Month: April 2016

Why Ukrainian and Russian women often dream to marry foreigners, what attracts them in foreign princes and how can international love end?

“Here is bad and there is good” – such message is sending by media and the Internet, when they talk about life abroad. That’s why a lot of compatriots dream to live overseas. Young girls are trying to find a husband online by all means and to achieve marriage for green card.

Marry a foreigner is the most simple and rapid way to change your passport for a document with a citizenship of other state.

Of course, part of the international families is created because of “great and pure” love. But a fair amount of newlyweds register a marriage for green card for the sake of the marriage certificate, which allows to be legalized in the country of their dreams.

Green card by marriage

There are many willing to receive sham green card by marriage and there are also many businessmen, who make their money thanks to this subtle point. Fake “love” for the sake of the residence permit and citizenship has become a very profitable type of business. There are a lot of marriage agencies and judicial firms, which help at a price «fake» brides and grooms to find each other, prepare all necessary documents and to “railroad” the evidences that it is real marriage for migration services.

There are lots of announcements online with information about how to receive green card by marriage. The prices of the provident brides and grooms vary depending on their own citizenship. The cost of a marriage with a citizen of Poland or Slovakia can be 5 thousand euros, Lithuania, Estonia and Libya – 7-8 thousand euros, Western Europe – from 15-20 thousand euros and more, USA – 40-50 thousand dollars. “A 53 years old man, German citizen, living in Osnabruck, Lower Saxony. Propose a sham marriage for a woman for receiving a residence permit. The price starts from 20 thousand euros. Part-payment.” – a prudent beau offers his “hand and heart”

Green card marriage process

Here is the example of the legal procedure. If you register your marriage with a US citizen abroad, both of you are submitting form 1-130 and the supporting documents at the US consulate, usually in the homeland of the foreign spouse. Such statements relatively quickly obtain the allowance. But, despite this fact, foreign spouse have to be at the homeland during the immigration visa processing that can last several months and exceed the allotted time of the green card marriage process. You cannot enter the US with a visitor visa. If you marry outside the US, you cannot enter US with a visitor visa for the switching to immigration status, as it would indicate a deliberate intent to immigrate to the United States.

Green card by marriage means that spouse as a US citizen, without leaving US, can send the form 1-130 by mail to the regional center of the immigration officer. However, the proceedings in an application in the regional immigration center can last a few months longer than in the consulate. As soon as form 1-130 is approved, the consulate gives you instructions and a series of forms for the last stage of the receiving visa at the consulate. The notification of the approved immigration petition is not a permission to travel, live and work in the United States of itself.

You receive biographical data form. Instructions for filling and returning these forms, the list of the supporting documents are particularized in the section “Immigration Visa Processing “, which you should read carefully.
As soon as the Consulate receives both forms, you are assigned a date of interview.

Consulate requires submitting information from law enforcement and data on medical examination.

The interview at the consulate is very similar to the transition interview, which is conducted in the United States. The presence of the US spouse is not required. Pay special attention to the new laws on “exclusion” and for the possible immigration law violations in the past, which can be detected during the interview.

At the entrance to the US you give a package of documents to the immigration officer. Date of the entry is the date of immigration. Your passport is stamped, which serves as a green card until receiving the card itself.

Immigration marriages, particularly when the Russian or Ukrainian girls marry foreigners, have been much sought after these nations for a long time. Immigration marriage begins way back in the mid-nineties. By the end of the 90s a rapid increase in the number of Russian women who married foreigners was observable. The number of women, who were younger than 30 years old, was 60%, the average age was 28 years old.

According to the US Department of Justice statistics, it is counted about 75 thousand Russian women in the last 12 years who have immigrated to the United States as brides of American citizens. Even the book “101 advice on how to marry a foreigner” was specially published, which is very popular online.

More than half of those, who go abroad, are women without higher education. For these girls immigration marriage is very beneficial.

According to the research, Russian women want to marry Americans, French, Germans and Italians the most.
Sometimes women are trying to attract a man by all means through the Internet.

In the late 20th century, the institutions that helped Russians to go abroad through marriage were gradually established.

A lot of people have become rich thanks to the marriage agencies, where generally women applied.

Russian women are increasingly using the Internet looking for lovers from abroad. There are a lot of sites now, where girls hopefully fill up a form, send different photos in order to achieve a foreign prince. Expert forms a feeling that Russian women consider that they can find their happiness only abroad.

Also, some are not as interested in marriage as just to go abroad, and marriage is just a business card to achieve their dreams.

Following the change in Russian society, there have been great changes in the criteria of the women`s helpmate selection.

First of all, Russian girls prefer men who have a high social status. Secondly, it is simple men who should be a good family men, best of all, when the man has any distinctive abilities.

After the marriage, women hope to feel safe, but also they want to have stability in the family.

A lot of girls build hopes to marry well-to-do men. Following this idea, a lot of Russian women want to have a husband from abroad, believing that if they marry a foreigner, you will fall into the “paradise”. Being ruled by this idea a lot of Russian girls want to have a foreign husband, consider marriage with a foreigner as a “paradise”.

There can be a bunch of causes for searching your love abroad. It can be unsuccessful marriage at motherland and complete disappointment in local men. It can be successful experience of friends or familiars, because of the listening to their stories about the amenities of the foreigners, many turn on this heat. It can be elementary desire to carve out their life in better way. It is not a secret that the level of life in most countries of the continent is much better than we have.

Experts consider the causes of this phenomenon as a multi-sided, including the big amount of social questions and also problems connected with the economy and population.

It also includes the features of the Russian nation and their culture, population problems in Western countries, as well as issues connected with the psychological and cultural needs of Western men and the degree of the society openness.

A lot of experts think that international marriages, particularly when the Russian women marry foreigners can lead to the wastage of Russian gene, which is equal to the “brain drain.”

Marriage immigration

Women’s emigration has serious negative social and demographic consequences for Russia, the acuteness of which is amplifying in the conditions of the current demographic situation.

In order to give a quantitative evaluation of these consequences, a sociological study of women was conducted. The sampling consisted of 400 people.

The study revealed that women are most interested in marriage immigration. Approximately half of the women consist the “active migration potential”, i.e. they are ready to leave in the near future and have made real steps for this, such as searching for a foreign husband through online dating sites. Despite sufficiently high migration potential, it can be expected that not more than 10-12% of all surveyed women could truly realize their active migration potential.

In addition, some restrictions impose conditions for travel abroad, for example passport and visa procedures. The objective of most wishing to go abroad is the advantageous marriage, i.e. they are interested in marriage immigration.

If the results of sociological research are extended on the entire female population than about 94 thousand of women are ready to leave the region permanently.

The real outflow of women abroad from the region on the basis of one sixth of those who have made the real attempts to leave then we get a figure of about 15 thousand women, who are preparing to go abroad now.
Taking into account the attitude for the birth of 1-2 children, demographic losses of the region because of failed births and deferred births, according to our estimates, could reach about 38 thousand of children in the next five years.

Extending this approach to Russia, we can talk in general about possible losses of 833 thousand of children as a result of women’s emigration in the next five years. Of course, it is a hypothetical figure, but it bounds to alarm the presence and spread of such a phenomenon. The accuracy of its scale is secondary.

The procedure for the marriage registration to a foreigner

Future marrieds personally hand in an application to the register office, the example of which is established by the legislation. Applicants choose the register office independently, in which the application will be submitted. If the foreigner cannot be present for a valid reason, it is necessary to perform some operations in order to achieve green card marriage:

– signature in the application is notarized;
– the application is submitted by representative, who acts according to a notarized power of attorney.

1. The Civil Registry Office accepts the application and familiarizes the applicants with the rights and obligations of the marrieds, the procedure for the marriage registration, duty to report reliable information, and the consequences of the provision of false information.

2. The Civil Registry Office informs the applicants about their right to be medically examined in order to recognize the state of health. With the consent of the bride and groom, they are given a referral blank with approved form. There is a mark in the application and vital record about the consent or refusal to undergo medical examination.
3. In agreement with the applicants The Civil Registry Office appoints wedding day. According to a general rule, the marriage registration to a foreigner carried out after 1 month after the submission of the application. If there is any valid reason confirmed by documents, the registration is carried out before the expiry of the monthly term.

4. The marriage registers in the presence of both applicants.
Thus, in order to achieve green card marriage in Ukraine, the marriage registration to a foreigner implements with the general rules for the Ukrainian citizens.

The procedure becomes more complicated by the need to provide supporting documents.
It is desirable to refer to the specialist in order to compose a package of documents. It will save the time, energy and facilities. Firstly, documents must pass the legalization, i.e. to achieve the recognition in the state of registration. Secondly, documents must be translated into Ukrainian, which allows The Civil Registry Office to assess the content.

Specialist should determine such moments in order to achieve green card marriage:
• in which country implement the legalization of documents (Ukraine or the country of foreigner);
• necessary way of the documents legalization;
• the procedure of the document’s translation.

Green card marriage process

In some cases the wedding is held in a foreign country. Often this choice of the wedding place is connected with a desire of the bride and groom to give a romantic atmosphere to the event and to bring the exotic. But besides pleasure moments they can face with the list of organizational problems.

It is desirable to find out in advance the rules of marriage abroad, as it directly affects the green card through marriage.

In such a case, it is necessary to clearly know the body that will carry out the registration of the marriage. However, generally speaking, it is possible to determine the approximate package:
– international passport;
– birth certificate (in some countries, it has equal importance as a passport document);
– certificate of no impediment to marriage of a foreigner (confirms the absence of other person`s marriage at the time of registration)

If a person was previously married, it will be needed: bill of divorce; adjudgment (if it was a judicial dissolution of marriage because of the presence of the children of minority age in the family); document on the name change (if the person after the divorce has left the spouse’s surname).

In some cases, such documents for marriage and the green card through marriage may be necessary:
• certificate of citizenship;
• certificate of no criminal record;
• certificate of residence registration;
• health certificate;
• parent`s birth certificate and (or) or parent`s marriage certificate;
• written parental permission to marriage (typical for Muslim countries).

If the future spouse`s state enters the list of the Hague Convention countries of 1961, then documents are affixed by apostille. Otherwise, the consular legalization is required (except countries, which have signed further international agreements with Ukraine). A notarized translation of documents is required.

Leaving abroad for marriage, a person arranges normal tourist visa or a special, so-called fiance visa. In some countries, it is required to abidance by the additional terms for the marriage, for example, reside in the country for a certain period. It is quite possible not only the presentation of a large amount of bureaucratic requirements, but also unmotivated refusal of the marriage registration.

To avoid complexity, it is better to refer to specialists, who have a relevant experience in the management of marriage procedures abroad.

General information

If your visa application is approved your passport with the visa will be delivered to you by our company. The delivery will be made to the address you specified before the interview.

If shipping of documents to your specified address cannot be made, the postman will leave a notice in your mailbox which will indicate the post office where you can pick up the documents within 14 calendar days. If during this time you will not take away the documents your passport will be sent back to the Embassy. From this point on you are responsible for the organization of private delivery of documents from the Embassy.

How to change the delivery address

To change the desired delivery address is possible through the contact center until 23:59 on the day preceding the day of your interview. Changing the delivery address is free of charge.

It is strongly recommended not to change the delivery address after the deadline. Any changes to the delivery address after the above deadline will lead to a delay in delivery of the passport.

Passports and visas

For your convenience there are several ways to track the delivery of your passports and visas.
To instantly check the status of your passport number, type it in the box below.

If your passport shows the status “Processed in the place of delivery” it means that the passport is sent to the Embassy or Consulate and is on the way to the delivery address that you specified . However, the passport has not yet been delivered.

If the status of your passport is “ready to be received ” it means that our service will soon bring your passport to the address specified before the interview or that a notice is left in your mailbox and you should contact the courier service to fix a new delivery date. The Embassy or Consulate cannot help you find out the delivery status of the passport . Please do not contact the Embassy or Consulate on the delivery status of your passport E-mail : send a message to our e-mail address entering a valid passport number in the subject of the message and (or) in the message body in the same format in which it was specified when making an appointment for the interview. Do not enter any additional text. You will receive an automated response indicating the current visa status.

Сheck visa status online

The status of your application can be checked at any time on our website. Wait at least three working days after the interview to obtain a visa before checking visa status online. The system cannot update the status of the application up to that time, and therefore the message you get may not reflect the actual status of your application.

Check the current status of the passport through the Internet on our homepage.

Additional documents to obtain a passport

To pick up your passport you must submit the original (not a copy) of any official document with a photograph proving your identity. We also recommend you to provide a copy of the confirmation of the interview appointment.
If a person empowered to act for you is to get your documents, he or she must provide a power of attorney signed by the applicant certifying the authority of the authorized person to obtain a passport, the original of any official document with a photo confirming the identity of a trusted person or a copy of the passport.

Note: If you need to get documents for a group / family it is enough to provide a power of attorney for the whole group / family with the indication of each applicate.