The procedure of getting a temporary residence permit through the foundation of company in Ukraine

Nowadays more and more foreigners call on our company for registration their own business in Ukraine. It is related to the matters that it is not only interesting to do business in Ukraine but also establishing a LLC allows foreigners to get a temporary resident permit. Naturally that every foreigner wants to find out more information about establishing a firm, about the procedure of getting a work permit and a temporary resident permit before he or she launches this process.

So we will tell about this process in our article.

First of all, let’s concrete stages of the procedure of getting a right to stay in Ukraine permanently according to a work permit:

• Getting an identification number for a foreigner;
• Registration of a legal entity (LLC) which is established by a foreigner and led by a nominal director;
• Getting a work permit for a foreigner by an employer (registered LLC);
• CEO’s replacement for a foreigner;
• Getting a temporary resident permit;
• Registration of place of residence in Ukraine.

The first stage is getting an identification number for a foreigner in Ukraine. A foreigner doesn’t have a right to work officially in Ukraine or establish a firm if he or she doesn’t get this number. A foreigner must have a passport and a power of attorney for getting an identification number. If a foreigner stays in Ukraine then he or she can do a power of attorney at the nearest notary’s office. However, a foreigner doesn’t stay in Ukraine very often. In this case the procedure is more complicated because local lawyers prepare a draft of a power of attorney which a foreigner has to sign and legalize or apostil in a country where this document was issued. After it lawyers get powers which allow getting an identification number for a foreigner during one week.

The second stage is a registration of a company in Ukraine. In the most cases foreigners choose a limited liability company because of the simplified procedure of establishment. In general, foreigners who want to get a temporary resident permit are establishers of these firms.

You have to assemble a general meeting of establishers where a LLC will be established, a head will be chosen, a corporation documents will be approved, an LLC’s address and directions of activities will be determined and a size of shares capital will be defined. In the most cases these meetings are held remotely via modern communication facilities and decisions are made by a protocol which is signed by authorized persons in Ukraine (local lawyers). This protocol has to be composed according to the law requirements so its preparation and developing a charter and other required documents for registration should be made by local lawyers. In this case a registration of a legal entity on the basis of a power of attorney by the state registration service will take not more than two days.

A foreigner should use services of a nominal director on the stage of establishing a company. It is related to the matter that a foreigner can’t hold an appointment in Ukrainian companies, including a position of a director, without a work permit. So before it this appointment should be held by a Ukrainian citizen. If a foreigner doesn’t have a person for this appointment then law companies, which register LLCs, usually provide services like these to a foreigner. In the future this director will be replaced for a foreigner.

At the moment of company’s registration there must be also an address. As in the previous case, this address also can be provided.

The next stage is getting a work permit for a foreigner. Applicant, who asks for it, is a registered LLC. A legal entity’s petition is one of the most general documents. This document is written on an official blank, signed by a nominal director and sealed. It also must have: a validity term of a work permit; an appointment for a foreigner; information about company’s address and directions of activity; a clause about a post’s ineligibility to the state secret etc.

A foreigner must submit a copy of his or her passport and its translation into Ukrainian, a required application, a copy of a labor agreement’s project for getting a work permit. This permit can be issued in seven working days if your documents are composed correctly.

Then a foreigner must get a type D visa on the basis of a work permit and visit Ukraine. It doesn’t matter whether a foreigner must get a visa for visiting Ukraine or not. Anyway a foreigner must get a type D visa. He or she can get a temporary resident permit only after visiting Ukraine with this visa.

If a foreigner doesn’t stay in Ukraine at the moment of getting a work permit then a director of a firm can get it by himself and send it to a foreigner via courier services (for example, DHL).

A CEO’s replacement happens after a foreigner comes into Ukraine with a type D visa. The main task of this stage is a preparation of a protocol of a general meeting which approves a replacement. The documents must be submitted to the state registration service after their notarization. On the next day new information will be published in the Unified state register and a foreigner becomes a legal director of a LLC.

The next stage is getting a temporary residence permit. A legal entity’s petition is one of the most general documents which are submitted to the state bodies. However, in this case a foreigner can write this petition on an official blank, signed and sealed it by himself. A passport, a health insurance policy, a copy of an identification number, a work permit also are required documents.

A residence permit can be issued for 3 years. It allows to stay in Ukraine for a long time legally and visit/leave Ukraine a lot of times.

A foreigner must register his or her place residence in Ukraine after getting a residence permit. A foreigner can choose any place he or she wants. An address also can be nominal as in the case he or she doesn’t have it. A written application about registration can be submitted by a foreigner or by an authorized person via a power of attorney. This procedure must be done in 30 days or a person will be imposed with measures of an administrative responsibility.

Employer must submit a labor agreement’s project to the State Employment Service of Ukraine during 90 days since the moment of issuance a work permit. This agreement is made in a contract form. A contract can have different clauses which consider personal skills and abilities of a foreigner. An agreement is signed by an old director – citizen of Ukraine and by a new director- a foreigner.

The procedure of getting a permanent residence permit for a foreigner is consisted with abovementioned stages. If you want to start your own business in Ukraine and stay here legally for a long time then lawyers of our company can successfully provide you a legal help for this.

The procedure of doing business in a way which allows to pay a minimal wage and minimize taxes will be examined in our future articles.