Which organizations have the right to involve foreign and Ukrainian volunteers in their activities?

If your charitable or non-governmental organization needs to involve volunteers in its activities, but you don’t know how to do it right - this material is for you.

We will tell you what needs to be done to freely cooperate with foreign and Ukrainian volunteers.

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What organizations can collaborate with volunteers?

Until March 31, 2015, only organizations included in the register of volunteer organizations kept by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine could engage volunteers.

However, on April 1, 2015, amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Volunteer Activities” came into force, from which the concept of the status of a volunteer organization was simply removed. But part 1 of article 5 of this law determines that organizations that have the status of non-profitability can engage volunteers.

That is, in order to engage volunteers to work, it is enough to obtain the status of non-profitability.

Our service: Obtaining a non-profit status

Why then is the register of volunteer organizations kept?

Despite the abolition of the status of a volunteer organization at the legislative level, the Ministry of Social Policy continues to keep the register of organizations that cooperate with foreign volunteers. This is due to the fact that the legislation of Ukraine has had certain conflicts in this area.

In particular, in order to receive a residence permit by a foreign volunteer, the organization that engaged him/her must submit an application (petition) to the migration service. According to the procedure for obtaining a residence permit, information about such an organization should be posted on the website of the Ministry of Social Policy.

What organizations and for what reason should be included in the register of the Ministry of Social Policy?

If the organization is already unprofitable, it can, if desired, be included in the register of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.

What for? This can add solidity and inspire more confidence. And organizations that plan to invite volunteers from other countries or stateless persons need to be included in this register from a practical point of view. This will provide an opportunity to receive a residence permit for the invited persons.

Related article: The procedure of getting temporary residence permit for a foreigner-volunteer

How to join the register of organizations that engage foreign volunteers to work?

As already noted, the organization must be unprofitable. The Tax Code of Ukraine contains a number of requirements for the

constituent documents of such organizations, the main of which are:

• there is a prohibition on the distribution of profits between founders, members and officials;
• the availability in the charter of an obligation to use the property and income of the organization only for its maintenance and achievement of the statutory goals;
• the availability in the charter of an obligation, in the event of termination of activity, to transfer all assets of another organization with the status of non-profitability or to state revenue.

Related article: Comments on how to register a non-profit organization in Ukraine

The State Fiscal Service of Ukraine within 14 days reviews the constituent documents of the organization for compliance with the requirements of the Tax Code, after which it assigns the organization the status of non-profitability and enters the date in the corresponding electronic register or refuses to assign the status of non-profitability.

Important! In order for your documents to be successfully tested by the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, they must fully comply with the law. We can prepare a turnkey package of documents for you and solve the issue of obtaining the status of non-profitability as quickly as possible.

After obtaining the status of non-profitability in the bodies of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, the organization can submit documents to the Ministry of Social Policy for inclusion in the corresponding register. This procedure usually takes about a week.

Interesting information: Obtaining of permission to attract foreigners to volunteer activities in Ukraine 

So, what needs to be done to be able to attract foreign and Ukrainian volunteers to their activities?

If you want to be able to work with Ukrainian volunteers, all you need is a non-profit status for your organization.

If you want to involve foreign volunteers in your activities, in addition to the status of non-profitability, you will need to include in the register organizations that can cooperate with foreign volunteers.

If you have any questions on this issue or on the further registration of foreign volunteers in Ukraine, you can contact our staff for advice.