MOVING TO KIEV JULY 2012

Hello Michelle!

You are a very interesting person going to see a very nice country I am sure native English speakers can make money here in Ukraine. Nowadays many Ukrainian people learn English and are willing to pay money for it. You can do one of the following:
- Approach a language school (I can advise you some, if necessary) and work there;
- Find customers to teach privately; one of such places can be English language clubs here in Kiev - there are 3-4 of them here;
- Work as a translator. Do you speak any other languages except English?

Hopefully, I could be more helpful for you, so you are welcome to ask any questions.

Best regards,
Yuriy

Michelle,
I am sure you will enjoy your stay. You are right the visa situation is not good if you want to stay here long term. I am still struggling with the whole thing after being here 7 years or so. I am English and have been married to a local woman for 5 years, we live in Crimea and enjoy the summer sunshine with a beach nearby. For the first 3 years I did a border run every 3 months, it was more a case of needing a civilisation fix than anything if I am honest, and after a long weekend in Krakow and armed with a new stamp in my passport I was ready to cope with the strange life that a Ukrainian village has to offer. Now I am applying for permanent residence and have been given permission to stay but still need to return and pay the Ukraine consul in London £800 odd pounds to return here and get my residence card, crazy system that revolves around bribes and corruption. As for work Descon is probably better placed to tell about Kiev, I teach privately in the village and charge 15gvn an hour, the locals cannot afford more. I volunteer in the school as well and run a free english club  at the weekend. Kiev will be able to pay more possibly not U.K. private tuition rates but maybe in the region of 100-200 and hour ?????

I would arrive without a visa for 3 months, then hop to krakow and get a 6 month multi exit visa that only gives you 3 months left and in those 9 months maybe someone will sponsor you for a job or you may decide to go back home.

Regards and good luck whatever you do and if you need a break and some bacon sandwiches, or just relax by the sea then drop me a line we would be glad to see you.

Chris

Chris, UGH, why does it have to be so complicated ... I just want to stay and enjoy for a year while my kid gets her feet on the ground and acclimated... I also want to visit our kids at our orphanages and maybe try to set up a transitional home of some kind for a few of them to live and learn some life skills.  What about the non-profit angle, if I was to register it there? 

Are you saying I could come for 3 months and at the end of that time get a 6 multi-entry visa so I can be there a total of 9 months at one time?  I would love to know how hard it is to find a job teaching with a organization who would be willing to provide a work visa (I hear they are generally not)...

Is it really as big a culture shock as I have been told it is? My daughter speaks almost fluent Russian but I on the other hand have very limited language skills and am just now starting to attempt to better learn the language

Thanks for responding and maybe others will chime in   Oh, and thanks for the lovely invite.... who knows, maybe one day we will show u on you door step

Kinds regards, Michelle

Michelle, yes it is a huge culture shock, and even more so in the villages. My neighbours on both sides do not have inside toilets or running water in the house, the village has been without electricity for 5 days and no water for about 3 weeks now. Luckily I have solar and a generator and have also drilled a well in the garden so we still smell sweet and I can stay in business via the net.
Yes I have done just that under the new laws, arrive as normal and now you do not need to fill in an immigration card at the entry point, you get a stamp in your visa and enjoy 3 months hassle free, just before the visa expires get on a trai to Krakow or city of your choice with a consul, I chose Krakow as the old town is lovely, with a great olde worlde hotel nr the square and the Polish customer service is a joy after some time spent in Ukraine. You apply for and get a 6 month visa and return on
the train. Another 6 months without a problem. As for the last 3 then You would have to hope to have it sorted by then or return home. I do not know about registering a non profit organisation here, my initial reaction is they will fall about laughing at the idea of non profit. You should consult a lawyer when you get here, but any business registration is lengthy and expensive, this is a former Soviet Union country and the bureaucratic behaviour  is still the same, endless form filling and paying at each stage. I would think you just might be registered as you are about to leave. It has taken me 6 months of form filling to get my car registered to me after purchase and we are still waiting to have the house documents finalised after a building project 2 years later. My wife and I would love to get involved in some transitional housing help or fostering. we are a long way from kiev, but you can visit whenever you wish, we grow all our food, take a few guests in the summer and I work from home on the net, and restore vintage m/cycles as well as the English. Ukraine is 3rd world but I enjoy the quiet village life.

Regards,

Chris

Hi Michelle, for stay in Ukraina for long term you need visa document, minumum 3 months, after, 1 week before this visa finish you need to go to the Ovir office, and they will give you 3 months more....But you need flat contract or regular work, and is not so easy here..
Ciao Daniel

Hi there. Best of luck in your stay in Ukraine,be prepared for some tough times dealing with formalities.Cut long story short :

1.Legal employment in Ukraine means you sing some contract with Ukrainian entity - to do this you need work permit.To get work permit you need to hire local "office" (individual with certain contacts).You will be asked to provide bunch of documents,proving your education, good behaviour (clear criminal records,etc).Waiting time is roughly 2 months.With work permit you can apply for residence permit.To get this you need to hire probably the same individual and provide another bunch of documents.Both documents are valid for a year,and with those you can stay in the country as long as want (meaning you don't have to leave Ukraine every three months).
2.To get resindence permit you need to have a place to live rented officialy (lease agreement is to be presented to OVIR which is authority to deal with immigration and foreigners in the country).
3.Total cost to have all this done is around USD 1000.
4.I would suggest go this way - rather then thinking about any individual business activity.Ukraine is not really the most hospitable place for any foreign business activity.

Best of luck - if you will need any futher info,let me know.Will be glad to help.

Kind regards from Kiev

Andrew