Dating and marriage with an Ukrainian woman

Once you have found a woman that you would like to marry, the next logical question is, “How do I bring her home?”

Every woman from Russia, Ukraine, or the Former Soviet Union will need a visa to enter the USA. Most of the other Western countries (Canada, Europe, Australia) also insist that the woman first obtain a visa. This article will deal specifically with the immigration laws of the USA.

There are several possible categories of visas that your fiancée (or wife) could apply for. The first category is a tourist visa. However, the immigration officers frown upon granting a young, pretty woman from Russia such a visa. The reasoning is that she will find someone to marry almost as soon as she steps off the plane and never return home, possibly receiving government assistance and becoming a burden to our national economy. Not to mention the fact that trying to obtain a tourist visa for a woman you are intending to marry is kind of stretching the truth a bit perhaps illegal.

The next possibility is that of obtaining a student visa. This would really only be a workable solution in a very specific situation. If your intended is a student, has good English speaking ability, and can meet other eligibility requirements, this MIGHT work. She will probably have to take tests to substantiate her claims. And YOU may be required to provide evidence of support for her during her intended stay in this country. At the very least she will need to show that she has the money to pay for school (or a documented scholarship) and some form of support. It may be a lot longer and round about process than you had bargained for. I would rather discourage someone from going down this road unless she (and not you) has already initiated the process and is well along when you meet and decide to perhaps marry.

You could perhaps try to obtain a worker visa. This will really depend upon her occupation. And whether or not this is an area deemed “high need” by the government. One of the current areas of need is nursing. So, if your intended is in the nursing field, this MAY be a possibility. I believe that she would need to basically have a job lined up already and that company or organization acts as her sponsor. It goes without saying that for something like this she will need excellent English ability…and will be expected to go to work right away. This may work for some ladies, but probably very few. Also, if she was planning on doing this already, she would have undoubtedly mentioned this...and you really would not have to do much work--the company (or hospital) will prepare all of her documentation. You can find out more information regarding worker visas (and any of the other types mentioned in this article) by visiting the USCIS website.

The best option for bringing her home will be a fiancée visa. This is otherwise known as a K visa. Under this classification, your fiancée will obtain a visa which is good for 1 entry into the USA. You will then have a period of 90 days in which to decide if marriage is right for the two of you. At the end of those 90 days, she must either be married or return home. You also are acting as her sponsor during her stay. If things do not work out as expected and the decision is made for her to return home to Russia (Ukraine, or the FSU), you are responsible for providing her with plane tickets home. You also notify the USCIS (the main government agency responsible for immigration issues) of the situation. If you have lived up to your end of the bargain, you should not have any difficulty if you decide to try again with another woman in the future.

This discussion is very general since requirements, forms and fees are constantly changing. However, to obtain a K visa, you will need to fill out forms I-129f and G-325. The G-325 is a biographical form, but it must be completed 4 times for each of you! (Each copy goes to a different destination) You will also need a passport style photo of each of you, proof of your US citizenship (only US citizens may file for a K1 visa—a copy of your passport or birth certificate will suffice), evidence of a personal meeting within the past 2 years and that an on-going relationship exists, along with the fee. You will then send these to the service center closest to your location and wait. You will receive notice that your petition has been received. In the meantime, have your fiancée gather up all the documents that she will need: birth certificate, passport for foreign travel, police certificate, divorce decree(s) (if needed), photos (3-4 more, passport style), and a consent document if she has any minor children who will be coming to the US with her. All of these documents must be translated into English by a certified translator.

Then you wait. Eventually you and your fiancée will receive a notice. She will also get a packet of information, including a list of all the documents she needs. If you have them ahead of time (see the list above…but bear in mind these could change, so still check the information sent by the USCIS), she just needs to send notice that she is ready. Another packet of information will go out to her (and to you) regarding the time and date of the visa interview and the medical exam she will need. This varies country to country. For specific advice, send me an email. Or visit my personal coaching page. It is helpful if you come with her to the interview, but not necessary. It will save her a very long time standing in a line, and consular official will see that you are serious about this woman. At the end of the interview (usually very short and anti-climatic), her passport may be stamped with her new USA visa, or she may have to leave her passport and receive it by mail in a few days. Please be flexible with travel plans until she has this visa in her possession!!

When the process has been successfully completed, your fiancée will have a visa that will allow her 1 entry into the USA within a period of 6 months from the date the visa is issued. If she does not enter within this time period (usually this is not a problem!) the visa expires. Should you desire to still bring her over here at that point you will have to start at the beginning again. Once she is here, the two of you will have 90 days to decide whether you wish to marry or not. If you do not get married by this time, she must return home. You are responsible for giving her the means to return home—normally this means providing her with a plane ticket (make copies)!

Here is the process in a nutshell:

First, go to the US Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the INS) website and download the following forms:

I-129F Petition for Alien Fiancee

G-325A Biographic Informationp

Complete the paperwork. This means that you will have to fill out 4 copies of the G-325A for YOU and 4 copies for HER. Make sure they are all signed!

Gather together your evidence: passport and or birth certificate to prove your US Citizenship, any documentation of yours (if previously married) proving that your prior marriage(s) have been legally terminated, any documentation from her showing that prior marriages have been terminated, a passport-style photograph of each of you (lightly write the name of the person in pencil on the back of each photo), evidence to show that you have met each other within the last 2 years (best accomplished by photographs of the two of you together in the FSU).

Type up a nice cover letter specifying what you are including, why, and which supporting documentation you are providing. Include the appropriate fee, and mail these to the appropriate Service Center, as determined by your state of residence—you can find out the addresses by reading the instructions on the form.

Now you play the waiting game. You wait for your receipt. Then you will receive either a notice of action (I-797), which hopefully will tell you your petition has received conditional approval. This does not mean she will get a visa! It simply means that your information will continue to be processed.

The next step is receipt of “packet 3.” This will be sent to you and your fiancée in her native language. It basically says that your petition has been approved and she needs to start gathering the documents which will need to be presented at her interview. These include passports, birth certificate, divorce decree (if she has any previous marriages), police report, photographs (3-4 more, passport style), consent document (if she has a child and the father’s name is listed on the birth certificate), and evidence of support—this could be the Affidavit of Support (I-134) or any other kind of documentation proving that you will be able to support your new wife. You will need to get this to your fiancée in time for her to bring to the interview. There will also be a form in this packet for her to complete and send back to the Consulate via email or mail stating that she has all of the documents requested.

The home stretch—Packet 4 is then sent to your fiancée. This will include the date of her interview and instructions on where to have her medical exam completed.

Interview—the final step! If you come with her to this it will prevent her from waiting in a long (sometimes VERY long) line. Usually these interviews are anti-climatic. Sometimes the Consular officer will ask her a few questions, sometimes not. If you have come this far, it is basically just a formality. So, unless she says something very stupid, there is not much to worry about at this stage. Depending on the country she may receive her visa immediately on the spot, be required to come back at the end of the day or the next day, or have it mailed to her (insist on Fed Ex or some other method of insured and traceable delivery, even if you must pay extra for it).

Make your travel arrangements and go home together! Marry within 90 days, or give her a plane ticket home and inform the USCIS of your actions.

If you are not a US citizen, you should consider filing the K3 type visa. The process is very similar to the K1 visa described above. It could also be used if you have already married this woman in the FSU. However, if you intend to marry her before bringing her home, I strongly urge you to consider ALL your options since the K3 is a very slow process—probably at least a year from start to finish. The documentation for this type is exactly the same as the K1, you simply file with a different office. However, this office handles every K3 petition, and has become bogged down.

As mentioned before, this is simply a very BRIEF overview of what is involved in bringing your Russian, Ukrainian or FSU fiancée, girlfriend, or wife home to the USA. If you would like specific help or guidance about your individual situation, please send me an email. Or, check out the personal coaching page.