The stay of foreigners in Ukraine is regulated by Article 4 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons. It is very important not to violate the duration of stay in Ukraine established by the law, as violation of migration legislation constitutes an administrative offence punishable by fine, according to the Ukrainian Code on Administrative Offence.
In order to calculate the allowed duration of stay on the Territory of Ukraine, please use the «MIGRATION CALCULATOR».
Foreign servicemen
According to part 18 of Article 4 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, foreigners and stateless persons who signed contracts to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine according to the established procedure, shall be considered as legal temporary residents on the territory of Ukraine for the period of contracted service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Temporary residence of such foreigners and stateless persons on the territory of Ukraine is confirmed by the military service card of enlisted personnel.
In this situation, individuals do not need to apply to the migration authority for any additional documents to certifying temporary residence in Ukraine.
According to para. 9, part 2 of Article 4 of the law of Ukraine on Immigration, individuals who have served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for three years and longer may receive immigration permit. More detailed information about obtaining immigration permit is here.
Foreign volunteers
According to part 10 of Article 4 of the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, foreigners who arrived in Ukraine for the purpose of participating in international and regional volunteer programmes or participating in the activity of organizations and institutions that engage volunteers on the basis of the Law of Ukraine on Volunteering, the information of which is present on the official website of the central executive agency tasked with implementation of public policy in the area of volunteer activity (see the list of registered organizations) must obtain temporary residence permit and place of residence registration in Ukraine..
Issuance temporary residence permit requires that an applicant should produce a letter from the organization registered on the official website of the Ministry of Social Policy, see the list by using the link.
The letter of solicitation should be addressed to the territorial body of SMS according to the place of residence of foreigner, for example: Main Department of SMS in Kyiv.
Request (solicitation) from the host is a request from a legal entity or physical person to issue temporary residence permit to a foreigner or stateless person in accordance with para. 3.3 in Section III of the Temporary Procedure, that should contain the key information about the legal entity or physical person, information about the foreigner or stateless person and grounds for granting them temporary residence permit, in compliance with the requirements listed in parts four – fourteen of Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, attested by a seal and signature of the top executive officer (for legal entity) or signature of the physical person.;
More detailed information about issuance of temporary residence permit can be found here.
Important: Within 10 days after obtaining temporary residence permit, a foreigner should visit the territorial unit of SMS at the place of residence and register his/her place of residence, according to Ukrainian legislation.
More detailed information about place of residence registration can be found here
You can receive information about documentation and registration of foreign national participating in the Anti-Terrorist Operation from:
- Deputy Head of Section on Temporary and Permanent Residence of Foreigners and Stateless Persons Oksana Chornous(Tel.: +380 44 278-70-98);
- Chief Specialist of Section on Temporary and Permanent Residence of Foreigners and Stateless Persons Anna Yesipova (Tel.: +380 044 278-70-98).
Ukrainian Citizenship
Foreigners and stateless persons who have special merit or achievements that are in the special interest of Ukraine or whose admission to Ukrainian citizenship constitutes a matter of national interest could be admitted to Ukrainian citizenship through simplified procedure, on the basis of part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine on Ukrainian Citizenship (hereinafter – the Law), having submitted documents stipulated in para. 49 of the Procedure regulating proceedings on applications and submissions related to citizenship and execution of adopted decisions, approved by the Presidential Decree of 27 March 2001 No. 215 (hereinafter – the Procedure):
a) application for admission to Ukrainian citizenship (two copies);
b) 3 photographs 35 mm x 45 mm;
c) letter of obligation to terminate foreign citizenship – for foreigners; or declaration about absence of foreign citizenship – for stateless persons;
d) submission to the President of Ukraine from a central executive body of Ukraine stating that a person has special merit or achievements that are in the special interest of Ukraine or whose admission to Ukrainian citizenship constitutes a matter of national interest (the list of central executive bodies is approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of 9 December 2010 No. 1085/2010).
At the same time, according to para. 491 of the Procedure, together with the application for admission to Ukrainian citizenship, the applicant should also submit a document (or several documents, if the applicant holds citizenship of several states) issued by a foreign state’s competent authority stating that on the territory of the foreign state this person have not committed serious or extremely grievous criminal offence, crime against humanity and have not engaged in genocide.
Para. 5 of the Procedure stipulates that during application process related to citizenship, applicant should produce ID document and document about the his/her residence on the territory of Ukraine, and include copies of these documents.
Para. 102 of the Procedure stipulates that in the course of proceeding upon applications for Ukrainian citizenship, the casefile on admission to Ukrainian citizenship shall be sent to bodies of the State Security Service of Ukraine and Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and these bodies, within their remit, shall check whether there are any grounds or circumstances that do not allow admission to Ukrainian citizenship.
To facilitate addressing of the issues related to admission to Ukrainian citizenship for this category of persons, dedicated officers are designated in the Department for Citizenship, Registration and Matters of Citizens from the Temporary Occupied Territory of Ukraine at SMS of Ukraine:
- Deputy Director of Department – Head of Section for Citizenship Yuliia Kryshtop (Tel.: +380 44 289-50-83);
- Chief Specialist, Section for Citizenship Vasyl Zholob (Tel. (044) 289-50-91).