The Kyiv Beat......

[zqt3344 21]

Q # 3 in DS-230 is asking about my name in Native Alphabet. I switch to Ukrainian language on my keyboard - but it won't type anything in the form.

Should I just write that in later when i print out the form?

There is a way to fix it by installing Adobe language support packet ( my Adobe did it automatically, just make sure u are connected to the internet ), but if u will write it into the form with ur hands - its will be good too. I did it with another question that i couldnt type in and its worked.

Good tip on Adobe. We found the same problem a lot on those forms, not enough room in box to type it or what Mariya ran into, so we just handprinted it out and no problems.

[zqt3344 21]

Heading to Kyiv on Saturday, arriving Sunday afternoon to see my lady. Last time I was there was the first week in September and the weather was pleasant. The low on Sunday is supposed to be 12 dgrees and 10 degrees on Monday. I live in the Dallas area where it's been in the 80s lately. Needless to say, I'm in for some serious climate shock. Anyone else ever traveled to Ukraine this time of year?

DAH that is me. Dress warm, long coat and gloves and underwear long johns! Here are some tips, weather this time of year there is gray and foggy or misty rain all day and ice cold all the day long, not much sun at all, just gray outside. Sun comes up around 8 am and down by 4 pm. Also be prepared for flight cancellations and delays or changes due to the weather conditions. Make sure or I hope you allowed about 2 - 3hours between your connecting flights for this reason, make sure you call and check at least 2 days before time flying there because they are notorious for flight changes this time of year due to the weather, it was a scramble for me twice in November and December the past two years going over there, good time to go also for lower airfare prices, usually less than half this time of year for round trip. I flew Lufthansa once and KLM the other time so both were at mercy of airport weather and it got rerouted and changed on me several times both times flying in and twice flying out that time of year. It all worked out eventually but it is a hectic time. Good luck and drink some Slodyvich beer for me!

Heading to Kyiv on Saturday, arriving Sunday afternoon to see my lady. Last time I was there was the first week in September and the weather was pleasant. The low on Sunday is supposed to be 12 dgrees and 10 degrees on Monday. I live in the Dallas area where it's been in the 80s lately. Needless to say, I'm in for some serious climate shock. Anyone else ever traveled to Ukraine this time of year?

#######? Oops, the flowers are supposed to Fs for Farinheight. I have know idea what I clicked to get the roses to appear. LOL

Cool, never seen that emoticon on her before how you do that?

[bgreed 0]

Hey John,

Oh yeah it seems I am always going to Ukraine at this time of year. First time was Odessa over two years ago and it was in the 60"s the whole time. Last year I was in Sumy and it snowed and was cold, February of this year I was in Sumy again was supposed to be really nasty cold but no big deal it waited until after I left. Was in Sumy the middle of September the weather was great when we got married. Rained a little (that's a good sign you know) will be going back again middle of January. Seems because they had a really hot summer that winter is coming a little harder this year.

[payxibka 10,044]

I have been in Ukraine in March, May, July, September and January

[RichardS 0]

Hi John...

I have been to Kyiv 6 times and I just returned 3 weeks ago from Kyiv!

I arrived Oct 13,2007 and the weather was mid 40's for the first 4 days. I then went out of the country and returned to Kyvi for another 4 days on Oct 22. The weather was then in the mid to upper 50's!

HOWEVER; I did travel to Kyiv in mid-Oct 2004 and froze my body parts off ... winter coat, gloves, scarf and I was still frozen!

I also went in March 2005 and it was even colder than Oct 2004! (other trips have been in summer time.)

This past trip, my wife bought me "warm Ukrainian Underwear" ... which are essentially "long johns!"

You can easily purchase this item while you are in Kyiv .... my wife bought mine in SUM ... the major Department Store on Kreshatyk but I am sure you can purchase same in any bizaar.

zqt3344 is 1000% correct regarding flight times, travel delays in winter, etc. I have travelled on Air France, KLM and Delta on various trips and have had delays under "normal circumstances" as well as weather problems. My last 2 trips have been Delta direct from JFK and the plane has left 3 Hours LATE in BOTH 2006 and 2007 for "stupid" reasons.

Good luck and enjoy your travel!

[John and Luda 0]

Thanks for the advice guys! I checked the weather for Kyiv and Vienna (connecting flight location) and they're not forecasting any precipitation for this weekend or early next week for either place, just cold. Maybe I'll get lucky and there won't be any flight delays.

[bgreed 0]

Wow in all my cold weather trips I've never had a flight delay.

[LvivLovers 39]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

[payxibka 10,044]

CONGRATS!!!

[zqt3344 21]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Amazing how did you get the cat and dog through? Good for you.

[LvivLovers 39]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Amazing how did you get the cat and dog through? Good for you.

Thanks all! Really we got the cat and dog through just on my wife's persistence! There were so many complications and so much bad info it was hard to know what the right steps were. Essentially, we got some sort of pet passports from her local vet in Lviv. We got their rabies shots, tick treatment, etc. Finally, we got some type of form known as "form 1" from her vet. We made reservations for them with the airline...1 pet under my name and 1 under hers since they only allow 1 pet per person. Then in Kyiv, at the Borispol airport, there was someone who's job it is to take the "form 1" and make some international version of it. We also had the pet passports translated appropriately. Also, when my wife went to her medical exam in Kyiv she bought the kennels we used to transport them. I might add that the person in Borispol airport was really nasty and made up a bunch of stuff saying we had done the forms wrong, etc. etc. Had to unofficially pay him about $100. The airline charged about $130 for the pets to be transported. Also, to get them to Kyiv, we unoffically paid Aerosvit to let us take them in the cabin since the plane didn't have a temperature controlled area. So overall it was a little bit tricky getting everything done, but my wife really wanted them and was willing to do the running around to make it happen. It was only about an extra 2 minutes in Atlanta airport...someone examined the documentation we brought, took a look at the pets, and that was it.

[zqt3344 21]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Amazing how did you get the cat and dog through? Good for you.

Thanks all! Really we got the cat and dog through just on my wife's persistence! There were so many complications and so much bad info it was hard to know what the right steps were. Essentially, we got some sort of pet passports from her local vet in Lviv. We got their rabies shots, tick treatment, etc. Finally, we got some type of form known as "form 1" from her vet. We made reservations for them with the airline...1 pet under my name and 1 under hers since they only allow 1 pet per person. Then in Kyiv, at the Borispol airport, there was someone who's job it is to take the "form 1" and make some international version of it. We also had the pet passports translated appropriately. Also, when my wife went to her medical exam in Kyiv she bought the kennels we used to transport them. I might add that the person in Borispol airport was really nasty and made up a bunch of stuff saying we had done the forms wrong, etc. etc. Had to unofficially pay him about $100. The airline charged about $130 for the pets to be transported. Also, to get them to Kyiv, we unoffically paid Aerosvit to let us take them in the cabin since the plane didn't have a temperature controlled area. So overall it was a little bit tricky getting everything done, but my wife really wanted them and was willing to do the running around to make it happen. It was only about an extra 2 minutes in Atlanta airport...someone examined the documentation we brought, took a look at the pets, and that was it.

Sounds so typical of Ukraine. HAHA and why is it I knew that somewhere in this process there would be a "tip" er well unofficial bribe that would have to be paid to some Ukrainian government worker along the way. Well just think you made that worker their salary for one month or at least 2-3 weeks right then. Maybe he or she went out and got hopped up on vodka to celebrate! Only in Ukraine.

[zqt3344 21]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Amazing how did you get the cat and dog through? Good for you.

Thanks all! Really we got the cat and dog through just on my wife's persistence! There were so many complications and so much bad info it was hard to know what the right steps were. Essentially, we got some sort of pet passports from her local vet in Lviv. We got their rabies shots, tick treatment, etc. Finally, we got some type of form known as "form 1" from her vet. We made reservations for them with the airline...1 pet under my name and 1 under hers since they only allow 1 pet per person. Then in Kyiv, at the Borispol airport, there was someone who's job it is to take the "form 1" and make some international version of it. We also had the pet passports translated appropriately. Also, when my wife went to her medical exam in Kyiv she bought the kennels we used to transport them. I might add that the person in Borispol airport was really nasty and made up a bunch of stuff saying we had done the forms wrong, etc. etc. Had to unofficially pay him about $100. The airline charged about $130 for the pets to be transported. Also, to get them to Kyiv, we unoffically paid Aerosvit to let us take them in the cabin since the plane didn't have a temperature controlled area. So overall it was a little bit tricky getting everything done, but my wife really wanted them and was willing to do the running around to make it happen. It was only about an extra 2 minutes in Atlanta airport...someone examined the documentation we brought, took a look at the pets, and that was it.

Sounds so typical of Ukraine. HAHA and why is it I knew that somewhere in this process there would be a "tip" er well unofficial bribe that would have to be paid to some Ukrainian government worker along the way. Well just think you made that worker their salary for one month or at least 2-3 weeks right then. Maybe he or she went out and got hopped up on vodka to celebrate! Only in Ukraine.

AOS APPROVED NOVEMBER 21, 2007!

Now I am going to go get out of here and get hopped up on Vodka myself to celebrate!

[etripke 0]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Congrats!! Glad to hear she made it safe with the Animals as well.

[LvivLovers 39]

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Amazing how did you get the cat and dog through? Good for you.

Thanks all! Really we got the cat and dog through just on my wife's persistence! There were so many complications and so much bad info it was hard to know what the right steps were. Essentially, we got some sort of pet passports from her local vet in Lviv. We got their rabies shots, tick treatment, etc. Finally, we got some type of form known as "form 1" from her vet. We made reservations for them with the airline...1 pet under my name and 1 under hers since they only allow 1 pet per person. Then in Kyiv, at the Borispol airport, there was someone who's job it is to take the "form 1" and make some international version of it. We also had the pet passports translated appropriately. Also, when my wife went to her medical exam in Kyiv she bought the kennels we used to transport them. I might add that the person in Borispol airport was really nasty and made up a bunch of stuff saying we had done the forms wrong, etc. etc. Had to unofficially pay him about $100. The airline charged about $130 for the pets to be transported. Also, to get them to Kyiv, we unoffically paid Aerosvit to let us take them in the cabin since the plane didn't have a temperature controlled area. So overall it was a little bit tricky getting everything done, but my wife really wanted them and was willing to do the running around to make it happen. It was only about an extra 2 minutes in Atlanta airport...someone examined the documentation we brought, took a look at the pets, and that was it.

Sounds so typical of Ukraine. HAHA and why is it I knew that somewhere in this process there would be a "tip" er well unofficial bribe that would have to be paid to some Ukrainian government worker along the way. Well just think you made that worker their salary for one month or at least 2-3 weeks right then. Maybe he or she went out and got hopped up on vodka to celebrate! Only in Ukraine.

AOS APPROVED NOVEMBER 21, 2007!

Now I am going to go get out of here and get hopped up on Vodka myself to celebrate!

Congratulations!!! That's something to be thankful for!

Hi all! Just wanted to check in and tell you that my wife is now in the USA with me and we are VERY happy! We even were able to bring her cat and dog (not easy, but somehow we got it done)! I couldn't believe it because we flew in through Atlanta, and got the bags (4 huge bags at 23+ kg each), cat, dog, and through all the immigration stuff in about 15 minutes. It usually takes me an hour with just one bag, so we were really lucky this day. They didn't ask us any questions at all. So everything is good and finally we are together. Good luck to everyone else and thanks for all the great help and support you have all provided to us here!

Congrats!! Glad to hear she made it safe with the Animals as well.

Thank you! Things have been so great this week, I can't believe it's reality!