FAQs on Uniting for Ukraine program

• I am a citizen of Ukraine, but my spouse is not. Can we still participate in U4U?

  Yes, as long as at least one spouse has a Ukrainian passport, you both can come.

  What you will need to do:

  • Translate your marriage certificate into English; no need to certify the translation.

  • Provide the sponsor with two email addresses, one for each spouse, to include in the I134s.

  • When your sponsor submits I134, ask him to include a marriage certificate together with the translation as unsolicited evidence. This is done after the form is submitted directly into the sponsor’s USCIS account in the “documents” folder.

  • When your sponsor is approved and you receive your online access codes, create two separate USCIS accounts and attach the approved I134s there.

  • Create a travel group on the account of the Ukrainian passport holder and add the other spouse there.

  • Do the attestations for both through the travel group and submit everything to CBP.

  • Receive both Travel Authorizations.

  Important: DO NOT answer the attestation questions and submit them to CBP without adding your non-Ukrainian spouse — they will not be able to receive travel authorization without you.

• I do not have any proof that I was vaccinated against polio and measles, what do I do?

  Both polio and measles are still part of the standard childhood vaccination schedule both in Ukraine and most of the countries on the former Soviet territory. Unless you had medical reasons, you had to be vaccinated to be allowed to attend school and college. If you can get a copy of your vaccination records — great! Take them with you. If you can’t, that’s OK too, it is enough to know that you had these shots done, you don’t have to prove it.

• COVID Vaccination: do I have to be vaccinated? What about the children?

  DescripChildren under 6 months of age do not need to be vaccinated. 

  Children older than 6 months will need to be vaccinated within 90 days of arrival to the US. 

  Adults need to have at least one dose of the vaccine.

  If you were vaccinated, make sure you have your records. Usually, they are available through Дiя. There is no need to translate the certificate as it is available in English and has a QR code. 

  Please see more details on the USCIS website.

• Is COVID testing required to fly to the USA?

  The US does not require any testing for entrance, but countries you will be flying from or changing planes through might. So make sure to check with your airline as these requirements change frequently.

• We are a family with two adults and three kids. How many email addresses do we need to give to our sponsor for the I134s?

  Five separate email addresses. Yes, it is possible to submit all five forms using the same email and most likely it will not lead to any problems, but sometimes it does, and then it is much easier to fix them if all emails are different. Also, later on, you will need to apply for work authorization for each and every person (yes, for the children too) and that form will ask for your USCIS online account number. To create a USCIS one has to use a unique email, so why not do it the right way from the start?

• How much cash can I bring in with me to the US?

  You can bring $10,000 in cash per family without declaration, everything above that will need to be declared. It does not mean that you will be fined if you bring more or that it will lead to any problems, but you will be asked to fill out a separate form which will take additional time. So keep it in mind if you are catching a connecting flight (source.)

  Please keep in mind that your benefits eligibility in the US will depend on your available assets. However, CBP will not be sharing information about your cash declaration with any agencies within the country.

• How soon after the sponsor is approved do I need to create a USCIS account and answer the questions? How much time do I have after the Travel Authorization (TA) is issued to travel to the US? Can my TA be extended?

  • After you receive an email from USCIS with the online access code and instructions on how to create your online account, you will have 90 days to log into the account, connect your I134, and answer all the questions. This limit is mentioned in the same letter where your online code is.

  • After the TA is issued, you have 90 days to cross the US border. The expiration date is listed directly on the TA.

  • If for some reason you are not able to travel within the 90 days, your sponsor can apply for an extension. The request must be filed no sooner than 30 days before the TA expiration date and no later than 30 days after it expires. After the approval, a new TA will be issued and sent to the beneficiary’s USCIS account. The new TA will be valid for another 90 days. Only one extension can be granted at this time.

• My sponsor was approved, I created an account and answered all the questions. Where is my Travel Authorization? Neither I, nor my sponsor received any emails.

  Your travel authorization will come to your USCIS account, it will not be in your or your sponsor’s email. If you are a part of a travel group, also check the Notices folder of the person that created your travel group, sometimes all TAs come to their account. If you are not sure if your TA was issued or not, you can always check the status of your case — just enter your receipt number (it starts with IOE…)

• My sponsor made a mistake while filling I134. What should I do?

  This depends on the mistake.

  1. A wrong email was listed for the beneficiary

  • Check the status of your case using the receipt number (your sponsor has it, it is written right under the name of the submitted form on his USCIS account).
  • If your status says that the sponsor was approved, ask them to check their USCIS account — they should have a notice confirming them as a sponsor.
  • Ask them to look up your A# in that notice, it is written in small letters right above your name.
  • Go to USCIS and create an account using your correct email.
  • Select "Add a paper-filed case."
  • Enter your "USCIS case receipt number" and select "Add case."
  • At this point you will be asked to enter the online access code that you do not have. Instead of entering the code click on “request a new code” above the window for the code.
  • You will be asked a few additional questions and will be able to send a request for a new code.
  • In a few days a new notice with the code will appear in your real working email and you will be able to finish adding your case.

  2. My first or last names are misspelled

  If it is just a letter or two, ignore it. This will be fixed by the CBP officer at the border.

  3. My date of birth is wrong

  If it is just one digit or there is a wrong order of month and day, ignore it, it will be fixed at the border.

  4. My passport number is wrong (a digit is missing, one digit is wrong, two digits are switched around, etc.)

  Currently, we recommend filing new applications because USCIS takes a long time to review such changes. You can contact them through your USCIS account or try calling them first but it can take many weeks to hear back.

  5. My passport expiration date is wrong

  This type of mistake is very important to catch before the case gets to the CBP. If there is a misprint in the expiration date including a date that is still far enough in the future, you can leave it as is and it will eventually be fixed at the border. But if the misprint makes it look like your passport already expired or will expire in the next couple of months, you need to fix this before answering the questions and sending the case to CBP. They can issue a TA only to a person with a valid passport - if your passport appears to be expired, you will be denied travel authorization, and if your passport appears to be expiring soon, you will be issued a TA. The expiration date on that TA will be the expiration date of your passport, not the usual 90 days.

  This is the procedure for correcting the passport number:

  • Log into your USCIS account.
  • Open the I134 case
  • Upload a copy of your valid, unexpired passport as Unsolicited Evidence in your Notices tab.
  • Send USCIS a message from your Inbox. In the message, you must indicate that you have submitted evidence to correct passport information.

  You will receive a response in your inbox. Do not submit your attestations to CBP until USCIS responds to the request to update your passport information. Submitting the attestations before you receive a response from USCIS could affect the travel authorization and request for parole.

• What documents do I need to bring to the airport? And what needs to be translated?

  You will need:

  • A printed copy of the Travel Authorization for each family member
  • A valid international passport for each family member (except for the children added to their parent’s passport)
  • A printed copy of a letter from your sponsor with their name, address, and phone number. If you are going to stay somewhere else, the letter should include your actual address, not the sponsor’s
  • Birth certificates with translation for the children if their last names do not match the last name of either of the parents they are traveling with
  • Legal guardianship papers with translation if you are traveling with children that are not yours
  • A marriage certificate with translation if one of the spouses has a non-Ukrainian passport

• What additional items do I need to bring to the US? What needs to be translated?

  In addition to the papers that you will need right away at the immigration interview upon arrival, there are a few other things you might want to consider:
  • Vaccination records for all family members and pets — everything that you can find
  • College diplomas and professional certificates
  • Birth certificates and marriage certificates for everybody
  • Prescription drugs
  • Extra pair of glasses, their prescriptions, and contact lenses for at least a couple of months.

  For a detailed list and explanation of what needs to be translated please see our article.

• I was issued a Travel Authorization, but I will not be able to travel to the US before it expires. Can my TA be extended?

  Yes, your sponsor can extend the already issued TA one time. The application for extension should be filed no earlier than 30 days before the TA expiration date and no later than 30 days after. Extensions can be requested through the sponsor’s USCIS account:

  To submit the request they would need to:

  • Log in to their online account.
  • From the top of the webpage, select the My Account drop-down menu and select Inbox.
  • Click on the New Message button.
  • For the subject, select “A case already filed online” from the drop-down menu, and for your case receipt number, select your receipt number for Form I-134 (Declaration of Financial Support).
  • In the message field, state your continued interest in supporting your named beneficiary who has not yet traveled to the United States, and that you are requesting an extension of the beneficiary’s travel authorization. Then click Send.

  USCIS will review the supporter’s request for a travel authorization extension and submit it, along with the named beneficiary’s information, to CBP to conduct additional vetting. If CBP approves the request, the beneficiary will receive an email notification when the extended travel authorization notice has been posted to their account. Please note that for privacy reasons, only the beneficiary will be able to view their extended travel authorization notice in their online account. The beneficiary should notify their sponsor when they receive their extended travel authorization notice.

  If the beneficiary's original approved travel authorization expired more than 30 days before the submission of the extension request, or if the beneficiary cannot travel to the United States during the one-time 90-day extension, the supporter must submit a new Form I-134 on their behalf to obtain a new travel authorization.

• I am already receiving benefits in Europe/Canada, can I still participate in U4U?

  Yes, you can. As long as you were a resident of Ukraine on February 11, 2022, you are eligible for the U4U program.

• I was not in Ukraine on February 11, 2022. Am I still eligible to participate in U4U?

  The answer will depend on why you were not in the country. The program requirement is that you had to be a resident of Ukraine on that day, not necessarily be physically present there. If you went on a month-long vacation in late January, you were still a resident of Ukraine. If you were a student in another country, you were still a resident of Ukraine. If you had a temporary work visa and were working in another country, you were still a resident of Ukraine. Only if you had a permanent resident status somewhere else, would you then not be a Ukrainian resident and are not eligible.

• I have friends that I can stay with in LA, does it mean that I need a sponsor only from California?

  You neither have to live in the same state as your sponsor nor does your sponsor need to be at the airport when you arrive. At the border interview, you may be asked for your sponsor’s name and will need to provide an address where you will be staying. It might be helpful to ask your sponsor to write a letter with all the relative information that you could print out and give to the CBP officer.

• I am already in the US on a tourist or temporary work visa. Can I get humanitarian parole?

  If you are a Ukrainian and were in the US on April 11, 2022, you can apply for a Temporary Protection Status.

  For details see these two links:

  • LINU: What is Temporary Protected Status (TPS)?

  • USCIS: Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: Ukraine

  If you entered the US after April 11, 2022, you will have to leave the country to receive Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole. Ask your sponsor to fill out the I134 form for you, wait for it to be approved, then fly to Mexico and come back with your Travel Authorization. This way on the border you will get the Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole stamped on your passport.

• I have an open B1/B2 visa. Will it be canceled if I come to the US through U4U?

  No, your multi-entry visa will not be canceled, but make sure you are admitted to the country with Humanitarian Parole and NOT the B1 (or B2) status.

---