Traveling to the country of birth
- Thread starter pashenka
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TheRealCanadian
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Does Ukraine still consider you a citizen?
WhichWay2Go
Registered Users (C)
This could get messy if the Ukraine has mandatory Military service and you did not do it. I do not know about the Ukraine, but Greece used to be (not sure if they still are) particularly harsh with grabbing former young Citizens and tossing them in the Army for two years, even at a much older age when they visited the home land.
Not sure what to suggest, but traveling on a US Passport with a valid Visa for the Ukraine would be a good start. However if you are worried about getting caught for previously breaking the Law, then all bets may be off. The US Embassy would have a tough job defending your rights I think.
An Embassy can only ask another Country for things to be done, they cannot insist or make a Country do what they want. If you were in Ukraine custody, the Embassy may be almost powerless.
It's a tough one. Maybe talk to someone at the Ukraine Embassy.
If he was a Ukrainian citizen when he left Ukraine, it will consider him Ukrainian citizen until he renounces his citizenship which may take up to a year. He still must use his Ukrainian passport to enter and exit Ukraine, but a lot of naturalised US citizens just use their US passports, in violation of Ukrainian laws. It became even easier after Ukraine allowed visa-free entry for Americans.
Did you leave Ukraine after 1991, and did you have a Ukrainian registration (прописка) at that moment? Finally, did you use a Ukrainian passport (not Soviet, but Ukrainian)? If yes, then you are still considered Ukrainian citizen and must enter Ukraine using Ukrainian passport. If you are Ukrainian citizen - whether you enter Ukraine with US passport or Ukrainian passport - the US embassy will be able to offer only limited assistance or no assistance at all if Ukraine claims you as its own citizen.pashenka said:
If he is still a Ukrainian citizen, he would break the law by following your advice. It's a felony offence.
His place of birth in the US passport is marked as Ukraine, so the border guards may start asking different questions and before too long will figure out that he did not lose Ukrainian citizenship.
Recently, Ukraine allowed visa-free entry for US citizens, so now you just buy a ticket and go. Before, you had to apply for a visa at Ukrainian consulate, and they could deny visa if they deemed you their citizen. Now, this additional check is gone, so, once get caught at the border, you cannot claim, "Officer, I thought I was not a Ukrainian citizen... pleeeeease let me go... "
It is true that you are always a US citizen, but if you are also a citizen of the country you are in then the US will, by international protocol, provide you with no assistance in regard to any matter whatsoever. I suspect this is what the OP is interested in.
Triple Citizen
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Jackolantern
Registered Users (C)
It's not the country of birth that really matters. What is important is your country(ies) of citizenship. If you are no longer a citizen of Ukraine, and you get into trouble with the government in the Ukraine, the US will give you a similar level of assistance that they do for other US citizens who run into trouble abroad. Otherwise, if you still have Ukraine citizenship, they'll leave you alone to face your fate with the Ukrainian government.
Which passport you enter with doesn't really matter, except where third countries are involved. So for example, if you as a dual Ukraine-US citizen visit Japan with your Ukraine passport and run into trouble, the Ukraine government is who you should turn to for assistance. If you used your US passport, you'd ask for assistance from the US government. Countries are generally reluctant to help if they know you used another country's passport for your trip; they'll tell you seek help from the country whose passport you used.
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WhichWay2Go
Registered Users (C)
I stand corrected if that is indeed the case. I have no real knowledge of Ukraine Law but I would be surprised if there was such a law. I am not saying you are incorrect, it would just be quite a convoluted issue to write such a Law.
However that's why I suggested the OP ask at the Ukraine Embassy as my final comment to cover such contingencies.
Al Southner
Registered Users (C)
OP,
It is necessary for you to visit Ukraine? I mean Vicktor..."yushenkovisky" was poisoned before elections couple of years ago, so I am wondering what might happen to you if you are caught as a US citizen in violation of his native laws in Ukraine... Unless you register with the "space department" which can send a shuttle to zoom you out of Ukrainian jail, just be on the safe side. Visit Greece and ask your remaining family members to visit you there...
The US govt has no control over what your country of origin decides to do about you. When you became a US citizen, unless you renounced and gave up your Ukranian citizenship, they still own you and military service might be awaiting you, plus hard labor and loss of freedom to eat french fries....
It is necessary for you to visit Ukraine? I mean Vicktor..."yushenkovisky" was poisoned before elections couple of years ago, so I am wondering what might happen to you if you are caught as a US citizen in violation of his native laws in Ukraine...
Unless you register with the "space department" which can send a shuttle to zoom you out of Ukrainian jail, just be on the safe side. Visit Greece and ask your remaining family members to visit you there...The US govt has no control over what your country of origin decides to do about you. When you became a US citizen, unless you renounced and gave up your Ukranian citizenship, they still own you and military service might be awaiting you, plus hard labor and loss of freedom to eat french fries....
With respect to crossing its borders, Ukraine is very much like the United States - its own citizens must use proper Ukrainian passports or other Ukrainian travel documents. While in the country, you are only the citizen of this country no matter how many citizenships you may hold elsewhere. If a Ukrainian citizen enters Ukraine with a US passport, he may be fined or imprisoned for up to 5 years (hence, my felony remarks). I am not saying it is likely to happen, but officially they could prosecute to the fullest extend of the law.
I personally wish Ukraine was like India that revokes citizenship as soon as you acquire other nationality. Where things stand now with Ukraine - you have to renew your Ukrainian passport first (if it expired), you have to register with the embassy, then you have to file the form to renounce the citizenship and pay $200. After a year, they will give you their response. It is very inconvenient.
Hi, thanks for all the replies. I left Ukraine as a refugee and renounced my Ukrainian citizenship at the point of exit. My question is, if Ukraine still claims me as a citizen just because I was born there (being an unpredictable country that it is) and makes me do military service when I visit, will US protect me as a US citizen?
Thanks.
Thanks.
My wife, who is a Russian Jew who lived in Kiev until she was 9, left Ukraine (it was USSR but became Ukraine the year before) in 1992 as a refugee.
We came back for a long weekend in 2007. She only has a US passport and country of birth is Ukraine (even though it wasn't Ukraine when she was born and everybody in my wife's family is actually Russian). No problem whatsoever at the airport. We were continuing to Tel Aviv and the immigration officer (this lady who looked like a typical soviet govt employee) just asked why we were going there.
However, this summer my wife needed a new birth certificate to apply for italian citizenship. She called the ukrainian consulate in NYC and they told her that if she left after Feb 1992, then she was still considered a citizen of Ukraine (she indeed left in March 1992) with endless paperwork and penalties to be paid.
She got scared and we decided to obtain the birth certificate through a local agency.
By the way, Ukraine does recognize dual citizenship. I know a dual US/Ukraine citizen and several dual Italy/Ukraine citizens.
We came back for a long weekend in 2007. She only has a US passport and country of birth is Ukraine (even though it wasn't Ukraine when she was born and everybody in my wife's family is actually Russian). No problem whatsoever at the airport. We were continuing to Tel Aviv and the immigration officer (this lady who looked like a typical soviet govt employee) just asked why we were going there.
However, this summer my wife needed a new birth certificate to apply for italian citizenship. She called the ukrainian consulate in NYC and they told her that if she left after Feb 1992, then she was still considered a citizen of Ukraine (she indeed left in March 1992) with endless paperwork and penalties to be paid.
She got scared and we decided to obtain the birth certificate through a local agency.
By the way, Ukraine does recognize dual citizenship. I know a dual US/Ukraine citizen and several dual Italy/Ukraine citizens.
Not according to several reliable sources, including US state department and Ukraine counsel general.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1053.html
http://www.ukrconsul.org/Citizenship_ukraine_EN.htm#15
Just because they may claim dual citizenship doesn't mean it is recognized.