<div><strong>Critical Update (May 2026):</strong> Because of the sudden U.S. Immigration Freeze, the Embassy cannot issue my wife’s final Green Card Visa. We are now running out of time to legally remain in the EU near the U.S. Embassy. All funds cover the emergency survival, medical, and legal expenses required to beat this crisis.
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<div><strong>HOW WE GOT TRAPPED.</strong>
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<div>In the summer of 2023, one month after our wedding at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, we were full of hope and ready to start our new life. Instead, we found ourselves 5,000 miles away from home.
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<div>I am a U.S. citizen. My wife, Anastasia, is not. To comply with U.S. immigration law and finish her mandatory post-graduation assignment as a piano teacher, she had to return overseas to one of the most isolated regions of Eastern Europe. I went with her. We thought this would be a short-term setback.
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<div>But borders closed. Geopolitics shifted. The world changed. A temporary work trip became an exile of nearly 3 years.
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<div>By the time Anastasia was finally free to go, my own employer chose to replace me with AI, erasing our only income. My life savings were gone. Our living expenses were going on credit cards. We were trapped with no way to earn, no way to leave, and no way to build a life in a foreign country.
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<div>At the same time, the isolation and the daily struggle to find safe, nutritious food took a devastating toll on our health. I have a permanent hormonal disorder (hypogonadism) that has led to severe bone loss, muscle atrophy, and chronic fatigue. Anastasia suffers from a nervous system condition (dysautonomia) that triggers debilitating nausea and piercing migraines. We are weak. We rely on each other for daily care. We cannot separate or leave each other behind.
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<div>In the dry Utah climate – with the right food, supplements, and medication – our conditions are highly treatable. But every month we remain in exile is another month of deterioration we may never fully recover from. Back home, we will finally have the nutrition, care, and community we need to regain our strength and return to productive lives.
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<div><strong>WHAT YOUR SUPPORT HAS ACHIEVED: $23,000 RAISED (FUNDS SPENT).</strong>
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<div>When we launched this campaign, coming home felt impossible. But the love and generosity of friends, family, fellow parishioners, and wonderful strangers from across the United States and beyond carried us forward.
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<div>We cleared thousands in survival debt. We paid the U.S. federal taxes required to sponsor my wife. We built the case and gathered the evidence for an emergency immigration filing at the U.S. Embassy. And we funded the grueling journey to Warsaw, Poland – and every week of living expenses needed to keep us there while our case was processed.
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<div>This was an enormous investment, and it paid off. Against all odds, the U.S. Department of State approved our petition. On April 17, 2026, Anastasia passed her multi-step medical exam and walked into the U.S. Embassy for her long-awaited immigration interview.
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<div>Every single dollar raised brought us to that door.
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<div><strong>OUR NEW BREAKING POINT: THE U.S. IMMIGRATION FREEZE.</strong>
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<div>Anastasia’s Green Card Visa should have been printed that very morning. But it wasn’t.
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<div>The U.S. Government has imposed a sudden, indefinite freeze on U.S. immigration. The Embassy cannot issue the visa. There are no exceptions. We must survive in legal limbo until the courts strike it down.
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<div>During the freeze, the Embassy wants to ensure my wife will not apply for U.S. public assistance. Because our health has destabilized and we cannot legally work in the EU, they demand concrete evidence of financial support. A successful campaign both keeps us alive and provides the financial guarantee our Embassy case requires.
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<div><strong>SURVIVING IN POLAND: WHY WE MUST RAISE $12,000 NOW.</strong>
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<div>Just as the visa freeze hit, our GoFundMe was hit with an automated international compliance review (“Fundraiser not found”). We lost all our momentum. For 3 months, our link was dead, and every donation attempt failed. With no other way to cover our living expenses, we had to drain the funds set aside for our flights home.
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<div>We survived the blackout, but we spent our reserves. We are currently in Poland on a 90-day visitor limit – and our time is running out.
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<div>To remain in Poland, we must fund a residency program upfront. If we fail, we lose our legal status and physical access to the Embassy – and face separation across borders or a forced return to the isolated region we just escaped.
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<div><strong>To beat this deadline and stay together, we must raise the funds for:</strong>
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<li>➡️ <strong>Legal Residency Program ($3,500): </strong>Paying upfront for a full-time language program – the only way to maintain legal status in Poland.
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<li>➡️ <strong>Housing &amp; Survival ($4,500):</strong> Paying upfront for an initial deposit and up to four months of temporary housing, along with safe food and medical essentials.
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<li>➡️ <strong>Required Case Evidence ($2,000): </strong>Preparing the Polish residency case and the remaining U.S. Embassy documentation.
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<li>➡️ <strong>Flights to Salt Lake City ($2,000):</strong> Rebuilding the flight reserve drained during the blackout.
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<div><strong>We must secure this 4-month survival window. </strong>A federal lawsuit, CLINIC vs. Rubio, is challenging the freeze in court, but the legal process takes time. Fully funding this step will help ensure we are not separated while we wait for a ruling and work with the U.S. Embassy toward visa issuance.
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<div><strong>WE NEED YOU TO STAND WITH US.</strong>
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<div>We have fought this battle for nearly 3 years. We survived a 3-month blackout. We kept going when everything seemed lost because we knew you were with us.
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<div>You carried us to the Embassy. We have won 90% of the case. With your support, we can beat the hard 10% that remains.
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<div>Here is how you can help us finish this fight:
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<div><strong>1. Give if you can.</strong> Every donation – whether it’s your first, your next, or a monthly lifeline – funds our immediate survival in Poland while building the financial guarantee the Embassy requires. $50 buys us a day of food and medicine. $100 keeps a roof over our heads. A larger contribution unlocks the upfront costs of the legal residency we need to reach safety.
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<div><strong>2. Share our link. </strong>Your share puts our story in front of someone who might be the difference between us making it home and being forced back into an isolated, hostile environment. Think of the warmest, safest people you know – friends, family, or church community. Please send them our link. This is the only way our page can be found and not forgotten.
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<div>Every donation and every share directly changes the course of our lives. Please help us survive this freeze so we can finally be safe, healthy, together, and home.
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<div>With love and gratitude,
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<div>Valentin &amp; Anastasia
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</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/95682245_1762517321596594_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
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Anonymous

Dena Politis

Katelyn Lloyd

Taciana Pontes

Seraphim Spencer

Jennifer Pinkeron

Suzanne Plympton

Help Bring Valentin & Anastasia Home

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

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NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

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fund country is US and user language is English

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comms-internal-person-ids

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Streaming widgets beta user

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Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

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p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

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UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Eligible for Profile Comment Badge

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

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Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

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Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

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Non-charity fund

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challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Help Bring Valentin & Anastasia Home

Still $10,508 to go. Help us build momentum.