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Posted by ihor on March 22, 2002 at 09:56:16:
In Reply to: Visiting family in Lviv posted by Peter Michail on March 22, 2002 at 00:17:31:
Cannot tell anything about Australian authorities (I live in the US) but I am sure you can find info through any search engine.
As far as visas go - there are three types of visas on which foreign citizens can enter Ukraine - private, tourist and business. I would highly recommend the SECOND option. You can apply for a tourist visa even without buying a package, just by stating you want to visit Ukraine as a tourist. For that you have to provide a hotel reservation confirmation. Much less hassle then anything else. For business you have to provide some business counterparts for your intended visit and such. And a private visit is the most troublesom - first your relatives would have to furnish a PERMISSION from the authorities to host you, which you can buy (as far as bureaucracy in Ukraine goes - everything can be bought for a bribe), but it involves going there, begging offering money, being asked for more, blah-blah-blah. But that's not all - Ukiraine has a regulation that ALL foreign visitors have to register with the same authorities that can issue that damned permission (btw they are known as OVIR or VVIR there). When you come privately - it may take you a full day of an "office visit" with being turned down few times or being asked for a notarized translation of your passport (around 5PM, when everything is closed) or... I don't know what else, their imagination is unpredictable. When you stay in a hotel, you simply give your passport on your check-in and get it back in an hour with all formalitied completed for a nominal fee.
The bottom line - GO TOURIST!
Good luck!
Ihor.