When I decided to go to Ukraine, I had a lot to do. For starters, my passport had expired several years ago. I went to the State Department's webiste and found out that they had extended the time in which an expired passport could be renewed. It turns out I was several months inside the new time limit! So I downloaded the application form, got my passport pictures, sent it off, and requested expedited processing.About the same time, on May 5, 2001, I contacted the agency in Ukraine and asked them to send me an invitation letter. An invitation letter is necessary to get a visa. Since I would be leaving on June 29, there was plenty of time. Or so I thought.
My new passport arrived and everything looked good. But the invitation letter was taking a long time. It finally showed up on May 30. That still gave me a full month to get the visa, so there was plenty of time. Or so I thought.
I had looked at the visa application form online, so I knew everything that was needed. But when I went back to download the form, I noticed one little thing I didn't see before. It seems the Ukrainian embassy will only accept visa applications on original forms sent out by the embassy! I had to request the form, in writing, and snail-mail it to the Ukrainian embassy, enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope. I figured it would take two or three days for my letter to get there, a couple of days form them to act on it, and a couple more days for the application to get here. That would still leave three weeks, so there was plenty of time. Or so I thought.
But I had forgotten that I was dealing with a government beaurocracy. It took a full two weeks to get the application form back! But there were still two weeks left before my plane took off, so there was plenty of time. Or so I thought.
I sent off the application, the invitation letter, and my passport to the Ukrainian embassy in Chicago. I ponied up the extra cash for expedited processing. That guaranteed it would only take three business days to issue the visa. I sent it Express Mail, on June 18, and included a paid Express Mail envelope for them to send my passport and visa back. I figured I would get it back by Friday the 22nd, a full week before my plane took off. Plenty of time, or so I thought.
But it didn't come on the 22nd. And it didn't come on Saturday the 23rd. I was starting to get concerned and thought I might have to fly to Chicago and apply for the visa in person. I figured if I didn't have my passport and visa by Wednesday, I had better go to Chicago. Monday the 25th, came and went with no visa. Tuesday the 26th, I got home from work and there it was! Now I was finally all set to start my trip. I finally had my passport and visa with a full two days to spare! Plenty of time!
Note: Since this was written, the procedure for getting a visa has changed. An invitation letter is no longer required, and the application form can be downloaded from the embassy's website. This saves quite a bit of money and time. Also, you no longer have to register your passport with the local police in Ukraine, so you can save the trouble and expense of that, also.