Advice on Ukraine Tourist Visa

[Derek & Rita 6]

1. I am not a Justin Bieber fan and never will be. I am not into Hollywood celebrities or Hollywood celebrity worship. They don't pay my bills for me at the end of the month anyway.

2. "Dude" is an American term. I am not one. Feel free to use it with those that are.

3. I had to write "Big" so that you could know my perspective about certain issues and about the "site" you made reference to previously which I will stay silent about.... let's just say because of.....and that's all I will say about that with a good laugh added to it. :rofl: As Shakespeare once wrote:

"Give thy thoughts no tongue"

William Shakespeare

"He is winding the watch of his wit; by and by it will strike."

William Shakespeare

]or as one man put it....

"He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass"-Edgar R. Fiedler

4. There now this post contains letters with with a lesser size. Your reading panic should be hopefully now quelled for now. As one person wrote:

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Henry David Thoreau

Thanks for your contribution thought...You've been a real sport..

Regarding #2 - The original use of dude implied an individual unfamiliar with the demands of life outside of urban settings, as in dude ranch, a ranch catering to urbanites seeking more rural experiences. The implicit contrast is with those persons accustomed to a given frontier, agricultural, mining or other exurban setting. This usage continues into the present.

So, by calling you a 'dude' he is saying that you are 'city folk'.

[slim 1,514]

2. "Dude" is an American term. I am not one. Feel free to use it with those that are.

VJ is an American site. Feel free to be like an American.

1. You perhaps do not know as to what I am referring to.... and I will leave that there

2. I know such after reading travel guides on Odessa and coming across information on Odessa police brutality.

3. I am not a bad person but a good person but let's just say I am not those "other kinds" of tourists that go there and will expect a different kind of treatment when I arrive and especially I am referring to the police authorities and that can go for the whole of Ukraine at times.

You don't have to google too hard to find stories of police brutality here in my city. (Cincinnati, Ohio - USA!) That doesn't mean you're going to be a victim if you visit.

Just because some dude on the internet said something happened...

So, by calling you a 'dude' he is saying that you are 'city folk'.

Not at all. I'm saying he's some dude on the internet.

[james&olya 1,121]

Not at all. I'm saying he's some dude on the internet.

And if he calls you 'slim' he's saying...

[TheTruthLearner 2]

Now here is some of the information I have on Bank Accounts in the Ukraine that comes from Ukrainebiz.com but this was written way back in 1997 and I do not believe it is still applicable though and I quote a portion of the article found on Ukrainebiz.com.

Opening a Bank Account in Ukraine

Shawn Levsen, U.S. Department of Commerce

Reprinted from BISNIS BULLETIN--March 1997

"Ukraine has implemented a strict regime for regulation of banking procedures and U.S. companies will have to meet a variety of demanding legal and administrative requirements when they establish banking relationships there. These requirements have made banking cumbersome. Nevertheless, a number of Western and local banks offer services to U.S. and other foreign companies doing business in Ukraine.

Nearly 100 Ukrainian Banks are authorized to deal in foreign currency

The process for opening a bank account in Ukraine is regulated by the May 1996 National Bank of Ukraine's (NBU) instruction "On the Procedure of Opening Accounts in the National or Foreign Currency of Ukraine." Holders of hard currency accounts must also have another account denominated in hryvnia, the Ukrainian currency. The process of opening an account is complicated and somewhat intrusive, and requires documentation from your state government. An account permitting international transfers requires a license from the NBU. Nearly 100 Ukrainian banks are authorized to deal in foreign currency. Credit Lyonnais, currently the only Western bank licensed in Ukraine, will soon be joined by America's Chase Manhattan and Commerzbank AG of Germany.

Types of Accounts

Several types of bank accounts are authorized under the NBU instruction. There arc two categories--one for legally resident entities and one for those that are not fully resident in Ukraine. Resident entities are entitled to maintain "settlement," "current," "loan," "deposit," and "budget" accounts. The settlement account is used to make payments that are allowed in the account holder's charter. It can also be used to transfer funds to and from foreign entities. Companies usually open at least two settlement accounts, one in a hard currency, and another in hryvnia. Current accounts are essentially the same as settlement accounts but are intended for use by non-commercial entities. Loan accounts are for administering borrowed or loaned funds. The deposit account is used as a savings account. The budget account is for receiving funds from Ukrainian government authorities.

Two types of accounts arc specifically intended for nonresident entities. The "N" account is for non-resident representative offices. It can be used only for maintenance of the office. It cannot be used to conduct business (no contracts, international transfers, or exchanges). The "P" account is used by permanent representative offices that do not exist as a separate legal entity. It is similar to the settlement account, but cannot be used for exchange or capital transactions.

Opening an account is relatively inexpensive, the cost depending on the bank and the type of account. Hard currency accounts can cost up to $150. Fees for opening hryvnia accounts are lower. At least one Ukrainian institution, Percombank, offers no-fee accounts."

Notice it talks about Perecombank and I do not know if this still applies with this bank

Edited March 22, 2012 by TheTruthLearner

[TheTruthLearner 2]

VJ is an American site. Feel free to be like an American

Thanks for the clarification

And thanks for the fact that I can be an "American" here without moving to there

Now that's as they say is "Good Old Fashioned American Hospitality" for You. Thanks again for the welcoming remark

It is not the violence I am concerned about but I am concerned about the treatment issue that will be different as compared to the "other" tourists but it is always better to go there first which indeed I do intend to do

[eekee 182]

If you are not white, or even if you are just more olive with dark hair than fair with light hair, yes, you can expect harassment from police. This is true all over the FSU pretty much. Carry your documents with you.

And please do not respond with a quote from Shakespeare or something.

Lastly, this IS a site directed at Americans or those in a relationship with an American, so don't be surprised that, duh, we don't know about things that don't apply to USCs.

Edited March 22, 2012 by eekee

[slim 1,514]

And thanks for the fact that I can be an "American" here without moving to there

Inside every feriner is an American just dying to get out.

If you are not white, or even if you are just more olive with dark hair than fair with light hair, yes, you can expect harassment from police. This is true all over the FSU pretty much. Carry your documents with you.

Start working out. The average cop I saw over there weighed about 150 lbs. If you're a semi-swole dude, they really don't trifle with you.

While I'm not saying my size helped me, I don't think it hurt either. There were several times when the cops would "notice me" and then they'd kind of look me over a little bit. Then they'd just kind of mozy on down the road.

That being said, the flathead bouncer types were freakin huge. Getting into a club isn't always 100% even when flashing Benjamins around. When they say no, they mean no. FACED!

And lastly, don't have a shaved head when you go over there. You'll be looked upon as a skinhead or hooligan and they will ufk with you if they have the chance. Plus, you'll get faced at some clubs because they don't want any trouble. The girls don't care, but the flatheads may.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

Is this thread for real? Is this Mox...just very drunk?

[slim 1,514]

Is this thread for real? Is this Mox...just very drunk?

I've long thought Mox was our resident troll but there's no way to tell really. I'm not a tech guy so I can't do all the online tracking and what not, but it's not a coincidence that he shows up for a while, goes away, shows up, goes away, and that all these "trolls" happen to appear at about the same time.

If it only happened once or twice, I could pass it off. But, over the years, it seems to happen EVERY time. Mox probably has about 15 screen names on here.

Personally I kind of like it. VJ is for information and help - and we do a good job with that - but it's also for entertainment. Once you get past AOS or citizenship, there's not a lot to talk about except guns and pie.

[TheTruthLearner 2]

Opening a Bank Account continued

My friend has done some research and has given me a list of banks that one can look into. He has told me this:

"Just a quick update on the bank situation. Most banks don't require anything at all to open an account. Some require as little as 1 Hryvnia which equates to about 12 cents!

There is a bank called "Privatbank" and they require a 50 Hryvnia deposit which is about 6 dollars....

There are a lot of banks in Ukraine now. All of them are vying for business and will even offer accounts to people with no jobs that give them up to 10,000 hryvnia/$1254 credit!! It's all madness of course and no doubt at some point in the future it will all lead to tears but for now it's very good if your a customer."

Hope that helps a little ?

"Some of the banks you should be looking at are :

PrivatBank

AlfaBank

Raiffeisen

Ukrsibbank

Unicredit

Ukreximbank

OTP

Nadrabank

That should be more than enough to go on. I think Privatbank requires 50 Hryvnia/12 dollars. Alfabank I think is either free or needs just the 1 hryvnia."

Ah, to quote Shakespeare again : "Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have Immortal longings in me."

William Shakespeare

[Neonred 3,461]

And how does all this information about opening a bank account help us here on VJ?

[slim 1,514]

Guns and pie.