Uzbekistan ZAGS trip report

[dusk11]

I posted a topic in another section looking for information regarding the marriage process for uzbekistan.  I didn't receive any responses so I thought I'd post my experience and suggestions on the process.   First, i met my wife through a mutual friend about a year ago and have made 7 or 8 trips to Uzbekistan over the last year. 

First of all, the process posted on the US embassy's website is somewhat correct but the process seems to change every week.   You will first need to obtain some sort of document from the US that says you have never been married or are divorced.  This usually comes from the circuit court or the US Vitals records office in your city.  This will need to be notarized by the county.  Then you will need to have the document certified by the Secretary of State of whatever state you are from.  At this point, I would recommend using a courier service in Washington DC.  You will need to have the document attested by the State Department and then legalized by the Embassy of Uzbekistan.

I made the mistake of not having the document legalized by the Embassy of Uzbekistan in DC and then had to spend half of a day at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs having the document stamped and legalized doe UZ.  Once the document is attested by the State Department you will need to have the US Embassy in Tashkent attest the document.  Finally, you have already spent hundreds of $$ and now have documented proof that you are not currently married.  You will then need to have the document translated to Uzbek/Russian and notarized at the First City Notary.  I think this was around 30k sum or so.  I recommend having the document translated to Uzbek because the manager at ZAGS is Uzbek and didn't seem to read Russian very well.

At this point you will now need to go to the International Clinic for a medical certificate.  They will test for Hep a/b/c, HIV, etc and provide you a medical certificate the same day. Your fiance will also need to do the same but she must do this process through the local hospitals.  However, the ZAGS manager must give her some kind of permission letter in order to get the medical certificate. 

Ok, you are finally ready go to ZAGS....  All foreigners in Tashkent must be married at the Navrouz ZAGS and only the ZAGS manager is allowed to marry foreigners.  Now, the US Embassy says you must be on PV visa but I was able to get by with just a tourist visa.  No matter what anyone says, you will need to bribe to get married in Uzbekistan.  The ZAGS manager will have you fill out a form and then give your fiance some sort of document in order to get the medical certificate.  She also forced us to get some kind of document from OVIR saying that they give me permission to get married since I'm not from Uzbekistan.  At this point your fiance will need to negotiate the bribe with the ZAGS manager. The bribe will depend on how fast you need the marriage certificate.... Officially, it takes 32 days to get married in Uzbekistan.  However, it is possible to get married in 1 day if you have all the documentation together.  I have several friends that have married Uzbeks and they have paid anywhere between 200 and 1300US in bribes depending on how fast you need the marriage certificate. 

Getting the document from OVIR that gives you permission to get married in UZ was another hassle....  You will need to go to the OVIR office where you have registered your visa.  If you are staying at a hotel, you will need to ask them where they have registered your visa at.  The OVIR officer will tell you it will take 2 weeks for the document so your fiance will need to bribe the officer to get the document the same day.  The officer actually said they needed to contact INTERPOL to do a background investigation on me.  I thought that was hilarious considering there isn't a computer in the entire building....  I think we slid the guy a 100 bucks and he gave us the document in 30 minutes.

Anyway, the process is completely ridiculous but we finally did it..... I was able to get the marriage certificate in about 2 days but it took about 1 month to gather all the documents from the US. 

Good luck to anyone else that is considering getting married in UZ.  I would probably recommend going the K1 route but that was not a possibility for me since I have been working in the middle east for the last 8 years.  Also, the people working at the US Embassy in Tashkent are not helpful at all.  They were unable to provide even basic information such as address and phone numbers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Ministry of Justice.  When I asked for this information I was told "I don't know...ask your fiance."  Wonderful....my tax dollars at work!! While I was waiting to pay the attestation fee I saw a young Uzbek woman exiting the interview room crying.  Obviously, she was probably denied her visa for whatever reason.... 

[tfcrew]

First of all, the process posted on the US embassy's website is somewhat correct but the process seems to change every week.   

That link is this one.....?
http://uzbekistan.usembassy.gov/marriage_registration4.html
 

Good luck to anyone else that is considering getting married in UZ.

Dittos there...the K-1 is easier and is good for 6 months [if I am correct] or else re-apply.
Come back soon with more news........................
Karl

[Faux Pas]

dusk,

Good info!  Thanks for the TR!

[mendeleyev]

K1 is 3 months unless something has changed.

Now that you are married you must file the K3 (K4 for a child) and it's typically a longer process than a K1 although it was originally supposed to be shorter. Just because you're married is no guarantee than she will be granted a visa. That is one of the big downfalls of the K3 process. You must still go thru the application process and after NVC approval the Embassy still can go thumbs up or thumbs down on the final interview with her. Its not that you're married, but they'll be looking at how long you've known each other and "why" you married. Good luck on that part of the process cause it's not a slam dunk.

Consistency is not one of the better traits of the Uzbek government so that is why the US Embassy requirements change with the wind. Now the marriage visa K3 process will be handled by the USA but you'll need things like a background/police check on her and medical exams done again.

Write about the customs and traditions you experienced in the wedding and party afterward if you don't mind.

[Mishenka]

Dusk, thanks for posting, what an eye opener for a lot of people.

All I have to say is WOW! and Ouch!  I apologize I didn't see your original post, maybe I could have saved you some frustration, headaches, pain and $$$.

My story goes like this; Galina is well connected to Tashkent Gov officials. When we did the second personal visit visa, she gave a bribe of a 4 Oz bottle of Avon lotion. Cost me 3 bucks. PV visas cost $130 for the dual Entry 3 month visa plus a small fee when submitting the letter if invitation. I did this myself on my first trip for the second trip planned later. A smile from her gets us to the front of the line past 30 others waiting, and a seat at the directors desk (her friend) to write the PV visa app. You have the local city official write the app, and then take it to the state official to deal with issuing the final visa. This process took 8 days because someone was out of town, then they notify the Uzbek embassy in NYC that it is approved and they mail the actual visa with my passport to my home address. The state official requested a bottle of perfume. I had brought several, so this was not a problem. Cost me $18 USD wholesale in USA and $80 in Uzbekistan stores.

She paid a bribe to a local hotel to register me; $10 bucks, I stayed at Galina's flat. Never saw the hotel, they never saw me, only my passport. Tashkent officials will do anything for a small bribe, $5 or $10 is plenty.  Where was your fiancee during all of this? I'm surprised she did not protect you from the wolves at Zags and negotiate a smaller gift. I'm curious, how much did you pay for a taxi? We paid an average of 75 cents to a dollar for any ride around town. What was the exchange rate when you changed into Uzbek sum?  Should at least get 1800 Sum now to one dollar from a local shop owner. I never exchange money at banks.  I'm  curious what time of year this was. That terrible woman at the US Embassy is gone now. Her post was up in January. I hear the new people  at the US embassy are better to work with. I really wish I had seen your original post.

I have this complete process written down to make it go smoother. Maybe I should post it? Anyone else want to be married in Tashkent? In any case, you will still have to file a petition for K3 and she cannot live with you in USA until it is approved. Even if you were married in both USA and Uzbek embassies, she will not get a green card until the k3 is approved. The current time line is about 10 months or more if you have all your papers complete and translated back into English by the City of Tashkent official translator and notarized by the "City Notorious". Depending on how many copies you want, 3 copies was 18,000 Sum. $10 USD. Anyway,, best of luck in your journey back to USA with her. Be patient, and make sure she knows she can not leave her country to come to USA even on a tourist visa while waiting for K3 visa approval. When you apply for the K3 make sure you also get the work visa at the same time.  Oh and the medical exam has an expiration "use by date" so if you file the K3 fast enough it still might be good,  she might not have to do another. Going by the current time line, you might expect it.

mishenka

[dusk11]

Well, my journey over....  My wife and I were finally married on April 25th and I just returned home!! Actually, I have been living in Kuwait for the last 7 years so my wife won't be doing the K-1/K-3 visa process. I will be petitioning for her immigration visa (green card) at the US Embassy here in Kuwait and have already started that process. On top of the whole ZAGS experience I also had the pleasure of processing her Kuwait family visa, which is a whole other story.  Anyway, she now has her new passport, OVIR, Kuwait visa and will finally leave Tashkent on Monday. 

Uzbekistan still had one last hurdle to throw.... Uzbek Airways refused to sell her a ticket to Dubai without a Dubai transit visa even though she was connecting to another flight to Kuwait.  Uzbek Airways has to be one of the worst airlines so I'm not totally surprised.  Uzbek Airways still uses paper tickets written by hand and aren't partnered with any airlines!!! So, my wife will be flying to Moscow with her mother and then flying to Kuwait via Dubai on Emirates. 

Mishenka, you are very lucky to have a well connected woman.  Many of my friends have tried to get PV visas but it seemed to be nearly impossible unless you know someone.  Also, my wife doesn't have a permanent registration stamp for Tashkent so she was unable to sponsor my PV visa.  Having a PV visa would have definitely made life a lot easier. My wife couldn't even register my visa at OVIR so she had to ask one of her friends to do it for her.  The exchange rate on the black market is still around 1800 depending on how much you exchange.  I got 1830 to the USD when exchanging over 1,000US.  Taxis are anywhere between 1,000 to 4,000 sum depending on where you go.  We normally just used the same driver that charged us 200 or 300 sum a km.

Even my friends traveling to Tashkent for our wedding weren't spared the asshatery of the Uzbek government.  On the way into Uzbekstan all of my friends were searched for undeclared gold.  I guess Uzbeks working illegally in Dubai as prostitutes are now buying gold, bringing it into Uzbekistan, and then selling the gold for US dollars.  I have no idea why they would search a group of 7 American tourists for gold. But nothing really makes sense in Uzbekistan.... Also, 3 of my friends were pulled aside by customs officials on departure and searched for undeclared dollars and euros.  This went on until one my friends started yelling "DOLLARS NYET" at the customs officer and then were let go.  Guess they didn't want to deal with a bunch of angry americans.

I hate to say it but both my wife and I are sickened with the situation in Uzbekistan.  I hope Karimov and his entire corrupt government rot in hell.  The government continues to oppress their citizens and enrich themselves while allowing the entire infrastructure of their country to collapse around them.  Then they look around and wonder why all their citizens are leaving to work in Russia and the middle east....  If it wasn't for the USSR, Uzbekistan would just be another Afghanistan in the armpit of the world, called Central Asia. I absolutely have no intention on traveling back to Uzbekistan for at least 2 or 3 years.... 

[Mishenka]

Galina has stated more than a few times, once she leaves Tashkent, she will never return.  Her family is living either in USA or Moscow. We are still in the "process", but wonder what mountains we will have to climb ahead. We decided after all this time, to do a K1 and not marry in Tashkent. She will arrive sooner and not have to go back. The benefits of a K1 out weigh the K3. Life overseas can be a royal pain.  We don't know how lucky we are living in USA. The freedoms we exercise here heavily out weight the prisons others live in outside this country.

dusk, congrats on crossing one major finish line, best of luck on the races ahead.

Mishenka

[mendeleyev]

Dubai transit visa even though she was connecting to another flight to Kuwait.

Dusk, not trying to be smart but perhaps I'm missing a piece of the puzzle. A transit visa is common in many parts of the world when one gets off an airplane in order to board another one. True, not in the Western world, but unless I'm missing out on the issue, I'd have thought that to be standard in that part of the world.

I'm familiar with the visa process you are embarking with a friend stationed in Kuwait going thru the same for his new wife from Bulgaria to Kuwait and later, hopefully, to the USA. A green card for any immigrant starts with the I-130 but you'll be working thru both the US Embassy in Kuwait while filing the I-130 thru your service center in the USA. So the process and paperwork ends up being the same however the CR-1 or IR-1 is sometimes faster than the K3 especially in your case with Embassy help. The same I-130 documentation, background checks and medical checks will apply as with all Green Card applications. The Kuwait US Embassy has done a nice job of posting the process on their website. Would that all Embassy sites were so helpful.

[dusk11]

Mishenka, the K1 process seems to be the best path to go. Do you plan on having a wedding in Tashkent??  I highly recommend it!! I'm sure your fiance has many family and friends in Uzbekistan that will demand some sort of wedding ceremony. Our wedding was wonderful and cost a fraction of what I would have paid in the US.

My wife was just complaining about the prospect of returning to Uzbekistan to renew her OVIR "exit visa" page in October 2010.  I tried to explain that no one outside of Uzbekistan cares about her OVIR page but she still seems to think Kuwait passport control will look for her OVIR.   
She has only traveled to Russia so its hard to argue my point. She agreed that Russia doesn't care about her OVIR but still seems to think that every other country will check for a valid OVIR. When I was having our marriage certificate attested at the Uzbek embassy in Kuwait, the Uzbek Consulate actually told me I had to bring my wife to the embassy for a registration stamp.  I laughed at him....

Mishenka, make sure your fiance has a new passport before she comes to the US.  The Uzbekistan Embassies will not renew passports abroad.  Uzbek citizens must travel back to Uzebkistan to renew their passports, get their registration stamp, and get a new OVIR exit visa.  This was a 2 week process for my wife and involved lots of bribes.

Transit visas are not required in Dubai unless you are actually planning to pass through passport control and spend the night.  If a transit visa were required, every Indian and filipino maid coming to the middle east would require transit visas when passing through to their final destination in Kuwait, Saudi, bahrain, etc.  I ended up booking a flight on Emirates from Moscow to Kuwait without any problems and confirmed that she didn't need a visa, other than her Kuwait visa.

The immigration visa process at the Kuwait embassy is pretty easy.... A couple of my friend's who are married to Ukrainians were granted their green card in less than 3 months.  Their wives visit the US once every 6 months just to keep their green card active. 

[Mishenka]

Hi dusk11,  I wish I was there to see your wedding!  Sounds great!
 
Galina comes from a small family, her parents and granny passed away. Only her son is left with her in Tashkent. She has a brother here in the Seatle, Washington with his family,  2 sister in laws, and 2 cousins in Moscow. She has friends in Boston and one in San Diego near me. She wanted to get married in Tashkent in her church, so we will most likely do that as a celebration at a time when her brother and sisters, cousins can attend after we are legally married in USA.  Time will tell. Latey she is not doing well, since her brother left she is spending a lot of time alone. Right now her family is separated across the globe and she feels like she doesnt fit in anywhere.
I hope she is better soon. We are not speaking much lately.
Mishenka