Banking in Canada when part of your life is still in Ukraine
Your legal right to open an account — even with no job and no money to deposit — Canada's own Ukrainian credit unions, credit history from zero, and money moving in both directions.
Ukraine in your heart, wherever you are
Sending money to Ukraine. A parent’s pension. A power of attorney someone has to sign for you. An apartment nobody lives in, or one you have inherited and never seen. Whether you left last year or your family left generations ago, this is the practical side of what stayed behind.
Every figure here carries the date it was checked, and every procedure links to the agency that publishes it.
Start with a number
Three free tools. No signup — and every figure carries the date it was checked.
What is the NBU rate today?
The official rate — the number to judge any transfer offer against.
When does the inheritance deadline fall?
Six months from the date of death. Work out the date and set a reminder.
How do you avoid overpaying on a transfer?
The method: what to ask a provider, and how to compare. We publish no prices yet — they have not been checked by hand.
Where do you need to start?
It usually starts like this
They asked you for a Ukrainian document
A school, an employer, a benefits office or a notary wants a paper from Ukraine. Find your situation and see which document is actually meant, where it comes from, and what usually goes wrong.
Money home
Transfers, pensions, and banking — without losing money to the spread.
Papers & status
Powers of attorney, consular paperwork, apostilles, and status deadlines.
Property in Ukraine
The apartment, the house, the land — managed from another country.
Life abroad
Community, safety, family, and keeping Ukrainian in the house.
A life here, not only affairs there
Half of this site is about what stayed behind. The other half is about the life you are building now — where to find your people, schools, parishes and communities near you.
Finding your people
On the loneliness of the second year, and the few places where Ukrainians abroad actually meet each other.
Where to look
Verified registries: parishes, communities, youth organisations, schools, consulates.
Find a community near you
Regular open gatherings run by Ukrainian organisations in your city — and the form to add yours.
Country by country
We do not retell the procedures of the country you live in — 35 countries, from the US to the Philippines.
Latest guides
Banking in the US when part of your life is still in Ukraine
Opening an account before you have an SSN, what a Ukrainian-American credit union actually is, building credit from zero, and moving money in both directions — with the agencies that publish the rules.
Divorce, child support and property when you are abroad
She is abroad with the children, he is in Ukraine — how to divorce without travelling back, how child support crosses the border, and what happens to property. The three official routes and the authorities behind them.
Documents for family reunification: the Ukrainian side of the case
Petitions for relatives, fiancés and parents run under the rules of the country where you live — but the evidence is almost all Ukrainian. What they will ask for, how to get it from abroad, and where people lose months.
Parcels to and from Ukraine: the carriers, customs, and what to know before shipping
Ukrposhta, Nova Post, Meest — how to choose and compare honestly without stale tariff tables. Customs thresholds, banned contents, medicines, the "pay customs fee" phishing — and when a parcel stops being personal and becomes business.
Travelling to Ukraine: how it works right now
There are no flights — the way in is overland, and for Kyiv and the west that mostly means a train through Poland, for Odesa and the south — Moldova or Romania. Where to buy tickets so you don't buy from a scalper, what border queues look like, and an honest talk about safety — with no assurances.
How this site works
We explain procedures. We are not the source of record.
Nothing invented. If we have not checked a number ourselves, it does not go on the page. Costs and fees carry the date they were verified.
Always the primary source. Status rules, consular procedure, and pension requirements link straight to the ministry, consulate, or agency that publishes them, because those change without warning.
General information, not advice. Nothing here is legal, immigration, or financial advice, and reading it does not make anyone your adviser.
What changed this month
All changes →Passport Service: a two-day pause on applications, now over
If your appointment fell on 2–4 October, you do not need to book again — wait for the service to contact you, and rebook only through the official site if it does not. UPDATED 8 October 2026: this item was first published on 3 October, while the pause was still on, and said that men aged 18–60 collecting abroad had to show a printed Reserve+ extract. The service's 4 October notice replaced that with the automatic check.
Checked 3 October 2026Source: Passport Service (state enterprise «Документ») — notice of 4 October 2026
Munich: booking a passport appointment now needs Diia.Signature or BankID
If you have neither Diia.Signature nor a Ukrainian bank's BankID, you cannot book in Munich until you do — sort that out first, not on the morning you try to book.
Checked 3 October 2026Source: Passport Service (state enterprise «Документ») — notice of 2 September 2026
Gdańsk and Kraków: Passport Service by appointment only
Turning up in the queue without a booking no longer works at these two branches. Book through the service's official site before you travel.
Checked 3 October 2026Source: Passport Service (state enterprise «Документ») — notice of 14 August 2026
You asked: «A wife with children abroad, the husband in Ukraine. How do you file for divorce and child support from here — and how is property divided?» — the answer →