The United States plans to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees who fled their country following Russia’s invasion. The Biden Administration issued a statement that they would use a number of legal pathways to bring the refugees into the U.S. While there is a program that allows people into the U.S. on an emergency basis, Ukrainians may also be required to enter the country using the current visa protocol.
Nebraska for Ukraine spokesperson Mykhailo Smyshliaiev has been following the process carefully and has been in contact with a number of embassies and the visa process is time consuming. He tells KLIN News, “Until I go on to the website of any embassy and there is a visa for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, I’m not actually going to believe this. I called some embassies and the line to get to the embassy, not to bring your paperwork, is 2025. All European embassies are are completely booked for Ukrainians.”
Smyshliaiev says two weeks ago he went onto embassy websites for the Czech Republic, Warsaw, and Berlin. He says it stated that if you are Ukrainian who is trying to file the refugee status in the United States, first you have to apply for refugee status in the Czech Republic, Germany, or Poland first. He is hoping that something is done soon to create a faster pathway for the refugees to come to the U.S.
Ukrainian refugees will be welcome in Nebraska and Smyshliaiev says they are hoping the state will welcome up to 2,000. He says there are many U.S. citizens originally from Ukraine that will help them settle, assist with rent, food, and other needs during the process.