Embassies corruption to get tourist visa?

[JDzen]

Hi, I am going to plan a trip to invite my Ukrainian gf to Europe. She went to local agencies, who told her that they could have a strong influence on obtaining the tourist visa, with money kickbacks and bribes to the embassy.
BS or not? I know Ukraine is madly full of corruption, but can it goes until the embassies?

[AnastassiaAsh]

I think very unlikely, that agency wants to make money, there is no guarantee in such a service, is there.

[wxman]

It's a scam.

[Vaughn]

Portugal? If so, very nice - one of my favorite countries. Forget the agencies' inflated claims
of being able to help. It's BS. Contact your embassy (or immigration authority) and find out the
accepted procedure for getting her to visit legally. Good luck.

[Mishenka]

I don't know about Ukraine, but in Uzbekistan if you want anything done at a local Gov agency or Embassy, a bribe is expected. An unspoken request, understood between them.  If the agent is a female sitting at the desk, pay in money, Avon,  perfume or small jewelry. If the agent is male, they want American cash only.  $10 or $20 gets you a seat in the chair at their desk. It sure beats waiting hours in line behind 50 or 60 people. Because the Visa process takes time, if you want it sooner you must pay each step of the process. The difference with a personal visitor visa, it can be processed in one week with a bribe or can take 2 months without one.  I'm speaking of Tashkent here.  Anyone can be bought. The government pays them nothing to work all day, so it is expected to pay for favors.  The minimum wage in this country is 23.00 a month, average income 250 per capita, per month as of 2008 figures. An excellent salary would be 400- 800 per month. A family taking in 1000 per month in combined income is well off.  I will mention working for the Gov as a cop or whatever, they do get a free apartment and utilities paid. In this respect, at least they have the basics paid for. The dollar exchange rate is 140,000 Uzbek for $100 USD

Key words -perfume, Avon makeup, cash, small jewelry, watch, ring, etc. any intersting thing works well for a bribe especially if it comes from USA and is not made in China!

Mishenka

[kievstar]

Depends on who you deal with.  In Kiev USA embassy will take bribes but I doubt your going to get very far unless you build a personal relationship first.

[SANDRO43]

IINM, Consular delegations may have local staff only from a certain level down (clerical, administrative, etc.) who may handle part of the paperwork involved in visa requests but certainly not their actual granting (although of course they may have ways of speeding up, slowing down or even obstructing the process, if not properly supervised).

Whom do those alleged cases of bribes involve? Local or foreign personnel?

[JDzen]

Well in my case it would getting through small travel agencies in Lugansk, to deal with the French embassy in Kiev.
With Ukraine I just don't know what to believe or not, I guess everything is possible there, European limits looks far from Ukrainian ones.

[SANDRO43]

Well in my case it would getting through small travel agencies in Lugansk, to deal with the French embassy in Kiev.

Did you have a look at http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/ ?
Et savez-vous que Lugansk est bien considerée la capitale de scammeuses en Ucraïne ?

[Sculpto]

Keyword... LUGANSK!

Slam on the brakes brother!

IMNSHO you need to get EVERYTHING verified about the lady and any agency of any kind she is involved with.  Do you know how to contact Alex in Lugansk?

[BillyB]

Hi, I am going to plan a trip to invite my Ukrainian gf to Europe.

I doubt the plan was your idea. You mention she's your gf. Have you two met or are you assuming you two are a couple because she calls you "darling" and sends you kisses in her letters?

[ScottinCrimea]

Keyword... LUGANSK!

Slam on the brakes brother!

IMNSHO you need to get EVERYTHING verified about the lady and any agency of any kind she is involved with.  Do you know how to contact Alex in Lugansk?

To clarify, Lugansk = the scam capital of Ukraine

In case it isn't clear, you are not dealing with the Ukrainian embassy here, but the embassy of the country for which you want the visa.  You may bribe the clerical staff who are locals, but try to bribe the ones who really make the decisions and you could have major problems.

[JDzen]

I already went to see her twice, about 3 weeks in total, the idea of inviting her is from me.
She went to see travel agencies as potential professional liars I am not surprised they told her that, so they have a chance to get the money. Then I was surprised as all these agencies refused to do pre-booking, until we get the visa, but it is fine I am in talk with Kiyavia which seems ok and then have a branch in Lugansk.

[docetae]

I already went to see her twice, about 3 weeks in total, the idea of inviting her is from me.
She went to see travel agencies as potential professional liars I am not surprised they told her that, so they have a chance to get the money. Then I was surprised as all these agencies refused to do pre-booking, until we get the visa, but it is fine I am in talk with Kiyavia which seems ok and then have a branch in Lugansk.

Bonne chance avec l'ambassade de France à Kiev... The only think you can get with bribes with them is to be sure your name will be written in RED and you will burn all your chances to get a visa for your girlfriend.
For the french embassy, you can not go into the visa section with your girlfriend and must stay outside...

[ECOCKS]

We have done it both ways.  I never took it as a scam/bribe situation though, only as a convenience. One company didn't even charge a fee for it, another did though it was less than $25. You can take your passport to the agency, sign the forms and they take them over to the embassy in a large batch, along with your passport, all the documentation that you have prepaid for your hotel, transportation, roundtrip arrangements and so on. A couple of days later you go back and pick up your passport with the visa in it. My wife does not like having to stand in the queues (2-3 hours sometimes) at the embassies.  Also, when going through multiple countries it saved her taking a day or two off from work to do three visas for one trip.

So, I see no scam involved.

[Simoni]

You CAN get a tourist visa to EU countries from Ukraine.

I took my then gf to Paris.  The key is to get a package from a travel agency that includes air, hotel, etc.  That somehow strengthens the argument that she is going as a tourist, and all details have been taken care of.

I had similar luck with packages to Spain for her.

But no, don't pay bribes.