Thread: Oh ye foreigners who have been in the Ukraine

Alright, I am totally and utterly confused. I heard through the grape-vine that no visas are required to go to the Ukraine from 1st of Jan 2006. The question is: Did you need a visa to enter the country? What airline did you take?

I am going to the Ukraine next month.

So, just to double check, I look at the Ukrainian Embassy info: http://www.ukremb.com/consular/visas.html

They say: "Passport and Visa are required for entry into Ukraine. Visas should be obtained from the Consular Office of the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, D.C. or Consulates General in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

No invitation letters are necessary for citizens of the US, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Slovakia, and Turkey, or citizens of the countries of the European Union for obtaining official, business, private, cultural, or sports visas." Note how they left out the tourist visa option for the invitation letters.

Further down they give the requirements to get a visa, etc. One interesting thing is that they say: "Citizens of the USA, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, or citizens of the European Union countries can be qualified for a tourist visa when they submit a round-trip ticket issued by the Ukrainian National Airlines."

Fine. Embassy is telling me I DO need a visa. Then I go to the Ukranian consulate in Norway (where I would be picking up my visa) and they say (http://www.ukremb.no/index.htm) "Starting January 1, 2006 no visas are required for citizens of Andorra, Canada, the EU countries, Holy See, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the United States who may stay in Ukraine up to 90 days. "

What? Who? Where?

http://www.ukremb.org.uk/eng/cvs/index.html

My friend (from the UK) has been twice this year and didn't need one.

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

So, just to double check, I look at the Ukrainian Embassy info: http://www.ukremb.com/consular/visas.html

They say: "Passport and Visa are required for entry into Ukraine.

Вполне возможно, они просто не обновили информацию на сайте.

They are probably hoping you don't realise that you don't need a visa and end up paying for one.

A visa is required for longer than 90 days still.

I went 2 weeks ago and just got back with a passport and no visa. The new president is pro-west, so they're easing up restrictions. Please double-check with your own situation though; I was in a large group and I'm not sure if we had any special preparations that I don't know about.

Hope that helps,
Rob

KV - was it the embassy in the US that you checked with?

If I were you, I'd check with:
- Ukranian embassy in US;
- Ukranian embassy in Norway;
- Norwegian embassy in US.

.... and tell them to make up their minds!
It's indeed very unclear - from the text you're quoting it seems like you do need a visa, but no invitation; so maybe the "visa" in this case is just a stamp in your passport upon arrival?!
Even so, as you live in the US, other rules may apply, even though you're a European citizen (also try to find out what they mean by "European citizen" - sometimes it only includes Schengen countries....)


I can really relate to you as I've just been through much of the same mill: I'm travelling to Poland next week...... on a Danish provisional passport, as the Russians are sitting on my real passport for visa processing (as I'm going to StP in August - yihaaah). Now, getting proper information about whether I could enter the country on a provisional passport had me bouncing back and forth between embassies as well - aaaaaargh!!!!
Now, I'm just GOING - and a brave border guard who stops me!!!



Good luck, mate!

Well, according to TATY's link it say visa-free regime for us westerners... that's two out of three, a clear majority. I think the american embassy just haven't updated their website yet.

To put it shortly: Hooray!

Bab the Yag, thanks for the info! Say hello to Boris the homeless dog in St.P! Tell him he still owes me that bone!

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

Well, according to TATY's link it say visa-free regime for us westerners... that's two out of three, a clear majority. I think the american embassy just haven't updated their website yet.

To put it shortly: Hooray!

Oh, you are SOOOOO going to get Gitmo'd!

Just got back from Kiev last week. I'm US citizen so the visa was stamped in my passport at the border (I went by train). But just like Russia they require a migration card so be sure to get it from the steward on plane or train and fill out both copies before you go through passport control. No invitation needed.