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-   -   Crimea (https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/northern-and-central-asia/crimea-98720)

duibhceK 16 Feb 2020 10:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by simon dippenhall (Post 608929)
Do you really mean it when you say ‘entry to Russia from Ukraine is forbidden’?


the quoted article only refers to "entry and exit tofrom the temporarily occupied territory", which means Crimea and Donbass area. Any other crossings are still fine.

cyclopathic 16 Feb 2020 15:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 608857)
Also worth noting that your travel insurance will not cover you any places where your embassy says you should not visit.

Must be UK thing? If it were true half of Mexico was off limit for us Yankees.

motoreiter 17 Feb 2020 23:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 608800)
Talked to a Russian friend today, he said that there is a ferry from Sevastopol to Istanbul and from Kerch to Zonguldak. The later maybe only for cargo, he said.

hmm, I've spent quite a bit of time looking online (including via Russian-language searches) and haven't found a live link to a functioning ferry from Sevastopol-Istanbul. Here is one link in Russian from Sep 2019 saying that ferry service is suspended for 2020:
https://www.tourister.ru/world/asia/...blications/409

Here is another site which says there is a ferry, but I'm not sure it is current:
https://xn----ttbgfegd2g.xn--p1ai/pa...topol-turciya/
There is a phone number there, I will try to call this week to find out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 608800)
But he also said that one can cross now from Crimea to Ukraine. It would take a few hours, but lots of people are doing this now. I asked him about international travelers (non Russians or Ukrainians) , but he did not know about that.

I've looked into this, and as far as I can tell, Russians and Ukrainians can enter Crimea from the north, but not foreigners. This official link shows several road crossings into Crimea, but doesn't say anything about who can use them:
https://dpsu.gov.ua/en/on-the-admini...of-the-crimea/

[EDIT] the link in one of the posts above seems to make clear that foreigners cannot leave/enter Ukraine from Crimea.

In any event, I've not seen anyone post here saying that they have actually crossed, although I might have missed something. Pls post if you find out more.

Tomkat 18 Feb 2020 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by motoreiter (Post 609018)
as far as I can tell, Russians and Ukrainians can enter Crimea from the north, but not foreigners. This official link shows several road crossings into Crimea, but doesn't say anything about who can use them:
https://dpsu.gov.ua/en/on-the-admini...of-the-crimea/

[EDIT] the link in one of the posts above seems to make clear that foreigners cannot leave/enter Ukraine from Crimea.

In any event, I've not seen anyone post here saying that they have actually crossed, although I might have missed something. Pls post if you find out more.

Link I posted earlier, says that if you enter Crimea from Ukraine you must return to Ukraine via the same border point.

https://dpsu.gov.ua/en/the-order-of-...teless-persons

motoreiter 18 Feb 2020 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat (Post 609029)
Link I posted earlier, says that if you enter Crimea from Ukraine you must return to Ukraine via the same border point.

I don't think that is what is says, or at least I can't read it that way. Here is the text:
**********
"For foreigners and stateless persons entry and exit tofrom the temporarily occupied territory may be done only through “entry-exit” control points with passport or special permit.

Foreigners and stateless persons who arrived to the “entry-exit” control points from the temporarily occupied territory without permission, are not allowed to entry Ukraine and in the shortest time they will be returned to the temporarily occupied territory from which they came, or to the state that issued the passport.

They dwell at the “entry-exit” control point up to their return, if they can not be immediately returned.

Stamp of the prohibition to entry Ukraine for 3 years is put in passport document of such foreigners and stateless persons.
"
**********

The translation doesn't appear to be very good, but the text appears to say that anyone with a passport can enter or leave Crimea through a control point.

But anyone arriving at such a control point from Crimea without "permission" will be refused entry into Ukraine and have their passport stamped with a prohibition on entering Ukraine for three years.

Technically it doesn't say that you can't enter Crimea from Ukraine without permission, so perhaps that is possible.

I don't see anything about leaving and entering through the same control point?

mika 20 Feb 2020 01:49

@ motoreiter
 
@ motoreiter.

thank you very much for all the info. I did not have the time to do more research yet.

+ so it seems the ferry is not operating anymore .... :(


+ so if I would try to cross from Crimea to Ukraine, I could be sent back with a stamp in my passport not being allowed into Ukraine for three years ..... this would mean I would have to ride up North in Russia to Lithuania before turning West.

+do you know if I can sell the bike and fly out ... and return to Russia? As I said, I did this in 2003, but times have changed so anyway to legally sell/give away the bike?

We are only in February, so there still is a lot of time before I start and a lot of things can change until August.

Spasiva bolshoi
paca
mika

motoreiter 20 Feb 2020 05:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609087)
@ motoreiter.
+ so it seems the ferry is not operating anymore .... :(

I'm not completely sure yet, let me try to call the ferry number in the next day or two, hopefully that will confirm one way or another--will post here with what I find out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609087)
+ so if I would try to cross from Crimea to Ukraine, I could be sent back with a stamp in my passport not being allowed into Ukraine for three years ..... this would mean I would have to ride up North in Russia to Lithuania before turning West.

Actually Russia doesn't have a border with Lithuania, it would have to be Latvia. You could also leave Russia via Belorus and then into Poland, although my understanding is that that involves some border-crossing complexities as well, although I haven't done it so not sure. Or you could ride down to Georgia and catch a ferry to Bulgaria, although I'm not sure that is any easier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609087)
+do you know if I can sell the bike and fly out ... and return to Russia? As I said, I did this in 2003, but times have changed so anyway to legally sell/give away the bike?

Sell the bike in Crimea? I think that would be very difficult...there cannot be much of a market for bikes there, plus any sale would require payment of Russian customs duties, which AFAIK are not cheap. Might be possible to sell somewhere else, such as Georgia, I'm also looking at this, will try to post here with what I find out.

AnTyx 20 Feb 2020 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609087)
+ so if I would try to cross from Crimea to Ukraine, I could be sent back with a stamp in my passport not being allowed into Ukraine for three years ..... this would mean I would have to ride up North in Russia to Lithuania before turning West.

Note that a stamp in your passport for being denied entry into Ukraine because of Crimea is likely to also be of interest to EU border guards. Especially for a non-EU national. Hard to say for certain, but not impossible that it would be grounds to reject your Schengen visa.

motoreiter 20 Feb 2020 14:17

I called the number for the ferry in the webpage linked above...no answer. There are posts on that same page saying that the ferry service closed in March 2017, and that no one has been able to get through on the phone number since 2017 either.

So the ferry situation does not sound promising...

I'm not willing to backtrack to Crimea from Kerch (have already been there twice), so it looks like my route between Germany and Georgia will be either via Kharkov or via one of the ferries from Ukraine/Bulgaria to Georgia.

Oh well...

Tomkat 20 Feb 2020 17:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by motoreiter (Post 609032)
I don't see anything about leaving and entering through the same control point?

The point is if you enter Crimea from Ukraine their law says you must come back to Ukraine, not travel on through Russia. It's a system intended for people to visit relatives in the region, basically.

mika 21 Feb 2020 01:28

Crimea
 
Hi all,

@ motoreiter. Thank you very much for trying to phone the ferry company. So no ferries. Good to know so early in the planing. Maybe I will try to find a cargo boat going to Rumania or Bulgaria ... but I remember Russian ports not being easy. So lets see ...

Quote:

Actually Russia doesn't have a border with Lithuania, it would have to be Latvia.
You are right, only the enclave Kaliningrad has a border with Lithuania. I mixed it up. Latvia would be long detour and backtracking, so that does not make sense.

So, it looks like I will just buy a visa for Belorussia again, I recall spending around 100 Euros in 2015 for it. This will make the return faster/easier if I am refused entry into Ukraine.

Selling the bike. Yep, Georgia would be a good place to sell, but it is not on my route for this journey. Will ask some Russian friends about it, maybe they know a way. Thanks motoreiter for the imput, very welcome.


@ AnTyx. Thank you for your speculation. To no use for me, but maybe others are scared now to try.

Quote:

Note that a stamp in your passport for being denied entry into Ukraine because of Crimea is likely to also be of interest to EU border guards. Especially for a non-EU national. Hard to say for certain, but not impossible that it would be grounds to reject your Schengen visa.

mika :scooter:

klausmong1 21 Feb 2020 07:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609087)

+do you know if I can sell the bike and fly out ... and return to Russia? As I said, I did this in 2003, but times have changed so anyway to legally sell/give away the bike?


Spasiva bolshoi
paca
mika

As far as I know you have to pay 30% import tax for the bike, and this will be counted on the price as a new bike.

It is a hassle to leave a bike in Russia when you have to deal with customs. When you don't do that the proper way, you will be refused to enter after your TIP is expired.
I know people who have been returned on the border for this

cyclopathic 21 Feb 2020 11:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by klausmong1 (Post 609131)
It is a hassle to leave a bike in Russia when you have to deal with customs. When you don't do that the proper way, you will be refused to enter after your TIP is expired.

I know people who have been returned on the border for this

Just request 1 year importation at the border they allow up to one year. Default 90 days.

You can request extension; the person you left the bike with has to go to customs with documents and notarized letter explaining why you cannot take bike out of the country in allocated time (family circumstances, etc) or take bike and have it impound at location.

motoreiter 21 Feb 2020 16:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by mika (Post 609125)
Hi all,
So, it looks like I will just buy a visa for Belorussia again, I recall spending around 100 Euros in 2015 for it. This will make the return faster/easier if I am refused entry into Ukraine.

So it sounds like you plan to try to enter Ukraine from Crimea? Otherwise you could just enter Ukraine near Kharkov, no need to go through Belorus.

If you do try to enter Ukraine from Crimea, please let us know here how it goes, would be interesting to have a first-hand account...

motoreiter 21 Feb 2020 16:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyclopathic (Post 609139)
Just request 1 year importation at the border they allow up to one year. Default 90 days.

Is this definitely the current status? Several years ago it was limited to 90 days at the border (but extendable up to one year), but then they switched to one year as the default. Have they switched it back to 90 days?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyclopathic (Post 609139)
You can request extension; the person you left the bike with has to go to customs with documents and notarized letter explaining why you cannot take bike out of the country in allocated time (family circumstances, etc) or take bike and have it impound at location.

Again, is this the current process? Several years ago when the Temp Import was 90 days, it could be renewed for up to a year, but it was kind of a hassle to do it, at least in Moscow.


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