Gentlemen, I am new to this and I found this board on google while searching on ways to bring a girl over from the Ukraine. I am an American temporarily living in the Ukraine for the past 5 months (on business). I have been dating a lady for a solid 3 of those months. We did not meet on the Internet or through a dating agency. We met in person. I am set on bringing her over. I have heard of the K-1 fiance visa, and I understand the process takes 6 months to a year. I hear it can be done differently, and faster if we get married in her country, or it's not that simple? I heard that a fellow American met his wife from the Ukraine over the Internet, through some sort of a dating agency. They arranged to meet in Poland instead of Ukraine, for some reason, and got married in Poland, so only after 3 months they knew each other through the Internet, she was able to immigrate with him to good old USA. In fact, right after getting married in Poland they flew to the US without having to visit the Ukraine, without having to wait. Is it because the US recognizes Polish marriage between an American and a foreigner, or is there some other reason? Can anyone provide good advice, share experiences, suggest where to look (attorneys are darn expensive), explain what's involved? thanx
I have an adopted (unofficially, but she might as well be blood as close as we are :o)) ) Ukrainian Sister, she is married to Steve, he is from the US, they married in October last year and are not expectting her to be able to join him until Oct this year !!
Another guy who was there when Steve and she got married got a K1 for his girl in about 6 months, it shouldn't have taken so long but they didn't really do all they needed to do fast enough to make it sooner, but that relationship fell apart 1 week after she went to the USA because he treated her like sh*t, told her the kitchen was her domain, insisted on 99 cent ready made meals for microwaving, a real cheap ass !! She is now back in Ukraine.
So thats all I know on this subject, hope it has been of some help.
But basically K1 is the quickest way. Faster even than marrying her.
I married a Russian girl from Uzbekistan, and got her visa issued 2 days after the wedding, we had known each other 6 months by then, but that was a visa for the UK which is not that difficult to get when you have exploited an opportunity
(the Uzbek girls in the embassy were lazy bitches and caused some problems with false and missleading information when we were planning our wedding, so as soon as they p*ssed me off, to cut out the crap I went right to the top, well one below the Ambassador himself (who has since been kicked out of Uzbekistan, but thats a whole other story :o)) )
to befriend the British Consul and she was been very helpful in cutting through the red tape ;o)))
On the day my wife was interviewed the "UK spinster, 250lb, civil servant, frump" who was to do the interview didn't believe that the consul had given me permission to attend, in the room with my wife while she was being interviewed, which is normally Not allowed, but when she doubted me and I told her to check, she came back after asking the Consul directly, and was Very very polite to me after that ;o)) I got the impression, from talking to other girls who had also been and had failed interviews, (I think these civil servant types are quite rude and ignorant when interviewing a girl on her own !) that if I had not been there my wife would not have been treated with respect and been treated fairly either !! I know for sure that my wife was never treated with the same accord and respect when she went on her own before the wedding, as she was treated with when she was there with me present, and I wont stand for that from anyone !!!
I also recall that when I went to one bank there they refused to let my wife come in with me, I immediately walked away and went to another bank, again disrespect of a national, and just as obvious, of a Woman (men there really do treat women as second class citizens, is it any wonder they want us so much !!) in front of her husband and in doing so, disrespect of me. If my wife cannot come in with me, then I'm as sure as sh*t not going in either !! I will walk 10 blocks and take my business elsewhere rather than have my wife or myself treated in such a way !!!
I don't have any time for civil servants and even less so when they get in my way !!! So they best not quote bureaucratic bull sh*it at me, or they find themselves explaining to their boss why I have lodged a complaint against them :o))
But I'm a confident and hard nosed SOB (Jeff will tell you that ;o)) and I Get what I want ;o)) Or somebody pays ;o))
Practically the only way to get a Russian or Ukrainian woman into the US is to apply for a "Fiancée Visa". And you are right - it is really not an easy process and it may take up to 6-8 months to get it. You will have to apply for a "Fiancée Visa" from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Then you and your fiancée will have to fill in all the required papers, have an interview etc. The advantage of getting a Fiancee Visa is that they are good for 90 days. You will have plenty of time to think everything over, to understand whether you will be able to live together, and whether she will be able to overcome homesick, and at the same time you will be together. So you will have a choice - if you decide to marry while she is in U.S., she can stay permanently from then on. If you decide not to marry, she must leave the country within the 90-day period. (This will not affect your ability to obtain a visa for another woman in the future.)
Check these sites - you will have a lot of information there about Fiancée Visa and all the peculiarities and details how to get it
However, if you find this too difficult do not give up – you may marry right in the Ukraine. I know some guys who did it and it was much easier to get visas.
thank you for your replies. i will certainly check out those links. is there an advantage to marrying her in the Ukraine vs. U.S.? if so, what are they? is one way faster then the other or more sure? could she be denied a K-visa? I heard if we marry in ukraine, she cannot be denied entry to the US (not sure how true that is) as she's already given a green card and resident alien status at the border. she also has a small child, not sure how that will complicate things.
The Poland thing is now a thing of the past regarding K-1 visa. In the past the US embassy in Kiev was not equipped to handle the K-1 visa after the fall of Communisim. All K-1's were sent to the US Embassy in Warsaw Poland. Now Kiev handles it. Also, another change I heard about is the child issue. Now I hear that you must obtain a written consent of the father to allow the child to leave the Ukraine. This can be a major pain for you. For a couple of reasons I'm told. One, many fathers abandoned the child and wife so you may have to hire a PI to find the bastard. Second, if you do find him then he will want a pay off to sign the paper. I heard one guy had to pay $2,000 to one asshole. Good luck!
K-3 is a Visa for the Spouse of a US Citizen. It is relatively new (2000/2001) (compared to the K-1). Details on this visa as well as some others can be found here:
(This will not affect your ability to obtain a visa for another woman in the future.)
Unless you are in Aus in which case I believe you only get 2 goes at it !! Thats really harsh !!!
Ace:
You can marry her quite quickly in Ukraine, but it will take you Much longer to get her to the US if you do. K1 is a faster way to get her to your country.
And yes, the Embassies reserve the right to say No to anyone they don't think is sincere, or anyone that has maybe tried a few times before, watch out for that last problem because its virtually unfixable, unless George Bush is your long lost Uncle !!
"I heard if we marry in Ukraine, she cannot be denied entry to the US"
Not AT all true !!!
They can refuse anyone they wish, there is NO guarantee that even if you marry they Will let her in, but if it was me and the UK refused my wife a visa they would soon bloody well wish they hadn't !!!
Nothing is cast in stone, never assume that just because you marry her that she will be permitted to come to you, she may have a criminal record that she hasn't told you about for example, that would f*ck everything up for sure !!
You will need to get the father of the child to sign to agree to her taking said child out of the country, if he isn't taking an active role with the child then a few 1000 bucks should buy his consent, but if he objects there isn't a damn thing you or she can do about it, this ones a real mine field !! Which is why I don't write to ladies with children (but thats also because I have brought up someone else's child already from age 3 to age 18 and now I want my own children, not to do it again for someone who is too useless to do it himself !!).
Deanis, You have Always had to get the fathers consent mate, thats a human rights issue and a fathers right to have access to his child if he so chooses.
This rule applies in almost every country on the planet mate, its called "Reasonable access" In the UK it is required that a woman get her X`s permission if she wants to move house to further than 50 miles away, for the same reason, reasonabl eaccess. The father can refuse in which case the courts Will make an order that she Cannot move !!
Family law is a real bad place to start meddling with !!
Tim...
Regarding UK entry am i right in thinking that it is quicker and easier to get married out there and then apply for visa rather than get a fiance visa and marry in the UK. And just to be a pain, how complicated does the senario get if they came to UK with visa for holiday sponsored bu myself then we went down the marriage line...umm this is soooo confusing..lmao
I wouldn't count on getting her here for a holiday at all mate, its virtually impossible !!
And would take you Lots of money and many months to arrange, and she would even have to have an interview to come here on holiday !!
We found that getting married was By Far the fastest way, (2 days from wed to visa in hand !!) but Glad has/is doing the fiance visa thing, and he can fill you in on that about times scales etc.
Another point to note:
In order to get married here she will need Lots of papers from her own country, proving she is single etc, and if she comes just for a holiday (which I really cannot see you being able to arrange, unless she is from Latvia in which case she doesn't even need a visa for 90 days, but so far that is the only country it applies to until May) she wont have Any of the necessary proof to allow her to marry you here anyway.
Go there, marry her and arrange her interview for a few days after the wedding, do all the groundwork with the papers but DO NOT actually submit her application until the day after you marry, otherwise she will be applying for a wife visa but she wont be a wife if you submit the application before the wedding, and that will Really mess up the process !!
This was the way we did it and as I said, withing 2 days of the wedding we had the visa with no problems at all.
Im sure he will, if Inna lets him near the PC again this week :o))) Inna is organising their wedding so he isnt on much at the moment ;o)))
Just make you points known in the "Chat room" thread will you mate, Oleg thinks the "Chat room" for fiance when it arrives should eb members only !!! And as I have my woman sorted and dont want to find any others I am not a member any more, but I do have rather a lot to contribute to this forum and to a chat room if we ever get one !!
Southern:
Just managed to grab a few mins on the PC due to certain restrictions Tim has mentioned.......:))
As regards the fiance visa.When Inna and I decided what we wanted we arranged and appointment with the British embassy in Kiev.Having collected together as much evidence as we could to support our relationship,EG: letters,printed e-mails,telephone bills,photos etc etc etc......in fact just about anything that proves it is not just a whirlwind romance and there genuinely appears to be some substance to your relationship.
After completing the Visa application and providing the necessary fee,it is possible to accompany your lady to the embassy,but do not be surprised if you are not allowed to enter the interview with her.....sometimes the embassy allow and at other times they don't,I guess it depends on how they feel at the time.
They will usually ask some very direct questions,and it can be a bit abrupt so prepare your lady for this too.Usual length of interview is about an hour,but Inna did tell me it felt longer!!!.However it is not a horror story and is quite straightforward,and provided you have bombarded them with as much info as you can you should find a visa issued in due course.In fact it is quite common now for the applicant to be told at the end of the interview when they can return to collect their visa!!.In Inna's case it was an early morning appointment and an afternoon visa collection.
The fiance visa is issued for 6 months and within that time you HAVE to get married or you lady will have to leave.
A slight plus point is that the visa they issue your lady will be multi-entry allowing travel freely between Ukraine and the UK for the validity period.
Hope that helps a bit mate and if you need anything making clearer or explained in more detail let me know.
A lot of the agencies will tell you that you need specialist advice for the visa.....and a lot of them do make it very easy but the bottom line is that is that it is NOT difficult.Plenty of help available here,if you need........ASK.......:))
I just want throw a well aimed and well meant spanner in the works here for a moment !! ( I got lots and lots of spanners so you can count on me to throw them when needed :o)) )
There is much talk of "how can I get my girl her to marry her"
"How easy is it to get a girl to the UK or US"
But one thing which has not been mentioned at all is:-
Has anyone given any thought to the fact that your girl may Want to have her Mum, her Dad, the rest of her family, however big or small it is and all her friends at the wedding ?
If its in the UK or US that is Not going to ever be possible !!
Before you try to bring your prospective wife to your country to marry her, maybe you should find out how she feels about this point ?
Otherwise you could be planting a seed of deep resentment !!
Many thanks Glad am sure i will be asking more details nearer the time.. At the moment am just getting to the phone call stage and sh**in myself..lol.. Think thats gonna be on monday..
Very good point again tim keep them spanners flying through the air.
Ok Tim how much does the average Russian wedding cost these days lol
Picking up on the last comment Tim,
as you know Inna and I are getting married in May and I am happy to tell you that her Mum HAS been granted a visa to come here for the wedding........in fact the visa is almost the same as Inna herself got......multi-entry etc.The only info I had to provide to the consulate was confirmation of the wedding date.
I did ask about this quite ome time ago and was pleasantly surprised at the speed and general helpfullness of the reply from Kiev.
Sometimes the Embassy does do it's job properly!
Southern:
Good luck with the phone call......I can remember getting that stage too,must say my reaction was pretty much the same,what I am gonna say.......will she understand me..........will I understand her......LOL,relax and enjoy!!!!
But of course just Mum coming isnt always the criteria that the lady would wish for !!! Her friends wont be able to come, and I just thought I would drop that little spanner in for the newcomers who are rushing about trying to find out what they can do to abduct their girl to their country, but dont seem to have realised that the girls may have other ideas of where the wedding should be !! :o)