The Law “On Immigration” has been changed: what’s new for foreigners in Ukraine?

On June 29, 2023, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Immigration” on improving the conditions and procedure for immigration to Ukraine of foreigners and stateless persons” was adopted, which changes the grounds and conditions for issuing an immigration permit to Ukraine.

The changes came into force on October 20, 2023.

Let's look at what has changed next.

1. New categories of foreigners who can immigrate to Ukraine

In addition to highly qualified specialists and workers, an urgent need for which is tangible for the economy of Ukraine, the spouses of such persons, their children under the age of 18 will be able to immigrate, in case of their joint entry and stay on the territory of Ukraine.

The circle of relatives of an immigrant eligible for a permit has been changed: the spouse of an immigrant, if they have been married for more than two years, his children under the age of 18, and his disabled parents, who are considered members of the immigrant's family in accordance with the law of the foreign state - the country of origin.

The previous version of the Law did not contain the following requirements:

being married to an immigrant for more than two years;
disability of parents.

A completely new category has been added: persons specified in parts four to twelve of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine "On the legal status of foreigners and stateless persons", subject to continuous residence on the territory of Ukraine on the basis of a residence permit for the past five years."

This means that foreigners who have lived in Ukraine with a temporary residence permit for more than 5 years in a row, will be able to submit documents to obtain immigration and permanent residence.

Exception:

foreigners who received a temporary permit through marriage to a citizen of Ukraine;
foreigners who received a temporary permit through marriage to a foreigner;
foreign students.

Continuous residence on the territory of Ukraine is considered if:

a one-time trip abroad for private business did not exceed 90 days, and in total for one year - 180 days (exception: travel abroad on a business trip, for training, on vacation, for treatment on the recommendation of the relevant medical institution);
the temporary residence was extended only by way of exchange, i.e. it was not handed over or re-registered.

The words "... except for persons who were previously citizens of Ukraine" were added to the wording of the basis "persons entitled to acquire citizenship of Ukraine by territorial origin".

It should be noted that even without details in the Law, in practice, documents on territorial origin were not accepted from persons who were previously citizens of Ukraine. For this category, there is a separate basis - persons who were previously citizens of Ukraine.

2. The fight against fake marriages

The legislator determines the circumstances under which the fact that a person is married to a citizen of Ukraine or an immigrant will not be recognized as a basis for granting an immigration permit:

one of the spouses received material compensation in exchange for providing free consent to marriage, if this is not mandatory when entering into marriage outside Ukraine in accordance with the law of a foreign state;
spouses do not live together and are not connected by a common life;
the spouses did not meet or communicate before marriage;
spouses do not communicate in a language understandable to both;
one of the spouses was previously married to a citizen of Ukraine or an immigrant who was not recognized as the basis for granting an immigration permit;
each of the spouses does not have information about the personal data of the other spouse (date and place of birth, place of residence, education, place of work, profession, religion, the presence of close relatives, features of life and preferences);
a person's denial of the personal presence of his husband or wife when he applies for an immigration permit;
the refusal of each spouse to provide written consent to an interview and written tests to verify the circumstances defined by this article.

That is, when submitting documents, the personal presence of the second spouse will be required. In addition, it will be necessary to sign consents for interviews, which, among other things, will be able to proceed via videoconference.

3. The administrative fee for issuing a permit has been increased

Before submitting documents, it will be necessary to pay 0.5 of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as of January 1 of the calendar year and attach the payment document to the package of documents.

In 2024, the fee is 1514UAH.

Previously, it was necessary to pay only 179.74 UAH.

4. The period for reviewing documents has been reduced to 6 months

If the applicant applies to the Embassy or Consulate of Ukraine abroad, the application will be considered within 1 year.

Previously, the period for consideration of applications both in Ukraine and abroad lasted 1 year.

If you need the help of an immigration lawyer, please contact us, we can advise, collect a package of documents and assist in obtaining immigration to Ukraine!