front $50 and they told him that once he'll receive it there are much more fees to pay ( but i don't care about that, that's the least of the problem)

Now, he has asked how long is the wait and they told me him that by law it should take about 3 months but from their own experiece people don't receive it earlier than 8-12 months and not to expect earlier than in 8 months The lady told him that he can go to Ukraine, live there for 15-20 days and obtain it himself. That's impossible, he can't quit his job and school and just move to Kiev!!!!!

Any suggestions?

I am freaking out

NYGirl, don't cry. The easiest solution is to have someone do it for your fiance in trust. Here's a description how - if you read Russian:

http://www.greencard.by/services/certificates/ukraine/ (go to the end of the page). You can search up a paid service on Yandex.ru, and this way it may take less time since such people have established relationships with govt. officials. Good luck!

UPDATES!!!!

After he paid the fees and all, the lady told him that there is a law office right around the corner from them that represent the embassy and works directly with Kiev to go there and see if they can speed up the process. He went there and the lawyer told him that for $340 he can get it within 4 weeks, if needed even earlier he'll get it for 10 days but it'll be much more expensive. So..........Vova and I decided to go with this lawyer but if you can get that info for us then I'll greatly appreciate it. I will wait for your answer before he goes back to that lawyer. Vova is so pissed, why couldn't this lady tell him this right away and told him AFTER he paid the $50 fee? Is that their ways of making money or something

He has a very close friend there that can do it for him but he knows they won't give her anything even if she'll pay them but i wonder if she can try at least!!

Thanks all!!!!

Good luck

When your fiancee goes to the medical exam try to get a copy of all her shots. The embassy will keep the original record and you may need to have this record later.

Try to give yourself a extra day or 2 for your trip because:

* The courier service is unreliable

* I have found that my luggage took a extra day to get to me twice

Have original copies of birth certificates and such because you will need them later and will have a hard time getting them.

Good Luck

I do not know which airport you typically fly out of when returning but until such time that you can decipher this "stamp" issue you may want to consider using the VIP service when departing. A lot less hassle! I just departed ODS last month with my fiancees cousin, who is has been here 5 years, and was not hassled for this stamp. Might also be true if you use VIP from KBP. Just an interim thought....

We left out of ODS. The VIP service is a good idea. That is worth considering.

It's very annoying and capricious. This is her 2nd return trip since leaving. They didn't say anything about it when she left Ukraine on the 1st return trip. This time they were somewhat threating and said they could detain her.

Hi,

My wife and I recently returned from a trip to Ukraine. She's got a green card. When going through passport control in Ukraine, my wife was told she needed a stamp in her passport. This is required since she has a green card. I can't find any info for this process on the Ukrainian US embassy websites. Does anyone know how to get this stamp? She was told they could technically hold her in the country and not let her return to the US without it. So right now, she can't go back and visit without it. It's like some kind of BS exit visa, which I thought was stopped a few years ago. Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks