The word is that Ukrainian girls are the most beautiful in the world, Ukrainian men are the most reliable, Ukrainian marriages are the strongest and Ukrainian divorces are the most trouble-free
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| PHÎÒÎ: PHL |
First papers
When Dante Alighieri wrote his Divine Comedy, he could not have imagined that he was practically giving a precise description of the nine circles of hell that a person must go through in order to gather, register correctly, translate and certify with official seals all the documents required for registering a marriage in the Ukrainian capital. Some even claim that the Ukrainian bureaucracy works better than a Swiss watch.
Whatever the case, in order to get married in Ukraine a person must first produce a document from the country they came from confirming marital status. It must have a validity period (usually 3 months), must specify the person’s name and the name of the future spouse, dates of birth and country or countries of origin. At the end of the document there must be a sentence that reads approximately as follows: “At the moment, there are no obstacles for registration of marriage by a specific person in a specific country under a specific provision or law”.
If a person was married in the past, they must produce a legally registered divorce or death certificate of the former spouse and when crossing the border fill out a migration card. In Ukraine, it is impossible to submit too many documents. One must simply submit the required amount. So, if as a foreigner you are thinking about bringing additional documents, you are better off bringing the entire package.
If you are a citizen of one of the states of the Hague Convention, there must be an apostil on all documents, except for the passport. An apostil is a simplified form of legalization of documents adopted in correspondence with the Hague Convention on October 5, 1961. In the U.S., an apostil is issued by the Secretary of State, in France – the Prosecutor General, in Switzerland – a canton office, in Australia – the Foreign Affairs Department, and in Norway – the county governor. If your country is not a member of the Hague Convention, the papers must be certified at your country’s consular office or embassy in Ukraine. Then all documents must be translated into Ukrainian and the translation must be certified by a local notary public.
Once you have all documents and they are barely legible due to the number of seals on them, you can submit an application to the central civil status hall of your native city. In the capital of Ukraine, for example, this is the Kyiv Central Hall for the Registration of Civil Status Acts, which goes by the nickname the “Bermuda triangle”. It was given this moniker because the building is in the shape of a triangle. Once you enter into wedlock in this Ukrainian Bermuda Triangle, friends that are still single will joke saying that you have strangely disappeared in wedlock. In the central hall of marriage registration the authorized registrar will set a date for officially registering the marriage, usually some 3 months later.
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City wedding
Modern weddings are held according to a number of basic scenarios. The first one is a classical Ukrainian city wedding; it differs from village weddings in the smaller number of traditions and rituals. The newlyweds register their marriage, exchange rings, step on a hand-embroidered Ukrainian rushnyk (towel) for happiness, get the blessing of the parents and take a piece of the wedding bread – whoever gets the bigger piece will be the head of the family.
Then everybody gets into cars and buses and go around the city stopping at popular sites where the entourage takes pictures of the newlyweds and gives a toast with a flute of champagne. Such places in Kyiv include the monument to Kiy, Schek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid (the founders of ancient Kievan-Rus), near the Eternal Flame, in Mariyinskiy Park or near the Arch of Friendship. Naturally, there are other newlyweds taking their pictures in those places, but the guests are always convinced that their bride is the most beautiful.
Then everybody goes to a restaurant, where they toast and scream out “hirko”, a traditional utterance at weddings that call upon the newlyweds to kiss each other as a show of love, and then the bride and groom kiss and dance the night away until the early hours of the morning.
Interestingly enough, in Ukraine those who want to get married in a church must first register their marriage in the hall for civil status registration before going through the official church ceremony, though one would think that God should first bless the union and then the state officially registers it afterwards. This is why in some cases newlyweds officially register their marriage in jeans and T-shirts with their closest family and friends and then on the second day they dress up in proper attire and go to church to ask for God’s blessing. After the 40-minute ceremony, everybody goes around the city, then to a restaurant, cafe or home to celebrate around a festive table.
Naturally, just like anywhere else in the world there are those who want to make this day unforgettable and extreme. Such adventure seeking newlyweds jump with a parachute, get married in the air, drive up to a restaurant on top of an armored personnel carrier and organize the celebration with friends from different countries via the Internet in the format of a video conference.
Divorce, Ukrainian-style
Usually, when we speak about divorce we usually quote the well-known novel by Leo Tolstoy Anna Karenina. It starts with the words “All happy families are similar to each other; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. It would be difficult to describe it any more precisely.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, the hundred percent guarantee of a happy marriage is possible only in heaven, not on Earth. In case of the dissolution of marriages with foreigners, Ukrainian law does not envisage for them any limitations or exceptions. In case of a divorce, foreigners do not have the right to refer to their national laws, for example those that prohibit divorces or limit them to certain conditions or conversely – make a divorce mandatory for racial, religious or other reasons.
That is why if you decide to get divorced based on mutual consent, you did not have any children and your wife is not pregnant, the procedure will not take a lot of time or effort. All you need to do is file an application to the same central hall of registration of civil status acts where your marriage was registered and in a month your application will be approved. If you have children, a divorce is only possible through a court of law. Together with the application, a written agreement must be submitted to a court specifying who will get custody of the child or children, the conditions of child support, what role the estranged parent will play in the children’s lives and conditions of personal upbringing of the children. The court usually passes down a ruling in a month’s time.
A unilateral dissolution of marriage through a court of law is also possible. Whatever the case may be, it is best to have a lawyer when you go to a Ukrainian court, because without knowing all the details of legislation there is a risk of being left with nothing after the divorce. Be that as it may, it is best to get married once and live “happily ever after”.
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Documents for marriage
For Ukrainian citizen:
1. Passport proving Ukrainian citizenship;
2. If earlier a person was married, a divorce certificate is required. If a spouse died, a death certificate is required.
For foreigners:
1. Passport with a certified and notarized translation into Ukrainian by a notary public;
2. Migration card – issued upon passing through Ukrainian customs control;
3. If earlier the person was married, a divorce certificate is required. If the spouse died, a death certificate is required.
4. Reference certifying marital status.
Documents for divorce
1. Passport copies;
2. Marriage certificate copy;
3. Marriage contract, if one was concluded during registration of the marriage);
4. Children’s birth certificate copies, if the children are under age;
5. Besides the standard set of documents, for different situations a statement or agreement on property division may be required and an agreement on upbringing and providing for the child registered and certified by a notary public, which may specify the amount and procedure for child support payments. In case of disputable situations, additional documents may be required, such as proof of income, witness testimony and documents confirming ownership rights.
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