What to Do If a Foreigner's Passport or Permanent Residence Permit (PRP) Has Expired in Ukraine?

1. I live in Ukraine with a Permanent Residence Permit, but my passport has expired. Does my Permanent Residence Permit become invalid?

No, Ukrainian legislation does not stipulate that the permanent residence permit is invalidated due to the invalidity of the foreigner's passport document.

In turn, staying in Ukraine without a valid passport document is a violation of Paragraph 22 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, which specifies that foreigners and stateless persons legally residing in Ukraine must have a valid passport document.

However, the aforementioned Law does not establish sanctions for violating this obligation.

At the same time, the Code of Administrative Offenses contains Article 203. This article imposes a fine of UAH 1,700 to UAH 5,100 for violation of the rules of stay in Ukraine, i.e., residing without documents granting the right to reside in Ukraine, with invalid documents, or with documents whose validity period has expired.

This article is usually applied in cases of staying in Ukraine beyond the permitted duration or with invalid residence permits. But theoretically, it can be applied to residing with an invalid passport document of a foreigner.

2. My Residence Permit is expired, what should I do?

According to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1202 dated 21.10.2022, residence permits that expired after 24.02.2022 remain valid for the period of martial law in Ukraine and for 30 days from the date of its termination. These residence permits allow for residence and entry into Ukraine.

Important: these permits must be exchanged for new ones within 30 days from the date of the termination of martial law.

However, these norms do not apply to citizens of the russian federation.

Citizens of the russian federation who belong to the following categories:

• persons who are full-blood siblings, grandparents, or grandchildren of citizens of Ukraine;

• parents, husband (wife) of an immigrant, and his/her minor children;

• persons who have served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine for three years or more;

• one spouse, if the other spouse, with whom he/she has been married for more than two years, is a citizen of Ukraine, and children and parents of citizens of Ukraine;

• persons who are guardians or custodians of citizens of Ukraine, or who are under the guardianship or custody of citizens of Ukraine;

• persons whose immigration represents a state interest for Ukraine —

must timely (within 30 days from the date of turning 25 or 45, or the date of change of personal data) apply to the local State Migration Service (SMS) office at the place of residence for the exchange (the so-called renewal or "photo insertion") of the permanent residence permit.

If it was not possible to apply within the deadline, it is necessary to pay the aforementioned fine at the SMS illegal migration department at the place of residence and then apply for the permit exchange with the protocol and the paid fine.

The Resolution does not specify how other categories of immigrants with russian citizenship should proceed; their documents will not be considered until the end of martial law or until a special law is adopted that regulates the legal status of individuals associated with the russian federation.

We recommend that this category of foreigners await relevant changes in the legislation, and if the invalidity of the documents is recorded by authorized law enforcement officers, pay the fine and subsequently carry a copy of the protocol and receipts for the fine payment.

We emphasize that Article 61 of the Constitution of Ukraine clearly establishes that no one may be twice held legally liable of the same kind for the same offense.

If you have already paid a fine for a certain offense, it cannot be imposed on you again.

If you were abroad, you will first need to obtain a visa to enter Ukraine. Once on the territory of Ukraine, you can use the course of action described above.

3. Both my passport and my Residence Permit are expired, what are the next steps?

Without a valid passport document, it is impossible to exchange (renew) the permanent residence permit. Therefore, there is only one way out of this situation: apply to the representation of your state of citizenship and obtain a new passport, or if that is impossible, a Certificate of Return to your country. Once in the country of citizenship, obtain a new passport and return to Ukraine.

If the deadline for exchanging the residence permit occurred after 24.02.2022, you will be able to return with a new passport and the old permit. If the deadline occurred before that date, consider the visa regime, because if there are no visa-free agreements between Ukraine and your country of citizenship, border service employees will not allow you entry with an expired permit without a visa.

As for citizens of the russian federation and Belarus, whose representative offices are currently absent from Ukraine, making it impossible to renew or obtain a new passport document, crossing the border with Ukraine, even for departure, will not be possible. Therefore, the only option is to await changes in our national legislation that will regulate the legal status of individuals in such cases, or other changes that will make it possible to obtain a national passport document remotely.

4. What should be done after receiving a new passport?

The Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons" contains a norm that a foreigner, in case of loss or exchange of a passport document, must notify the State Migration Service in writing within three working days. However, again, the Law does not establish a penalty for violating this deadline.

The Procedure for issuing, exchanging, etc., a permanent residence permit of April 25, 2018, No. 321, also determines that in case of obtaining a new passport document (due to loss, expiration of the previous one, etc.), the foreigner applies to the SMS at the place of residence and submits the new passport and its translation into Ukrainian, notarized, for the purpose of placing a stamp regarding the permit's issuance in the foreigner's new passport document. The stamp is placed on the day of application.

As we can see, there are no time limits for application in the Procedure. In practice, the Migration Service places stamps in new passports regardless of how long ago they were issued. Although sanctions for violating these norms have not been established, it is not advisable to abuse the loyalty of the migration service employees. We recommend always keeping your documents up to date, as required by law.