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Hey Dan-

  What did you and Olga decide to do about getting the stamp in her Ukrainian passport that they want you to get in Ukraine when you are living permanently abroad?  I know you had discussed getting a "travel document" from the US government once you had a green card, and that travels using this would allow one to get a visa from the Ukrainian consulate in Chicago or NY and never need to show the Ukrainian passport to the Ukrainian officials.  But Olga just got AOS shortly before leaving, correct?  Will she try to get the appropriate stamp while visiting Ukraine?  How long is it supposed to take?  We have another friend who had this stamp and had to send her Ukrainian passport to NY Ukrainian Consulate to get some other kind of stamp in her passport before traveling.  She said the NY consulate didn't check for the other kind of stamp from Ukraine, but I'm not sure how she knew this since she did have the stamp.  
    Also, isn't it true that getting this stamp does something to your ability to own property in Ukraine?  At the end of last year, my wife's grandmother who was living in the same apartment as her parents died.  This year, the government required everyone that was still living to come down to an office with their passports to prove that they were still alive and living there.  Her family "owned" the apartment jointly although there are evidently several types of ownership possible where some types are easier to transfer to someone else other than others.  But the point is that to ensure that a husband who is tired of his wife can't just simply kick her out on the street or just sell the apartment and move away leaving her without anything, they make all the people come down with passports and resolve the matter before changes in ownership can be made.  The problem is that my wife is here and couldn't travel there to take care of this.  What would happen?  Would they kick out her family?  Her parents got my wife's internal passport and got a relative that looks a little like my wife to go with them to this office and everything was resolved.  But it begs the question, what will happen when and if my wife gets this stamp denoting permanent residence abroad?  Would it be a good idea to get this property ownership thing taken care of the next time she visits Ukraine?  We have another friend that is visiting Odessa in August and she also has a temporary green card and owns an apartment.  It would be nice to known what to tell her about this.

Take Care and don't get too lonely there by yourself, Dan.

-Bill  

... in response to To Dan: Stamps in Ukrainian Passport (lo..., posted by Bill P on Jul 4, 2002

Hi Bill,

Yes, Olya received her Conditional Permanent Resident stamp in her passport only about 4 days prior to departing for Ukraine. We did not have sufficient time to submit for the 'Travel Document', but our plans for travel naturally mitigate the risk *this* time. You see, she is taking a train from Kremenchug to Moscow and then will depart from Moscow on Delta Airlines to return to the US. This altogether avoids the problem of Ukrainian authorities causing problems - and Russia is not interested in enforcing Ukrainian law - so it *should* be trouble-free.

For future travel we will probably opt to get a US-issued Travel Document and then deal with the hassles of getting her a visa.

Yes, there is some significant concern that if we were to get the official Ukraine-issued "exit" stamp, then it is possible her property is at risk. To mitigate that risk, we have the apartment officially registered in both Olya's and her father's names. As I understand the laws, that is about all that can be done to protect the property from the state.

Perhaps Ukraine will continue to relax their laws on property ownership - allowing foreign ownership more routinely, for instance - and then a lot of these worries will disappear.

BTW - When is Natasha due?

- Dan

... in response to Re: To Dan: Stamps in Ukrainian Passport..., posted by Dan on Jul 4, 2002

She's due September 14th.  So far so good.  But it is hard for her to get used to looking at her new shape in the mirror.  She is still in great shape except for the new larger belly.  But I'm sure that is the most she has ever weighed in her life.  Her mother has an interview for a visa on July 9th in Kiev.  If all works out, she will come to visit for a few months and will be here for the birth.  I guess I'll get alot more interested in learning Russian again since her mother doesn't speak much English.

-Bill P

... in response to Baby, posted by Bill P on Jul 5, 2002

I know Olya will want to know if you guys are successful with getting your mother-in-law here for a visit. My guess is it won't be all that far into the future that Olya and I will be wanting to do the same thing - and for the same reason --smile--.

- Dan