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What to do if the Migration Service of Ukraine refused to issue a temporary residence permit?

In this article, we will talk about the most common grounds for refusal, share the algorithm of actions and experience on how to successfully appeal the negative decision of the Migration Service.

Recently, the Migration Service has been increasingly refusing to issue or exchange a temporary residence permit to foreigners in Ukraine.

Usually, Migration Service employees recommend to eliminate the cause of the refusal and apply the documents again. However, as practice shows, re-submission of documents does not guarantee a positive result. There were cases when a foreigner received a refusal to issue a permit 3 times in a row. In addition to wasting time, this approach also entails an additional financial burden. After all, each time you submit documents, you must pay a state fee, get a notarized translation of your passport, and in some cases it is also necessary to extend the validity of the health insurance policy.

What is the alternative?

If there is reason to believe that the Migration Service refused erroneously or in violation of your legal rights, the refusal decision can be appealed.

Do I need to appeal to the court?

Of course, you can immediately file a lawsuit against the Migration Service in court. However, the procedure for considering a case in court can take years, and it is important for foreigners to stay legally on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, we recommend that you appeal the decision of the local Migration Service to the State Migration Service of Ukraine.

SMS of Ukraine and the Migration Service that refused - is it not the same body?

Local Migration Services are bodies/divisions of the State Migration Service of Ukraine. The Procedure for issuing a residence permit provides for the possibility of appealing the refusal in an administrative manner. This means that a foreigner has the right to apply to a higher-level authority with a complaint against the decision of an authority subordinate to it. So, if you received a refusal from the CIA SMS in Kyiv and Kyiv region, the Main Department of SMS in the Odessa region or any other territorial Migration service, you can apply to the SMS of Ukraine with a complaint about such a decision.

How long does it take to consider an appeal to the State Migration Service of Ukraine?

Consideration takes up to 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of your complaint by the State Migration Service of Ukraine. If the consideration requires clarification of additional circumstances, this period may be extended by another 15 days, of which you will be notified in advance by letter.

What is the deadline for filing an appeal?

The appeal must be filed within 30 days of receiving the manual denial. However, during martial law in Ukraine, a complaint can be filed with violation of this deadline.

What will be the outcome of the complaint?

If the employees of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, after considering the arguments presented in the complaint, come to the conclusion that the refusal decision of the local Migration Service was unfounded or was made with a violation, such a decision will be canceled, and a new one will be made in its place - to issue a permit based on previously submitted documents.

After that, within a few days, the status of processing documents on the SMS website will change to “permission for personalization has been granted”, and within a week your permit will be delivered to the place where you submitted the documents.

In general, if the complaint is drawn up correctly, filed on time and all the necessary documents are attached to it, then the chances of success are almost one hundred percent.

In the event that the complaint is not satisfied for one reason or another, it is necessary to choose a further algorithm of actions based on the individual situation of the foreigner. It is impossible to give universal recommendations on this issue.

How can I find out the reason for the rejection?

Before deciding to file complaints, you must first find out what exactly caused the refusal.

The decision to refuse issued by the Migration Service contains only the number of the paragraph and subparagraph of the Procedure for issuing a temporary permit. For example, in the Procedure there is a ground for refusal, as "in other cases provided by law." From such a formulation it is impossible to understand the real reason for the refusal.

Therefore, in order to find out the details, you need to contact the employees of the Migration Service, where you were refused, and clarify what exactly caused the refusal. In the event that the oral answer did not satisfy you or it is not possible to visit the service in person (for example, you went abroad), you can get a written explanation. To do this, you need to send an email to the Migration Service or fill out a form through the service of receiving electronic applications from citizens on the website of the State Migration Service.

Now let's consider the most common reasons for refusal to issue a permit.

1. The leader among the grounds for refusal, of course, is subparagraph 9 of paragraph 61 of the Procedure: it has been established that a foreigner or stateless person provided knowingly false information or forged documents.

Most often, in this case, the Migration Service considers the address indicated by the foreigner in the application form as the place of his actual residence as false information. An inspection is carried out at such an address and, if the foreigner is not found at the specified address, the Migration Service makes a decision to refuse.

We often fix situations when there is a refusal due to “false data” of the address, and the inspection was not carried out at all. As an example: access to the RC where a foreigner lives is only through the security point, who was warned of a possible inspection, however, there was not a single visitor for 3 weeks with the inspection, and the decision to refuse due to “non-residence” at the address was still made.

There were also cases when the refusal came due to the fact that the foreigner noted in the application form not a personal phone number, but the contact of a lawyer or a representative of the employing company. The absurdity of such decisions is clear without any comments.

What to do?

The simplest situation is when the housing, which was indicated as the place of actual residence, is owned by the applicant or members of one`s family. It will be enough to correctly formulate the complaint and attach supporting documents to it.

In the case when housing is rented, we recommend that you attach to the complaint as proof of residence, a lease agreement, as well as documents and a statement from the owner (s).

The most difficult situation is when you rent a house without documents. In this case, try asking the landlord to sign a statement saying that you actually live in the property. If the owner refuses, collect testimony from neighbors, concierge, security, make copies of utility bills, attach a photo of the apartment, etc.

In addition to the above, it is worth noting that the Regulations on the State Migration Service of Ukraine contain an exhaustive list of tasks and powers of employees of the State Migration Service, among which the conduct of inspection at residential addresses is not listed.

2. Often, subparagraph 10 of paragraph 61 of the Procedure also becomes the basis for refusal: facts of non-fulfillment by a foreigner or a stateless person of a court decision or state bodies authorized to impose administrative penalties are revealed, or they have other property obligations to the state, individuals or legal entities, including those related to preliminary expulsion from Ukraine, including after the expiration of the ban on further entry into Ukraine.

In practice, most often this paragraph may mean that enforcement proceedings have been opened against a foreigner (unpaid fine for speeding, improper parking, unpaid loan, etc.).

What to do?

First of all, it is necessary to check the information in the Unified Register of Debtors and the Automated System of Enforcement Proceedings. The search must be done by name in Ukrainian and date of birth.

If it turns out that the debt was repaid before the submission of documents for the permit, but it was forgotten to remove you from the registers, then the refusal to issue the TRP can be appealed. Contact the executor in the case and ask to update the data in the registers and provide you with a document with the date when you actually paid the debt. These documents will then need to be attached to the complaint.

If you have not paid the debt on time, you need to contact the executor in the case, pay a fine, receive a document on the closure of enforcement proceedings and re-apply with this document to the Migration Service. In this case, there is no point in filing a complaint.

If there is no data about you in the registers at all, contact the Migration Service with a request to explain the reasons for the refusal and, based on the answer, decide how to proceed.

3. Since the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, foreigners have increasingly begun to receive refusals on the basis of subparagraph 7 of paragraph 61 of the Procedure: information was received from the National Police, the SSU, and another state body that the actions of a foreigner or a stateless person threaten national security, public order, health protection of the rights and legitimate interests of citizens of Ukraine and other persons residing in Ukraine, or a foreigner or stateless person has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in international law, or is wanted for an act that, in accordance with with the laws of Ukraine is recognized as a felony.

If you are not wanted for a felony, did not commit crimes against peace, war crimes or crimes against humanity, this paragraph means that the Security Service of Ukraine, when checking your face, came to the conclusion that you threaten national security, public order, the health of the defense rights and legitimate interests of citizens of Ukraine and other persons residing in Ukraine.

Provided that when reviewing the documents, you were not contacted by the SSU with a call for an interview and there is no reason to believe that your position or, for example, posts on social networks contain an anti-Ukrainian agenda, support or justify the actions of russia, you need to contact the SSU requesting a reconsideration.

What to do?

1. Together with the application and all available documents, apply to the Security Service of Ukraine with a request to re-verify your identity. 2. After receiving a written positive response from the SSU, send an application to the State Migration Service of Ukraine with a request to review the decision to refuse.

Summaries

Of course, there are many more grounds for refusal than those that we have considered above. However, we did not aim to describe them all. In this article, we have mentioned only the most common grounds on which foreigners are denied today, and which can really be appealed. Of course, if you submitted an incorrectly certified translation of your passport or an invalid health insurance policy, then there is nothing to appeal in this case - you need to correct mistakes and re-apply documents.

Also, if in this article you haven`t found a description of the reason of your refusal, this does not mean that such a refusal cannot be appealed: all situations are individual and each case must be considered separately.

Summarizing all of the above, we can distinguish the following algorithm of actions in case of refusal:

1. Pick up the refusal and clarify what exactly caused such a decision. You can also send a written application to the Migration Service in order to receive a decision by e-mail and, at the same time, ask for an explanation of the specific reason for the refusal. This can be done in several ways:

• fill in the form on the website of the State Migration Service through the reception of citizens' electronic applications;

• send a letter of appeal to the refused Migration Service;

• contact an attorney who will provide an attorney's request.

2. After receiving a response, prepare a complaint and attach to it all supporting documents that the decision to refuse was made erroneously/in violation.

3. Send the complaint and documents by registered letter with a description to the SMS of Ukraine at the address: 01001, Kyiv city, Volodymyrska street, building 9.

4. Receive the decision of the State Migration Service of Ukraine to the e-mail specified in the complaint and, in case of a positive decision, track the status of permit issuance on the website of the State Migration Service.

If you need advice or need help in drafting a complaint, preparing all the necessary applications and documents and submitting them to the SMSU - contact us, our lawyers will help.