My Fiancee's young sons- Travel document?

[Photo Guy]

A senior member over at VisaJourney, recommended this notarized statement from my fiancee's ex-husband:

'I, Serhii V. Loschev, give my permission for my sons, Volodymyr S. Loschev and Dmitry S. Loschev, to permanently immigrate to the U.S. and then to travel back to Ukraine and then return to the U.S..
Signed,                                       Date:

After our marriage, we would like to be able to travel freely, back and forth between the USA and Ukraine, to visit close relatives and friends. Is this the document we would need?  Thanks, Doug

[AkMike]

You may want a lawyer there to draw it up.  Make sure that it's got many blue stamps as well as an apostille. An a certified translation! (More blue stamps)

 I'd also consider having a copy of the fathers internal passport attached to this.

[BillyB]

A senior member over at VisaJourney, recommended this notarized statement from my fiancee's ex-husband:

'I, Serhii V. Loschev, give my permission for my sons, Volodymyr S. Loschev and Dmitry S. Loschev, to permanently immigrate to the U.S. and then to travel back to Ukraine and then return to the U.S..
Signed,                                       Date:

After our marriage, we would like to be able to travel freely, back and forth between the USA and Ukraine, to visit close relatives and friends. Is this the document we would need?  Thanks, Doug

It seems to me anybody can forge a signature and date a piece of paper with those words. It's always possible it's that easy and passport control at the airport will let the children through but it's wise you are getting opinions from more than one source. Was the person who gave you the advice married to an Ukrainian woman with kids and went through the same thing and if so, how long ago? If he's married to a woman from another country, what works in one country may not work in Ukraine. Also what was allowed in Ukraine 5 years ago may not be allowed today.


Hopefully someone here can give you advice based on their experience. AKMike had good advice of getting an immigration attorney involved. I would also write to the American Consulate in Ukraine and get their input of today's rules since they deal with these situations nearly everyday and they should know what passport control between both nations require when allowing children to cross borders.

[Photo Guy]

Sage advice!

[calmissile]

Doug,

I finally found a minute to check out our situation and report to you.

Initially, Lisa was added to Larrissa's international passport, complete with photo, etc.  For a reason I have since forgot, it was necessary for Lisa to get her own international passport (it is light blue in color for children).  As part of the process, it was necessary to prove that Larissa had legal authority to take Lisa across  the Ukraine border.  In our case this was done in court, however the notarized document from the child's father can also be used.  Ukraine is very strict about making sure any documents authorizing this are legitimate.

Note:  This process has nothing to do with US law or immigration.  It is totally a Ukraine process that applies to all Ukrainians that want permission to take a child from Ukraine, even on a vacation.

IIRC, the reason we had to change from the parents passport with the child's photo embedded, was because Ukraine changed the procedure where the separate international passport is required for each child. I am not 100% positive, but this is what I vaguely remember.

When we went through immigration and customs upon entering the USA there were no questions about the child or permission to exit Ukraine.  Hope this helps you a little.

[Photo Guy]

Billy, that senior member at VJ got his info from a couple that had dealt with Ukraine and their requirements. Yes, I am gathering info from a number of sources. I do appreciate info from Baron at VJ, AkMike, and Calmissile, and others..