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Music and Art at the Ukrainian Institute of America
Posted by Tatiana Durbak on June 22, 2001 at 23:22:23:
In Reply to: Re: Applying for US Citizenship / Dual Citizenship posted by Ukrainian? on June 18, 2001 at 18:29:21:
: I am not a US citizen yet, but hoping to be one soon. My close friend just got naturalized, but INS did not ask her to turn in her passport (maybe that was a mistake on the INS part, I don't know).
: I have a question for Lena and Ukrainian2: what do you need Ukrainian passport for? The only reason that I can imagine is that you want to go to Cuba, Iran, Iraq, or any other Arab country, because travelling there with the US passport can be dangerous... Am I missing something here? Are there other advantages to keeping Ukrainian passport?
: As far as I know, getting a tourist visa in Ukrainian Embassy in DC is much easier then going to Ukraine "as Ukrainian" and then stand a chance not be allowed to leave because you don't have a PMZh stamp or for any other stupid reason that occured in border patrol officer's head (for males not serving in the army, for example!). And please, I don't want to hear replies like "where is my Ukrainian soul?". I think that donating money to charities that actually help Ukrainians, or helping friends and relatives in Ukraine defines a Ukrainian much more then simply keeping a Ukrainian passport. Of course, if you actually are paying Ukrainian taxes from your salary in the US or planning to pay such, I can only applaud you!
For everybody:
I am an attorney who practices immigration law. The INS does NOT take foreign passports of people
who apply for US citizenship. If any INS agent is doing this, that agent is acting improperly. Passports of non US citizens are taken only when a person is placed into deportation proceedings. The passport is taken, so that the person will not leave the US before appearing in immigration court. Passports are retunred when the deportation case is concluded (either with the person leaving the US or with the person obtaining relief, i.e residence, asylum, withholding of deportation, etc.).