How can a foreigner move to live in Ukraine?

If you are a foreigner and plan to move to live in Ukraine, firstly, you need to take care of obtaining legal documents for residence. Without such documents, a foreigner has the right to enter the territory of Ukraine for only 90 days within 180 days.

According to national legislation, the legal documents for residence in Ukraine are a temporary residence permit and a permanent residence permit.

With situations when a foreigner already has grounds for obtaining a residence permitin Ukraine, such as marriage, study, work, etc., it is pretty clear. It is necessary to collect the documents defined by the law, submit them to the Migration Service and wait for a decision. Read more about the list of documents and how to get them on our page about temporary residence permit.

In this article, we will consider situations when a foreigner does not currently have documents that give the right to reside in Ukraine. In such cases, it is possible to issue only a temporary residence permit in Ukraine. Therefore, here we will focus on obtaining this document.

If you have grounds for obtaining a permanent residence permit, please refer to the link for details on the procedure for obtaining it.

Next, we will describe the most common ways to legalize in Ukraine.

1. Marriage with a citizen of Ukraine

Often, the reason for wanting to stay in Ukraine beyond the legally allowed 90 days is a relationship with a Ukrainian woman or a Ukrainian man. In this case, if the relationship is serious, we advise our clients to get married in Ukraine.

This can be done in the usual way by contacting any registration of civil status office and waiting a month. Or you can use the “quick marriage” service. However, if it is possible for citizens of Ukraine to get married in 1 working day, then when concluding a marriage with a foreigner, it will be necessary to wait 3-7 working days. This is related to the verification of the legality of a foreigner's stay in Ukraine by the Migration Service.

Why is it recommended getting married in Ukraine?

First, the procedure for concluding a marriage with a foreigner in Ukraine is as simple as possible, you need to provide a minimum of documents. If the marriage is the first for the newly-weds, then it is enough for a foreigner to have a passport and its notarized translation into Ukrainian. While in other countries, when concluding a marriage, they may request additional certificates, for example, a certificate from the country of citizenship about not being married, etc.

Secondly, having a Ukrainian certificate, there is no need to additionally deal with its legalization and certify the translation every time before submitting documents for the renewal of the residence permit.

After marriage, citizens of the visa countries must go abroad and apply to the diplomatic mission of Ukraine to obtain a D-14 visa, after which return to Ukraine and apply for a residence permit. Citizens of visa-free countries can immediately apply for a permit.

A temporary residence permit based on marriage is issued for a period of 1 year. It can be extended an unlimited number of times as long as the couple remains married. After being married for more than 2 years, a foreigner has the right to apply for an immigration permit, which in turn is the basis for obtaining a permanent residence permit.

You can consult and receive qualified legal assistance at all these stages with our migration lawyers.

2. Become a volunteer in Ukraine

Any foreigner can become a volunteer by signing a contract with an official volunteer organization. It can be, for example, a non-profit charitable foundation or a public organization.

When choosing where to settle, it is worth paying attention to the fact that not every organization has the right to attract foreigners and issue visa invitations and passport applications. You can check whether the organization can issue documents for you on the website of the National Social Service of Ukraine.

After you and the volunteer organization have agreed to cooperate, you need to receive an invitation and a D-10 visa application package from them. A visa, as in the case of marriage, can only be issued abroad at a Ukrainian diplomatic mission. After returning to Ukraine with a D visa, you can apply documents for obtaining a residence permit. Before applying, you have to receive an application for Migration service and registrational documents from the organization.

The permit will be issued with a validity period of 1 year and it can be extended an unlimited number of times as long as you volunteer in registered NSSSU organizations.

It should be noted separately that this path is quite risky for citizens of the countries of the post-Soviet space and citizens of countries at risk of migration.

Passport holders of these countries are more carefully checked by the Migration Service, so the risk of being refused is quite high. In such cases, we advise you to pay attention to legalization by opening a business.

But for citizens of developed countries, this is the best option for legalization in Ukraine.

If you need support in the process of legalization in Ukraine as a volunteer, contact us, we will help.

3. Opening your own business in Ukraine

Foreigners who have registered as taxpayers in Ukraine (received a tax number) have the right to conduct business in our country.

This can be done by registering an individual entrepreneur known as FOP or creating a legal entity.

Next, we will talk about the preparation of documents through the registration of a legal entity, namely limited liability companies. Of course, it is possible to register any other organizational and legal form, but we prefer the LLC because of the best legal framework.

Therefore, choosing this path of legalization in Ukraine, a foreigner must obtain a tax payer's card and establish his own company in Ukraine. This can be done both by personally coming to Ukraine, and by sending a notarial power of attorney to lawyers in Ukraine who will do it on behalf.

After the company is registered, a permit to use the labor of foreigners and stateless persons for the position of director has to be obtained.

With a valid work permit, a foreigner applies to the Embassy/Consulate of Ukraine abroad, receives a D-04 visa, enters Ukraine and submits documents for a temporary residence permit. It is enough for citizens of visa-free countries to simply come to Ukraine or have 15 working days of legal stay in reserve at the time of applying for a permit, if the entry to Ukraine took place before the permit was issued.

Despite the fact that this option contains the most steps, the undeniable advantage of this method of legalization is that, unlike the previous two, the permit can be issued immediately for 2 years, and therefore the Migration Service will issue a temporary residence permit for 2 years. It is possible to extend these documents an unlimited number of times.

It should be borne in mind that even if the company does not conduct any activity, it will be necessary to pay wages, because the staff will include an employee - the director. And accordingly, deduct salary taxes to the budget of Ukraine and submit mandatory reporting. As of 2023, the amount of taxes on the minimum wage in Ukraine is UAH 2,780.5 per month (personal income tax – UAH 1,206, military tax – UAH 100.5, EST – UAH 1,474). This can be done independently through the taxpayer's office on the website of the Ukrainian Tax Service, or by hiring an accountant who will manage the company's affairs.

If we talk about the registration of a foreigner as a private entrepreneur, then it is purely technical, in this case it is possible to obtain a work permit and get a temporary residence. But after the changes in the legislation that took place in 2022, in practice, there are so many problems when registering through the PE that we do not recommend our clients to go this way. The probability of cancellation of documents with such registration is almost 100%.

Importantly! Above we are talking about the registration option when the FOP-foreigner is self-employed. If you are an FOP and want to invite a foreigner to work - that's fine, you can do it.

Note that, apart from its obvious advantages, this method of legalization in Ukraine is the most expensive of all those listed. This is due to the high state payment for obtaining a work permit, which changes every year. For example, in 2023, you will have to pay UAH 13,420 for a 1-year work permit, and UAH 21,472 for a 2-year work permit.

If you are interested in this option of obtaining documents for residence in Ukraine, please contact us, we will be happy to help you through all stages of the process.

To understand whether you need a D visa and how to get one, read our post on this topic.