Nisilsin

I actually have all Ukrainian documents: valid internal passport (+permanent registration), external passport (valid for 2 more years) and a tax number. What I don't have is the military pass because I have never dealt with the military office in Ukraine. Technically, I am considered a resident citizen of Ukraine by the Ukrainian government since I have a permanent address registration there, so I would not want to go to the military office, especially in the time of war

I think that part might be problematic. Based on everything I've read - including the link you posted - you need to be a permanent resident of another country in order to be able to renounce the Ukrainian citizenship. My own Ukrainian passport has a cute little stamp from a local consulate on the Special Notes page which states that I am a permanent resident of Canada. I'm not sure if you'd need to surrender your internal passport to do that, I never had one in the first place. All they need to verify your residency is a government ID with your address on it, like a driver's licence.

Yeah, I talked to somebody in San Francisco consulate which covers my state of residence, but they were clueless as to how to deregister from Ukraine without having to go there. They were happy to emphasize that in order to do any business with them, my passport should bear this "ПМЖ" stamp.

However, on the Ukrainian embassy in Russia website, they outlined how to deregister from Ukraine and renounce the citizenship. The problem is that it seems this information is not centralized, so people at SF consulate may not know how to go about my deregistration request :-/

Looks like you would need to first prove to them or have them check that you are indeed a Ukrainian citizen, which would take a while if you do not have a currently valid Ukrainian passport. They can do a records search and get a confirmation from Ukraine that you are a citizen (since only a citizen can renounce citizenship, duh), but that can take a couple of months.

Sounds like you don't actually live near a consulate, which makes it harder because getting them on the phone and getting them to tell you something useful can be a real hit or miss. I wish you best of luck in dealing with them.

I don't think anyone outside of the government agencies can help you out in any real way, so you will just need to keep pressing them to help you out. Talk to your consulate and refer them to that page on renouncing citizenship from the embassy in Russia, mention that Form 20, push them into digging up the necessary information for you.

Also, make sure you clarify what exactly will your work require in order to remove whatever restrictions they have on you due to that dual citizenship. From there, you can work backwards with the Ukrainian consulate to figure out how to meet those requirements. Maybe a sworn statement that you love the United States and will never ever betray the country will suffice?

My work limits my access to our customer's advanced scientific/hi-tech materials based on the fact that I am still a Ukrainian citizen. This may have to do with the fact that our customer is doing contract work for DoD, but I don't know for sure. They do know that I am a dual citizen, but they decided to go with the "worst" common denominator. Sorry, it is as much as I feel comfortable revealing. Nothing exciting -- no CIA or FBI -- just a regular hi-tech work :-)

Fair enough. Did you attempt to ask this question from the nearest Ukrainian embassy or consulate?

While I understand that you are set on renouncing the citizenship, could you briefly explain why this is beneficial for you?

You mention "for work-related reasons", is this something where you are looking to get a special government job and dual citizens are not allowed to hold that position? It's about the only thing that comes to mind, and I wonder if there are other reasons one might want to do it, besides being concerned about finding themselves on the wrong side of the Ukrainian law.

Apologies for not being of any help though.

This is not quite so simple as some may make it sound.

When a person leaves Ukraine, they will want to know where you are going and how you are going to get into that country.

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Or try to enter Ukraine on Ukrainian passport and leave on USA passport; and they will note there is no entry stamp in your USA passport, also raising problems.

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Suppose the Ukrainian citizen owns real estate in Ukraine. There are restrictions on who can own certain types of real estate in Ukraine, particularly raw land or farm land.

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Also, even for buy and sell of non-restricted property in Ukraine, there can be different rules, taxation, etc., for citizens vs non citizens.

Of course, when it comes to things like this, it's rarely simple.

Generally speaking, border guards at exit points, especially in airports, do not care if you have permission to enter the country you are going to, only that you were in their country legally. Verifying your eligibility to enter the destination country is the job of the airline agents. When travelling with two passports, one has to take care to show the correct passport to the correct authorities. Generally, when dealing with border guards - as opposed to airline employees - you show them the passport that allows you to be in their country. So it really better be the same one whether you're coming or leaving, otherwise they will rightfully get confused.

The other nuance is that when you check in to your flight they ask for your passport info. This is where you may end up using different passports on different legs of your journey. For example, suppose you are flying New York to Kyiv and have both an American and a Ukrainian passports.

• You check in at the airline counter in the New York airport with a Ukrainian passport.
• You show the customs officer at the security checkpoint your American passport.
• You board the plane and show your Ukrainian passport.
• You get off the plane and clear customs in Kyiv with your Ukrainian passport.
• When you are ready to leave, you check in at the Kyiv airport with your American passport.
• You show the customs officer your Ukrainian passport.
• You board the plane and show your American passport.
• You land and clear customs with your American passport.

Now, there is some flexibility here in terms of showing the airline crew in New York either your American or Ukrainian passport because both allow visa free entry into Ukraine. However, if you check in using a different passport than what you eventually show border guards at the destination you may have slight delays because the passenger manifest data provided by the airline to the government will have you listed with a different passport. It ranks pretty low in terms of things that can cause serious trouble, but it's still a bit of a hassle.

I know it's not quite what you asked, but I'm just putting it out there for anyone who decides to go ahead and get a second passport. Stay away from preventable issues.

It might be different for land borders, but I don't have much experience with those.

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As for restrictions and different treatments for citizens vs non-citizens, that's definitely a concern, and it's worth pointing out that having a passport is one thing, but being a citizen is another. I did not magically obtain my Ukrainian citizenship upon applying for a passport - I've had it all along since August 24 1991 and never seized being a Ukrainian citizen. A passport just acts as proof that one is indeed a citizen. The millions of Americans who never bother applying for an American passport are still American citizens.

The other important consideration is residency. For many special kinds of properties and financial instruments, it can make an even bigger difference than citizenship. If you plan to engage in those kinds of activities, you have to careful consider what laws apply to those activity in all the countries where you are a citizen and all countries where you are a resident (depending on conditions, you may be considered a resident of more than one country at a time, you don't even have to be a citizen of any of them).

So yes, once you get deeper into this, it's not exactly simple and clear cut, and you may want to carefully consider what is the best approach for your situation.

But as for the basic question of, can you get a Ukrainian passport if you are living abroad and obtained another citizenship since leaving Ukraine? Yes, it's possible and it's actually rather uncomplicated.

A few people here have commented on the situation of dual citizenship for Ukrainians.

Apparently there is a 'law' prohibiting it.

Some have said this 'law' is unconstitutional, has not a 'leg to stand on', don't worry about it, the authorities don't care, etc., etc.

This is all a bit murkey to me.

A 'law' is valid unless the Constitutional Court of Ukraine says it is unconstitutional, not just because private citizens think it is unconstitutional.

So who can point us to the case wherein the Court ruled this 'law' is unconstitutional?

And, as to those who say 'they' (officials) can't do anything about it (having two passports, one Ukrainian plus another), you will feel pretty shocked if the Passport control people in Ukraine take one away from you.

Sure you can raise a fuss, and maybe even get it replaced . . . several months down the road; but it will really screw the he!! out of your current trip, getting in and out of Ukraine and USA.

I have to admit that your concerns are legitimate, but in most practical terms, I doubt the problems will ever materialize. I have heard of numerous accounts of Ukrainian dual citizens functioning just fine in Ukraine, with no actual issues.

Does it mean this will never happen? Knowing Ukraine, I suppose anything can happen, but I consider the chances to be low enough that it won't keep me up at night.

The fact is that there is indeed a conflict in how dual citizenship is treated in different Ukrainian laws. There is a law outlawing it, and there is a law that makes outlawing illegal. Someone more motivated could check the exact laws and paragraph numbers, but I don't really care to be honest.

What remains fairly certain (not just for Ukraine, but most countries) is that whichever passport you enter with, that's the citizenship you are assuming while you are in that country. For example, if I enter Ukraine with a Ukrainian passport, technically I would not have the privilege of accessing the services of the Canadian embassy should the need arise (my other citizenship is Canadian). I would be considered a Ukrainian citizen and nothing else.

There was a news story recently about a dual Turkish-Canadian citizen who got caught up in some troubles in Turkey and was arrested. Canadian officials were powerless to offer any real help because he entered Turkey with his Turkish passport. You can expect the same consequences no matter where you go, and it's one of the biggest considerations when choosing which passport to use to enter a country.

For dual Ukrainian-American citizens, there is indeed a choice, as the American passport holders do not need a visa to enter. Your American passport is the property of the government of the United States and I'm pretty sure Ukrainian officials would need some extremely solid reasons to attempt to withhold it. It would be easier for them to find an excuse to take away your Ukrainian passport (since again, it's the property of the government, not the individual), but I still suspect the chances of that are around zero. Unless you commit some other serious crime, of course, and the court orders to seize your passport.

As noted in this thread, for most people the biggest draw is not the unrestricted access to Ukraine, but visa free access to countries like Russia. I have a hard time imagining that Russian border guards care what Ukrainian laws say about dual citizens. Russian laws don't have issues with dual citizens of any kind.

That said, it is disconcerting that the situation with Ukrainian dual citizens is so confusing. However, I can also appreciate that the country and its lawmakers have lots of other things to worry about and try and work out. I would be pleasantly surprised if this gets a clear resolution in less than 10 years from now.

By then I'd be applying for my passport renewal

Thank you soooo much for this information!!!

Can I ask you a few questions about the process?

1) What documents did consulate ask you to bring?

My husband was born in Kiev to Ukrainian parents in 1986, when it was a part of USSR, he left Ukraine in '98 when he was just 12. He has his birth certificate. He doesn't have any child travel passports or any other travel documents, he was little and didn't think of it. His parents don't have any documents left as they renewed their passports after that. Mother says that my husbands was added to her travel passport but she no longer has that document. So basically he has only birth certificate and some of his elementary school records to prove that he was born in Ukraine and stayed there after '91.

2) How long did it take to get a passport?

3) Was it expensive?

I'd love my husband to have a Ukrainian travel passport because it's difficult to deal with Russian consulate every time we want to visit my parents.

Thank you in advance.

The basic test for Ukrainian citizenship in this case is that he was living in Ukraine at the time of the declaration of independence, in August 1991. Since he left in '98, this should be easy peasy.

The first step is to visit the nearest consulate or embassy and ask them about getting the passport. I'm from Canada so the minor details may differ, but the overall process should be the same in the USA.

Since there are no currently valid documents aside from birth certificate (which is not sufficient for citizenship, but bring it along anyway), they will ask you to fill out a form which they will use to try and find the records in Ukraine's internal registry. The information needed for this form is the last known address where he lived in Ukraine. So if he was 12 and does not remember exactly, now is the time to check any old paperwork or ask parents or what not and find out the exact address. Together with the name, dob and other details (which should be easy to provide) they will use it to match up the info and send a confirmation to your embassy that yes, so and so is a Ukrainian citizen and eligible for passport.

This part takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, and costs nothing! There is no way to speed it up, it just depends on how lucky you are and how quickly they find the records back in Ukraine.

The next part is to actually apply for passport. Check with your consulate for the exact details, such as amount and form of payment (mine was a tad bit over $100, payable as a bank draft) and if you need to bring ready made photos. Mine did not accept pre-made photos, they take a digital photo and it's attached to the application in the computer right away. Well, not right away, it took 3 attempts because the application they use it a bit buggy

This next and final part takes about 3 months. I'm not sure if there is any rush processing available, I was not in a rush. I'm actually going to pick up my passport next week.

Good luck!

Not true . . . with respect to Turkey.

Citizens of USA and Ukraine are treated the same upon entering Turkey.

Neither need advance visa, and only pay for visa stamp upon entry.

Don't know about Argentina as I have never been there.

Ukrainian citizens don't pay anything to get the entrance stamp in Turkey. But really, for me it's Russia and other former USSR countries that make the biggest difference. I plan to travel around those and a Ukrainian passport makes it much simpler - no visas to apply for and longer stays allowed.

Dear all,

I just recently moved to the US on K1, got married, changed my last name. Texas marriage license does not address the issue of changing last name thus if one desires to take their spouse's last name they should simply state so, provide the marriage license and the documents will be issued in the new last name. All my US docs are in my married name (SSN, driver's license, work permit, etc.). Now that I have advance parole we are planning on traveling to France and Germany. And that's where I run into complications. My Ukrainian traveling passport is issued in my maiden name, so the embassies of the mentioned countries cannot issue me a visa under a name that differs from the one stated in my passport. To apply for a French visa here in Houston, TX I have to prove that I currently reside here by showing driver's license, lease contract, etc - all of which are in my new last name - thus I cannot state that I didn't change my last name otherwise I have no proof of residence here and the embassy will not accept my application.

I contacted the embassy of Ukraine and they say they can issue me a new travelling passport but the procedure will take about 6 months and I would have to provide an enormous amount of idiotic documents such as statements from the employers for the previous 5 years stating they have no financial claims to me (I've worked in 5 different companies, one of which does not exist any more not to mention I have no way of contacting any of them from here anyways) and statements from my parents saying that they are aware that I am residing in the US and they have no financial claims to me (#######? I am 32, what business is it of my parents where I reside?). So I guess my question is to those who have had their international passports changed here how did you do it and how long did it take? Is there a way to make it all easier? Any suggestions?

Changing the name on your Ukrainian passport will indeed be a lengthy process, but it sure sounds like a much more complicated process than it should be. Either way, I would expect it to take 2-3 months at least.

Keep in mind that while many agencies may issue you new IDs just by showing the marriage certificate - which shows your old name - you may also be able to get an official name change certificate, but the exact rules around that vary by state. I wonder if that might make getting the name changed on the Ukrainian passport easier.

With that in mind, is there any way you can get the French consulate to issue you a visa with your old name by showing your marriage certificate along with your other IDs? It certainly sounds like a very sticky situation to be in, but from their point of view, it only makes sense to issue you a visa for the name on your valid passport.

This also makes me wonder how much documentation will you need to show to the border agents upon return to the USA. They will certainly not care what name you have on the driver's license, only your passport and visa.

Just in case anyone else is wondering about this: it's very easy to get done as long as one only left Ukraine after it separated from USSR. I have a friend who left in 1990 and it looks like he is not considered a Ukrainian citizen because he never registered with a consulate after the country became independent. I left in 2000 and they were able to track my records down and issue a passport with no problem.

They do not really care if you have another citizenship. It's not so much "closing their eyes" as just knowing that the law prohibiting dual citizenship is unconstitutional and they have no leg to stand on.

Hurray to not needing to apply for a visa to go to Russia or Brazil!

Trying to read thru your post and im not sure if you want to get the internal passport or a travel passport.

10 years ago when i moved here i was 15 and never had an internal passport of my own, i had a child passport of some sorts. When i was 18 we submitted an application to the embassy in San Francisco and boom, the passport came in the mail. I want to mention that at this time i was a green card holder here and not a citizen. So if you are talking about a travel passport its possible for sure. Also my dad and sister just updated their expired UA passport thru the embassy last year. They don't have internal passports, neither of our family does, when we left UA we turned them in. So our family has birth certificates and UA travel passport, no internal once.

If you are talking about an internal UA passport i really don't think you can do that because you need a propiska in Ukraine but since you do not have an address there i doubt you can do it especially from here.

Hope you figure it out!

I do mean the travel passport, not the internal one. I actually got an email reply from the embassy that it should not be a problem, that I should come in with my birth certificate and old Child Travel Document. I haven't had the chance to do that yet but will certainly try and see what the full process is. I mentioned in the email that I have another citizenship and they did not make any comment about that being a concern.

Ukrainian Embassies have no authority to issue an internal passport. Internal passports can only be issued within Ukraine.

International/External passport - can not be issued either.

The embassy can only do the following:

a) issue a temporary passport -- so that you can return to Ukraine (you need to show a ticket)

b) Child Travel Document

As for "what they can do" - no cannot get into trouble. But cannot be revoked.

As for "Why you need it" --- well that's an interesting topic of discussion I would like to see

The embassy may not have the authority to issue a travel passport, but according to the link in my post, they do have the authority to accept applications, payments - and send it off for processing. Something like 3 months processing time is mention on some embassy sites I've visited.

It's not a trivial matter to lose Ukrainian citizenship - from what I see online there is no process to have it done, even if one wanted to. The president of Ukraine could make it happen on an individual basis, but I'm sure he's busy with other things. So from that I conclude that I am still a Ukrainian citizen.

A Ukrainian citizen has a right to get a passport (for foreign travel, as they refer to it). So should I

As for why I might want it? Believe it or not, there are places in the world that require a visa from Americans but not from Ukrainians. Some are just a matter of paying an extra fee (such as Turkey, Argentina), others are quite a bit more complex (such as Russia). I'm starting to develop an affinity for long term travel, and it's nice to have options.

I appreciate your comments, even though I would have loved to hear from someone with first hand experience. I have contacted the embassy by email, will see if they respond. I tried calling them too, but it was quite confusing because I doubt the receptionist gets these questions often.

I was born in Ukraine and would like to get a Ukrainian passport in addition to my American one. I don't need it too badly, but my thinking is that it can't possibly hurt. From what I gather, no one has ever reported actually getting any fines or serious trouble for having two passports, even though technically Ukraine "does not recognize" dual citizenship (though it cannot "prohibit" it in any meaningful way).

Here is the gist:

• I have my birth certificate and a long expired Child's Travel Document. I was too young to have an internal passport when I left.
• I don't travel to Ukraine very often. Like twice in 10 year. If I have to physically go to Ukraine to get this done, I will just let this idea go.

It appears that there is a process to submit the application through an embassy ( http://dmsu.gov.ua/posluhy/dokumenti-dlya-vijizdu-za-kordon/710-vydacha-pasporta-hromadianyna-ukrainy-dlia-vyizdu-za-kordon mentions it), but it also looks like an internal passport is needed.

Has anyone done something like this?