During my travels, I have never broke any laws and never had to pay any penalties. I estimate that I spend about 40-50 percent of my time outside of Ukraine each year. I am on my seventh passport. Simply said, they get filled up with visa stamps and the like in a hurry. I had an opportunity to become a citizen of one of the EU countries where I lived for several years. But I did not seriously consider it. It might be old fashioned, but I am still a big Ukrainian patriot.
I limit my travel to EU countries to times when it is absolutely necessary
Still, I try to avoid travelling to EU countries as much as I can. Why? Take a look at the already long and growing list of documents required to get an EU visa and you will understand. Despite repeated talk between officials in Kyiv and Brussels about “simplification” and liberalizing visas access for Ukrainians, the list of documents seems to get longer each year, and the process more time-consuming and humiliating.
And so, I limit my travel to EU countries to times when it is absolutely necessary, or when traveling as part of a group that organizes that visit, so that I myself do not have to spend the long hours holding these documents in line at an EU country embassy.
I found the U.S. visa application process much friendlier. Thus, I opt to spend my vacations in the U.S. It seems they are happier to see me there. They give me a 5-year visa every time my old one runs out, without requiring me to bring stupid bank statements, etc.
The EU, on the other hand, requires me to bring them about 1 kilogram of useless paper each time I try to travel there, and after all of this, they only give me visas for the number of days I am planning to be in the country … all despite my numerous law-abiding visits.
To spare myself headaches, I have decided to no longer spend my money in the EU.
To spare myself headaches, I have decided to no longer spend my money in the EU. I promised myself to not go on vacations there until it is free of stupid visa application requirements. I will only go to the EU when on a business trip, and I will in these cases make sure Europeans pay for it themselves.
One of the final draws came about one month ago, when I submitted a full package of documents for an Italian visa. I was invited to Italy upon the invitation from a United Nations food and agriculture organization. They wanted to boost cooperation with me on agriculture projects, to boost investment into agribusiness of developing countries, including Ukraine.
When I first inquired by phone on what kind of documents are needed for the visa application, I got nowhere. I was asked to email them a diplomatic note I had and was promised that I would receive a call or email back. It never happened.
After a week of phone calls and emails, I walked up to the Italian embassy, waited in line for a couple of hours to find out what documents were needed. In my extensive travel to many different countries, I had never seen such a disorganized group of people and such an attitude.
Ultimately, I was told that it takes 10 working days to get an Italian visa (I’m not sure why it only takes 3 days for a German visa). I submitted all documents. The UN paid for my ticket and hotel but my visa was not ready in the “10 working days.”
What followed was a hectic rush to modify my plans, as well as time wasted calling the busy line of the embassy. Ultimately, I missed my flight. Without providing any detailed information on what was causing the delay, the Italians kept saying: “your visa is in process.” The person on the phone suggested that I should email them. I did send an e-mail, but got no response. I emailed again … still got no answer.I do not know that they are really doing with my documents. I just hope they have not lost them. I have to go elsewhere soon. I hope that I will be able to get my passport back.
Hopefully someone will notice and adjustments will be made to rectify the situation.
I calculated the costs of my wasted time and decided that as of today, I am charging Italian clients a special premium. I am going to inform them in detail about the reasoning for this extra cost, advising them to direct all complaints to their embassy. In the end, I doubt this extra cost will be a huge amount for Italian firms to cover. But as a principled man who values rightfulness, I must pass on the added costs. Hopefully someone will notice and adjustments will be made to rectify the situation.
Andriy Yarmak is an independent agribusiness expert. He has worked on agriculture development issues in 10 world countries, serving as an adviser and independent board members for agribusinesses in Ukraine and has developed market information systems for APK-Inform, a Ukrainian agriculture consultancy. He can be reached at [email protected].
