Permanent Residence certification?

[davetanya]

Hello all! My wife and I are experienced Ukraine travelers, we have family there, ect... But, I have a question for the community... We are going back to Poltava for about two years and want to simply get a permanent residency certification. We think it will be easier to buy and register a car, rent, pay taxes, ect...

So, has anyone done this? Can you tell us the process you went through, from before you left for Ukraine to when you got there and applied for the residency? I have found vauge info on both the UA Consulate and US embassy site, but would love a first-hand account.

Thanks for your help!! Any questions you might have (besides the one above, hehe) feel free to write us at prolinkup@gmail.com.

[hearts]

Dave

I am from the UK and am going through the exact same thing myself - in 2 months my wife and I are going to stay in Poltava!

On paper it shouldn't be a problem but I am anxious as to how it will go myself as there is a lot of beauracracy over there and even if you think you have ticked all the boxes the authorities can always find new criteria. This can be frustrating I've heard. But as I say there is always more than one way of doing things over there and sometimes potential problems can be solved with a fly pay off!

I'm not sure about US way but I think it's quite similar to UK way so here is some things I've found -

1 - You can apply for residency either in a Ukrainian Consultate in UK / US before you leave. The process can take up to a year and it is my understanding that you would have to go out there on a private VISA (6 months validity) and also you would have to come back to pick up the residency permit in the US (meaning the Ukrainian Consultate wouldnt just post it out to their couterparts in Ukraine) - does this make sense?

For this reason my understanding is that it is better to apply while you are actually in Ukraine. You did this as the local govt office in Poltava district. It still takes a year to process but I have been told they issue something in your passport to say that your application is being processed and this enables you to stay until a decision on your application has been made. (I have someone triple checking this as we speak!)

2 - The application itself - You will need to have all documents legalised before you go (if you need more info on this let me know) and then you will have to have them translated into Ukrainian. Docs will be a) - Marriage certificate - NB you must have been married for 2 years or more, b)document confirming your previous place of residence in the States (I got his from the Electoral Register in UK) - they call this SPRAVKA c) Police criminal record check d) doctors report confiming you have no STD's, not an alcholic or drug user e) legalised copy of your passport data page

If you are married to a Ukrainian citizen for more than 2 years I understand that you fall out of the immigration normal quota and therefore do not need c) and d) - I am getting them done (just in case!)

Hope this helps.

Oh, I have also been told that things would go much easier with your application if your wife had any contacts within the relevant govt departments. Apparently there are lawyers that will do it all for you for a fee (the reality is they just hand over the docs to the govt as you yourself would do, although they do manage to speed things up apparently)

If anyone has any more info on this or thinks that I am wrong please let me know because getting such info has been really hard and my life depends on it being correct!

Cheers

PS if you have and babies / kids - it is better to have put them on your wifes passport as well as making them US citizens

PPS has your wife changed her surname to yours? If she has they might get a bit funny as her surname on her passport will be different to that on your marriage certificate. We have a friend out there at the moment who is having much problem with this at the moment!

[AlexMc]

Jonathan of Carlton Legal helped me in the similar situation. You can reach Jonathan.
It was almost impossible without his aid.

[ukrberserker]

my name is jeff and i'm married to ukrainian woman from dneprodzerzhinsk. i'm american, and i already lived in ukraine 3 and a half years.i'm coming back soon and will get my residence permit.when my wife checked on it, it costs $100. and is pretty much automatic if you already live there. you might need to get a gift for some government official to make things easier.i have a son in ukraine,so that gives me reason to be there.i've been back in the states since january, and you are better off in ukraine.

[OstBerlin]

I plan to move to Donetsk fairly soon to stay for a year or two as I have many friends there and to learn Russian. I called the Ukrainian Consulate in Dublin to get Info about permanent residency and your man told me to "just go". He said that it is easier to get a resident card while you are in the country. I would assume though that this means you have to speak Russian / Ukrainian as I can not imagine the local council to be having forms in English. Alternatively he said I could also leave the country every for 10 minutes every 90 days but I would prefer to make that wee bit more official

[AlexMc]

I can also confirm that without living here for longer than two years it is impossible to obtain it

[meshleman3]

Does anybody have any updates on how this this process works? Any contacts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks