Express marriages in Ukraine are available since 2016. The process is similar to Las Vegas style weddings: Come in and put a ring on your beloved right away. Yes, you can marry a Ukrainian girl you visit right on the spot!
Imagine that: Start communication on a trusted dating site like Elena’s Models, develop your relationship via frequent (and free) Skype video dates, keep in touch through daily texts via mobile (directly with your lady), and then, if you feel there is enough chemistry, you are able to arrange a marriage ceremony during 1-2 weeks you spend in her home town when visiting. This is how quick and effective it is to find a wife through a serious dating site where women seek a committed partner. Certainly, you are able to spend enough time communicating before making the decision to get married.
In Ukraine, it is considered perfectly acceptable to start dating with the intention of a serious relationship and common future. Moreover, women perceive serious intentions as honourable, as compared to a casual approach by a male.
“Men are not serious”, women on Elenasmodels.com frequently complain. They want someone who thinks of a lifetime partnership from the start. Ladies feel disheartened when a man fails to state he wants to find a wife, get married, settle down, and have kids. Guys who openly admit they want to meet a woman to marry, are much more successful.
Find out how much does it cost to wed within 24 hours and what documents are required for foreigners.
Express marriage in Ukraine
Over 6 thousand pairs have already taken advantage of this service since its introduction in mid-2016, about which we reported last year.
Quick nuptials within 24 hours are now accessible not only in Nevada, USA, but also in 18 major Ukrainian cities. The local authorities plan to expand the service to other locations.
The list includes:
- Kyiv (Kiev)
- Lviv
- Odessa
- Kherson
- Mykolaiv
- Dnipro (Dnepropetrovsk)
- Vinnytsia (Vinnitsa)
- Kharkiv
- Rivne
- Ternopil
- Chernivtsi
- Sumy
- Chenihiv
- Lutsk
- Zhytomyr
- Uzhhorod
- Ivano-Frankivsk
- Kamianets-Podilskyi
The cost of registration depends on the package the couple selects. If you want music, a photographer, and Champagne, it will cost more than if you just walked in to sign the marriage register.
Ultra-quick Ukrainian weddings: Prices
The cheapest way to marry through the express marriage procedure will see you hitched the next day after the application, according to Finance.ua.
- The basic 24-hour turnaround service costs 4270 Ukrainian hryvnia (USD $161).
- If you want to register on the same day, be prepared to pay additional 2000 hryvnia ($75), which means $235 in total.
- Don’t mind to splurge on extras to marry in style? You will require 10,073 hryvnia ($380).
The luxury package includes:
- music
- flowers for the bride
- Champagne celebration with your guests
- picking up the exact date of nuptials a few days in advance
- photographer
The regular marriage registration procedure in Ukraine requires the pair to apply at least 1 month in advance. This is why express marriage is the perfect option for lovers who have plenty of confidence in their feelings but little time for formalities.
Who needs to spend $30,000 on a wedding? (That’s the average cost of a marriage celebration in western countries like Australia or the USA.)
Get it done quickly and painlessly, with officials doing all the wedding planning for you. Imagine if you tell someone at home that getting married in Ukraine only cost you USD 380!
Express marriages in Ukraine are cheap and really quick.
Documents required
Ukrainian brides and grooms only need their passports and the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (or INN, as they call it).
If a person has been married before, they should bring their divorce certificate as well.
As a foreigner, you require a little bit more paperwork to complete beforehand, in order to marry within 24 hours. Good news is that you can do it rather quickly in Ukraine or at your home country.
The government website explains which documents you have to present in order to tie the knot with your Ukrainian bride.
A foreigner needs:
- Notarized translation of his foreign passport to Ukrainian. The translation can be only done by a certified translator. If the foreigner was married before, then a notarized translation of the divorce certificate is needed.
- The original documents (passport, divorce decree or death certificate of your former spouse) require Apostille stamp or certification by the Consulate of your country in Ukraine.
- A letter of “no impediments to marriage” needs to be filled out and certified in the Embassy of your country in Kiev. The form contains a sworn statement that you are currently not married. (While you are doing it, they will also give you all the forms and information how to apply for a visa for your wife to bring her to your country.) Get this letter certified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine at 2 Velyka Zhytomyrska Street, Kiev.
Once you have all your foreign documents (passport, divorce certificate) translated and apostilled, and have legalized the letter of no impediments to marriage, take them to the registrar office.
That’s it! All you need to do now is select the date—and enjoy your blissfully ever after.
Foreign documentation needs to be translated into Ukrainian and notarized.
Read also:
- Odessa Vegas: 24/7 marriage registrations are now available in Ukraine
- How Serious Are Russian, Ukrainian Women on Dating Sites about Meeting a Partner for Life?
- Russian wedding traditions, customs. Average cost of a wedding in Russia
- How Russian wedding rings are worn? Big surprise
Is this service offered in Moscow – Russia?
Mike,
Russia is a completely different country 🙂
So, no, express marriage is only available in Ukraine.
So is there are Civil Marriages in Moscow? and how much time it takes?
Thanks
Mike, all marriages in Russia are civil marriages. If you want a religious ceremony, you have to bring the registration certificate from ZAGS (marriage register authority) to the priest.
Normally, you have to apply 1 month in advance to register a marriage. They can give you a permission to marry sooner under “special circumstances”. One example could be that you are a foreigner and have return tickets home, so you cannot wait that long. But shortening the waiting period is to the discretion of the director of ZAGS.
Thanks Elena for your help. I have my girl in Moscow and we want to marry a civil marriage without ceremony but in one day, without such long waiting time. Do you suggest other country than Ukraine, so we can go and marry in the same day?
Thanks
Mike, many international couples marry in Prague. Also I know some Russian-American couples who married in Fiji. Then you simply get Apostille on the marriage certificate before you leave the country.
You also will be able to arrange a marriage ceremony in Moscow without a long wait if your girlfriend negotiates with people from ZAGS in advance and explains that you are unable to spend a month there waiting. They will be able to advise what can be done.
What are the benefits of an express marriage when the process or bringing a woman that you’ve married back to the states takes longer than if they were your fiancé? What am I missing?
Steven, First, about bringing your wife to the USA vs. K1 fiancée visa: Rules are changing all the time. No one can say for sure what is faster. Second, in a woman’s eyes the status of a wife is reliable and secure, but the status of a fiancée is unreliable and insecure. Third, USA is not the only country in the world. For example, Canada allows to bring across a family member (wife) but not a fiancée. When making decisions, consult a legal professional who works with visas (immigration lawyer or agent), to get the latest scope on what is… Read more »
Elena, About 6 months ago, I saw and read here on Elenasmodels a discussion on the fiance visa and getting your loved one to the USA. I cannot find that article and this article included the name of an immigration attorney and office. I would like to find that attorney and that article which explained the way for getting a fiance visa as the best method for her coming to the USA. I like the ‘express marriage’ but I would like to know if my ‘express’ wife can travel with me to the USA without delay or is the fiance… Read more »
Hi Peter,
I don’t think the article you mentioned was on Elenasmodels blog. We only had one post about the process for Russian brides to Australia (prospective marriage partner visa).
But you certainly cannot enter the USA immediately with your newlywed wife; if she is Russian or Ukrainian, she needs a visa.
Here is what the government website says:
https://ua.usembassy.gov/visas/immigrant-visas/fiancee-visa/
can anyone tell me if i need an appointment to fill out and sign Letter of Non-Impediment to Marriage (“marriage letter”) at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv?
sam,
You need to check websites of the official departments of you plan the ceremony of express marriage in Kiev. They will have updated information, costs, prices, addressees, open times etc.
If a U.S. man marries a Ukrainian woman in Ukraine, how long can they live together in Ukraine?
Ray,
US citizens do not need to apply for a visa to enter Ukraine and can stay there for up to 90 days. If you marry a Ukrainian woman, you immediately can apply for a “temporary permit to live” in Ukraine, which will allow you to stay there for a year. Then you can extend it for another year. After 2 years of marriage you can apply for a permanent residence. Permanent residents can stay in the country indefinitely.
question, the documents that I need to marry in Ukraine, should I have it translated into Ukraine + apostille, or can I translate it into my own country and provide it with apostille?
Paul, you can only apostille documents in your own country. So, you need to find a certified translator of Ukrainian in your country. Ukrainian consulate may know people. Contact them to confirm and check.
ok , thank you
With regard to the US, Apostille stamps are not done by the US Embassy. They must be done by an officer authorized to certify the document in the jurisdiction in which the document was issued. FYI
My girlfriend and i want to get married by express. We are foreigners but we live in Chernivtsi- Ukraine. What do we need to submit and how much will it cost.
Edmund, you need to get your girlfriend to investigate it: Where is the express marriage could be registered in her city, where to get the documents certified – they know at the local register.
My girlfriend and I live in chernivtsi. Which city can we register and certify our documents
Sweetie, I have no idea! I live in Australia 😉
Ask your girlfriend to find out! She speaks the language, right?
Where can i get a express marriage in kiev or ukraine?
Dan, express marriage is a service that is available in 18 Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv (Kiev). The process is similar to getting married in Vegas, for example. But you still need all the documentation required for a regular marriage ceremony of foreign citizens with Ukrainians.