Today, the procedure of divorce with a foreigner in Ukraine allows each couple to carry out their plans in a short time and without undue red tape. However, it is possible to do without difficulties if there are no joint children between the spouses and the property to be divided. In the first case, a spouse who does not have children, in the absence of a dispute over jurisdiction, submits a joint application to the registry office. In the second case, if the couple has children – such an application is submitted to the court. Both options are quite fast, do not require significant material costs and are a simplified procedure compared to divorce from a foreigner in other countries. Divorce of a Ukrainian woman with a foreigner has many peculiarities of observance of which are extremely important in court proceedings. Divorce with a foreigner without his or her presence through filing a lawsuit is the most complicated, costly, but reliable procedure that will have to be resorted to if you and your spouse do not agree on the choice of the law of the country of divorce.

How a Ukrainian woman and a foreigner divorce through the Registry Office

In order to use the simplified procedure for divorce with a foreigner, you must meet two requirements: not to have children together, to be present in person when applying for divorce or to submit a notarized application for consent to divorce. If your spouse is a foreign national, you will need to submit the following documents:

  • Written application for divorce of a spouse who does not have children (may be submitted by the other spouse subject to its notarization);
  • Marriage certificate (original required);
  • Passport document of both spouses, and for a foreigner in the presence of a certificate of permanent or temporary residence.

Divorce is registered after one month from the date of filing the application, provided that one of the spouses has not revoked it, in the presence of at least one of you and regardless of the existence of a property dispute.

How to divorce a foreigner in Ukraine without his presence

To divorce a foreigner (if you have a child), you must file a lawsuit. As a general rule, the place of consideration of the case is the place of residence of the defendant. If the defendant is a foreigner, then there is a difficulty in determining the jurisdiction of the case, because quite often foreigners do not have a residence permit in Ukraine. In such cases, the court may refuse to consider the case due to the impossibility of determining the right under which the dispute will be considered.

If one of you files a lawsuit, the case can be heard in court for no more than 2 months. The court will decide which country’s law should be applied to these legal relations by determining the fact of joint residence of the spouses on the territory of Ukraine. To avoid this, you should turn to lawyers who will study your case and give you a guarantee that the case may be heard in Ukraine or, conversely, will refuse you to file a lawsuit and waste costs.

It is important to pay attention to international bilateral agreements with Ukraine. These acts clearly regulate the choice of law of the country that will consider the dispute. If there is no international agreement with the state of the foreigner’s nationality, it is most likely that the court will choose the law of the state of your last common residence.

In all cases, the result of these methods of divorce from a foreigner in Ukraine is the issuance of a court decision to terminate the marriage. At the same time, as of today, the stamp in the passport is no longer affixed.

Features of divorce from a foreigner if you have a child together

If the couple has children together, then the divorce has its own characteristics. For example, the plaintiff has the right of alternative jurisdiction, i.e. the appeal to the court with a claim for divorce from a foreigner is carried out under the residence of the plaintiff. This in turn eliminates the need to find a court to which the case is based. In addition, the plaintiff has the right to receive child support. Child support can only be ordered by a court. In order to find a foreigner-debtor, the court may apply to the relevant foreign authorities of the country in which the foreigner resides. Our qualified lawyers in family disputes will help you to divorce quickly and without any problems.

How much does it cost to divorce a foreigner through the courts?

Given the fact that in these types of cases a foreign element (foreigner) is present, the procedure itself is somewhat different from the usual procedure for divorce between citizens of Ukraine. The difficulty is that you should choose the right law of the state under which the dispute will be considered, the search for a foreigner if he is not in Ukraine, the distribution of property, the appointment of alimony, and so on. Our lawyers approach each case individually without putting them “on the assembly line”. Therefore, the cost is determined depending on the specific situation and taking into account the court fee.

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