Dual Citizen Ukraine and US

[GP1977 288]

Asking for people that have firsthand experience with this.

 

My wife got naturalized on Monday and got her passport yesterday.  She did have a question and I am sure others have experienced this.

 

Her Ukrainian passport is under her maiden name (and its a huge pain to switch it and would prefer not to because she owns two properties in Ukraine and doesn't want to have to change all of that paperwork)

 

She had a friend who had an identical situation (Ukraine passport - Maiden Name; US Passport - Married Name) and entered Ukraine under her American passport b/c the ticket was booked under her married name.  Her friend joked and said yeah I guess I could only stay 90 days because I technically entered as a tourist.   

 

How have others dealt with this situation in the past?

 

 

[Boiler 43,871]

That sounds logical, if you present yourself as a USC you will get whatever USC's get.

[Dashinka 23,442]

Similar situation in Russia, though when entering Russia, my wife presents both passports and she does not have any issues (maybe a 5 minute wait the first time).

 

Good Luck!

[GP1977 288]

6 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Similar situation in Russia, though when entering Russia, my wife presents both passports and she does not have any issues (maybe a 5 minute wait the first time).

 

Good Luck!

Thank you. I assume Russia also doesn't recognize dual citizenship?

[GP1977 288]

12 minutes ago, Boiler said:

That sounds logical, if you present yourself as a USC you will get whatever USC's get.

Correct. Do you have experience w/ this?

[Boiler 43,871]

1 minute ago, GP1977 said:

Correct. Do you have experience w/ this?

That is how the UK deals with it, now UK unlike US and I believe Russia does acknowledge dual citizenship. US knows many of its Citizens are also Citizens of other countries obviously but requires them when entering to use their US Passport. There are theoretical penalties for not doing so.

 

It would maybe have been easier for her not to change her name and then everything would have lined up. But it is what it is.

[Crazy Cat 39,910]

9 minutes ago, GP1977 said:

Correct. Do you have experience w/ this?

My wife has experience for Taiwan.  When booking her flight, she used her US passport.  When she arrived in Taiwan, she presented her Taiwan passport.  No issues. 

[Dashinka 23,442]

13 minutes ago, GP1977 said:

Thank you. I assume Russia also doesn't recognize dual citizenship?

Correct.  We tend to describe it to others as dual citizenship, but in reality, Russia only recognizes my wife as their citizen, and similar for the US, but neither requires one to give up any other citizenships so my wife has two passports.  And like Ukraine, it is a real pain to change a last name in a Russian passport.

 

Good Luck!

[GP1977 288]

7 minutes ago, Boiler said:

That is how the UK deals with it, now UK unlike US and I believe Russia does acknowledge dual citizenship. US knows many of its Citizens are also Citizens of other countries obviously but requires them when entering to use their US Passport. There are theoretical penalties for not doing so.

 

It would maybe have been easier for her not to change her name and then everything would have lined up. But it is what it is.

She isn't worried about entering the US, would just show her US passport.

 

Was asking for people w/ experience in this situation not what would have been easier or not easier to do.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Correct.  We tend to describe it to others as dual citizenship, but in reality, Russia only recognizes my wife as their citizen, and similar for the US, but neither requires one to give up any other citizenships so my wife has two passports.  And like Ukraine, it is a real pain to change a last name in a Russian passport.

 

Good Luck!

Thank you!

[.yana 586]

Clarification: while Russia recognizes Russian citizens holding another citizenship solely as Russian citizens (as many other countries do) - its laws don't forbid one to have dual citizenship. 

 

Ukraine laws strictly forbid having a dual citizenship:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_nationality_law#Acquisition_and_loss_of_citizenship

"Citizenship may be involuntarily deprived from individuals who acquire foreign citizenship without renouncing their Ukrainian citizenship"

Edited August 3, 2023 by .yana

[millefleur 5,039]

1 hour ago, Boiler said:

That is how the UK deals with it, now UK unlike US and I believe Russia does acknowledge dual citizenship.

Russia recognizes dual citizenship in that they don't care how many other citizenships you have, as long as you report it. You don't have to give up Russian citizenship to acquire another.

 

By contrast, I was under the impression Ukraine prohibited dual citizenship or acquiring another citizenship of any kind, but maybe things changed. 

[Mike E 11,730]

Ive a colleague whose Russian born wife successfully entered Russia on her U.S. passport, but was blocked from leaving until she could produce a Russian passport. Which she did after at least several weeks.

 

14 minutes ago, millefleur said:

 

By contrast, I was under the impression Ukraine prohibited dual citizenship or acquiring another citizenship of any kind, but maybe things changed. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship

 

 

• Ukrainian law currently does not recognise dual citizenship, while not explicitly banning it. Citizens of Ukraine who hold multiple nationalities are only recognized as Ukrainian on Ukrainian soil, and their other citizenships are ignored. In the past, bills to criminalize the act of holding two citizenships in 2014^[180] or to automatically revoke the Ukrainian one upon obtaining another in 2017^[181] have been submitted, but none had been made law. As of 2021, the bill being worked on aims to allow multiple citizenships as long as they are reported and such citizens do not work in governments. Dual citizenships are planned to be fully established with the European Union and, in the context of the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, explicitly forbidden with Russia.^[182][183]

 

 

[GP1977 288]

15 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Russia recognizes dual citizenship in that they don't care how many other citizenships you have, as long as you report it. You don't have to give up Russian citizenship to acquire another.

 

By contrast, I was under the impression Ukraine prohibited dual citizenship or acquiring another citizenship of any kind, but maybe things changed. 

My limited understanding of Ukraine and dual citizenship - If you have citizenship from another country and wish to obtain Ukrainian citizenship you must revoke the other country citizenship first.

If you already have Ukrainian citizenship and obtain citizenship of another country - there is not a law against not reporting it (Unless you are in certain levels of the government) but the citizenship of the other country wont be recognized for conducting certain types of legal transactions in Ukraine.

[millefleur 5,039]

19 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Ive a colleague whose Russian born wife successfully entered Russia on her U.S. passport, but was blocked from leaving until she could produce a Russian passport. Which she did after at least several weeks.

Big mistake. You always have to enter on the passport you are a citizen of unless that country has some specific law saying otherwise.

[.yana 586]

2 hours ago, Mike E said:

Ive a colleague whose Russian born wife successfully entered Russia on her U.S. passport, but was blocked from leaving until she could produce a Russian passport. Which she did after at least several weeks.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship

 

 

• Ukrainian law currently does not recognise dual citizenship, while not explicitly banning it. Citizens of Ukraine who hold multiple nationalities are only recognized as Ukrainian on Ukrainian soil, and their other citizenships are ignored. In the past, bills to criminalize the act of holding two citizenships in 2014^[180] or to automatically revoke the Ukrainian one upon obtaining another in 2017^[181] have been submitted, but none had been made law. As of 2021, the bill being worked on aims to allow multiple citizenships as long as they are reported and such citizens do not work in governments. Dual citizenships are planned to be fully established with the European Union and, in the context of the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, explicitly forbidden with Russia.^[182][183]

 

 

How did she enter with US passport? By sea assuming the stay was under 48 hours or did she have a Russian visa in her US passport?

 

While the former is somewhere plausible, the latter is not.