WATONGA – A yearslong effort to bring a Ukrainian man to Blaine County full-time was finally successful last week – and not a moment too soon.
Todd Lafferty, co-Chief Executive at the Wheeler Brothers Grain Company, told the Republican that Alex and his wife and son arrived safely in Oklahoma last Tuesday, Feb. 22, after he was granted a green card to work full-time for the company.
Wheeler Brothers sponsored his green card after Alex worked for the company on an H2 visa for a couple of years. Under the terms of his visa, Lafferty said, Alex could spend nine months of the year in the United States, then had to return to Ukraine for at least three months.
Eventually, after marrying back home and starting a family, Alex expressed a desire to move his whole family to the United States. Wheeler Brothers agreed to help him – but they never anticipated how long the process would take.
The journey began in 2018, Lafferty said, when Wheeler Brothers started working with Oklahoma City immigration lawyer Matthew Stump. “He walked us through the ropes,” Lafferty said.
In order to get Alex a green card, Wheeler Brothers had to offer his job to others first by advertising it in the newspaper and posting it on job boards – effectively demonstrating that it couldn’t easily be filled by an American citizen, instead. No one applied.
They also answered multiple rounds of questions for the government. Lafferty said some questions were asked multiple times. “We got a little frustrated at that point,” he said, “but they ended up accepting what we provided to them.”
Alex was interviewed in Ukraine by American immigration officials in December 2021; by January, his green card was approved. It had been over three years.
“And then it just took him a little while to get everything scheduled to leave Ukraine,” Lafferty said.
The family was originally scheduled to depart in early February. But then an illness, which they feared might be COVID-19, kept them in the country for another couple of weeks – right up to the doorstep of Putin’s invasion.
Lafferty watched with trepidation as predictions for an invasion date came and went. Fortunately, Alex and his family left the country on Feb. 21 before the large-scale invasion began.
Now, Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty against one of the world’s most formidable armies.
“Alex was really happy when he got over here,” Lafferty said. “But now he’s really stressed out, and worried about his homeland and his relatives he has back in Ukraine.”
Lafferty said Alex isn’t giving interviews at this time because of the war back home.
He said Alex was expected to start work this week, though the company is being flexible due to the stressful situation back home while Alex also works to secure housing and get settled in Blaine County. Still, despite the long process, Lafferty said he’s grateful that Alex is safe in Oklahoma and made it out of Ukraine in the nick of time.
“We’re very fortunate and pleased that they were able to get over here,” he said.
Alex will operate application equipment, drive vehicles and train new employees for Wheeler Brothers. “He’s a hard worker,” Lafferty said, “and he’s a good guy, too.”
Let’s be sure to extend a warm Watonga welcome to Alex and his family as they join our community and pray for their people back in Ukraine.