Extension of Employee Reservation in Ukraine and Repeat Reservation: Differences and How to Apply

Extending an employee’s reservation from mobilization and reserving an employee again are two different procedures, and Diia has a separate service for each. An extension applies when the employee is still reserved and the enterprise’s critical importance has been reconfirmed by the same authority as before (a ministry or another central government body responsible for the enterprise’s sector, or a regional or Kyiv City Military Administration). The application is submitted through “Extension of Employee Reservations.” The mobilization deferment remains uninterrupted, and the response arrives within 24 hours.

Repeat reservation applies when the previous reservation has expired or been canceled. You must submit a new application through “Employee Reservations.” The system checks all requirements again, just as it did the first time, and has up to 72 hours to process it. The main difference for the employer is that, in this second situation, the employee has no mobilization deferment for a period of time.

The Reservation Procedure approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 76 dated January 27, 2023 does not use the terms “repeat reservation” or “extension.” These names come from practice and from the portal, which explains some of the confusion.

Extending reservations is often confused with two other matters. The first is renewing an enterprise’s critical importance status. That is a separate procedure: the status is only a prerequisite for reservations, as explained below. The second is news that “the government has extended all reservations.” Such a decision is made by the state, not by an employer. Below, we explain how to identify your situation, where and when to apply, and what happens to the employee before a new decision is made.

Extension or Repeat Reservation: Which Applies to Your Situation? 

This comparison is based on the Reservation Procedure and Diia’s descriptions of the two services.

When Do You Need an Extension, and When Do You Need to Reserve Employees Again? 

In everyday speech, both procedures are often called re-reserving employees. Which one you need depends on the circumstances.

The reservation is approaching its expiration date. The deferment period depends on why the enterprise is considered critically important. For the economy, the maximum is 12 months. For the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is limited by the contract term. In all cases, the reservation cannot outlast the critical importance decision. If the status was confirmed in time and the reservation is still active, this is an extension.

The reservation has already expired. Once the term ends, the deferment is canceled. The Procedure lists expiration as the first ground for cancellation. There is nothing left to extend. Diia confirms this explicitly: an expired reservation cannot be re-reserved through the extension service. A new application is required.

The critical importance decision was renewed. What matters is which authority issued it. If it is the same authority, apply for an extension. If it is a different authority, a new reservation is required. Diia explains that the enterprise’s entry under the old decision is removed from the Unified List, and the old reservation is canceled with it. The Coordination Center established in 2026 only makes recommendations to the authority. The authority itself makes the decision.

The reservation was canceled. An employee may be reserved again: the Procedure does not prohibit repeat reservations or limit how many times they can be issued. But a new application will succeed only if the reason for cancellation has been resolved.

How to Extend Reservations for Persons Liable for Military Service Through Diia 

An application may be submitted by the head of the enterprise, another person authorized to act for it without a power of attorney (as recorded in the Unified State Register, or USR), or an authorized representative. The following steps are based on the Diia service page and its instructions dated March 18, 2026:

1. Sign in to the Diia business account. An electronic signature for the legal entity is required.
2. Select “Extension of Employee Reservations.”
3. The system will retrieve the company’s details automatically. Check that they are correct.
4. Select the employees whose reservations you want to extend.
5. Review the application generated by the system and sign it. If an authorized representative submits the application, the head of the enterprise must also sign.

What to know before applying:

• You do not need to cancel an existing reservation. Before March 2026, employers had to cancel an employee’s reservation before submitting another application. Now an extension does not require this step, provided the employee’s reservation is still valid and the same authority has reconfirmed the enterprise’s status.
• Unused places within the reservation quota are not required. You may extend as many employees as are already reserved. Nor is an available quota place needed to convert a 45-day reservation into an ordinary one through “Extension of Employee Reservations.” Once converted, however, the employee is reserved under the general rules and counts toward the quota if the enterprise has one.
• One application may cover up to 1,000 employees. If more employees are reserved, several applications are needed.
• The result appears in the account and in an email, separately for each employee: “reserved,” “not eligible for reservation,” or “not reserved” (with an explanation in the latter case). The employee will see the deferment in Reserve+ and can generate a military registration document on the portal.

Whose Reservation Cannot Be Extended? 

Diia’s reasons can be grouped into four categories:

• The person is not eligible for reservation, for example because they already have another deferment or are not on military registration;
• The person is not employed by your company, or their information is missing from the register of persons liable for military service;
• The person is wanted or has not updated their personal information;
• The reservation has already expired, so there is nothing to extend.

How to Submit a Repeat Reservation 

A repeat reservation for a person liable for military service is submitted in the same way as a first-time application: create an employee list through “Employee Reservations” and sign it. Unlike an extension, this application uses a place within the quota, and the system checks all eligibility conditions again. The step-by-step process is explained in our article on how to reserve employees.

There is currently no paper-based reservation procedure for enterprises: reservations are made only through the portal. An exception applies to an enterprise without an EDRPOU code or without the technical ability to submit a list. In that case, the authority that granted its status submits the list on its behalf.

Is There Automatic Reservation Extension, and What Does “Seamless” Mean? 

For enterprises, there is no automatic extension. The current Reservation Procedure does not provide for an enterprise employee’s reservation to be extended on its own, without an application. Employers must therefore submit an application.

Why, then, do people speak of “automatic” extensions?

• Government bodies really do not need to reserve their employees again. Their employees are reserved for the entire mobilization period, and Diia explains that this term is extended automatically.
• The application itself is processed automatically. The Ministry of Defense describes the process as follows: the system automatically checks the information and extends the reservation for the next term. It is the decision on a submitted application that is automatic, not the filing of the application.
• “Seamless” extension refers to the mechanism in effect since March 2026: the employer applies without canceling anything in advance, and the employee’s reservation remains uninterrupted. What the government calls advance extension is precisely this extension before expiry for employees who have no military registration violations.
• Resolution No. 862 dated July 1, 2026 did not extend any reservations. It only preserved the validity of an enterprise’s critical importance decision until its expiration date if the enterprise confirmed its salary level on time.

What Has Changed in Extension and Repeat Reservation? 

The main difference between extensions in 2026 and the previous year is that, since March, they can be completed without first canceling the existing reservation.

The extension and repeat reservation procedure itself did not change on September 1, 2026. What changed was this: critical importance decisions made before June 2, 2026 were valid only until September 1 unless the enterprise had confirmed its employees’ average salary by August 10. The reservations linked to those decisions also ended. In that situation, employees cannot have their reservations extended. They must be reserved again after the status is confirmed.

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Timelines: When to Start and How Long to Wait 

How Far in Advance Should You Start? 

The Procedure does not specify a fixed number of days. Work backward from the enterprise’s status: an extension cannot be submitted until the confirmed status appears on the Unified List.

Since October 27, 2026, applications for status confirmation have gone through two rounds of review. First, the authority has up to seven business days to check the documents and forward them to the Coordination Center. The Center issues its recommendations within one month, after which the authority has three business days to decide. In total, this can take up to one and a half months, excluding the time needed to register the application or respond to additional document requests.

Therefore, the first step is not applying for a reservation extension but confirming the enterprise’s status. Start this process at least two months before the status expires. The government itself also recommends filing in advance.

From our practice. An IT company held critical importance status granted by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, which had to be reconfirmed at the end of December. The company contacted us about three weeks before the deadline, believing that this provided enough time.

We prepared an extract from the State Tax Service confirming the absence of tax debt, a certificate of average salaries, and a cover letter. We also corrected the request in the letter from “grant status” to “confirm status,” because the company already held that status. Some documents took time to obtain, so the application was submitted ten days before the deadline. The status was confirmed on the final day, leaving no margin.

But that happened under the old deadlines, when the authority had ten business days. Since October 27, 2026, applications also go through the Coordination Center, and up to one and a half months must be allowed for status confirmation. Today, a company starting only three weeks in advance would not make the deadline.

How Long Does the Application Take to Process? 

When Will Reserve+ Update? 

According to the Ministry of Defense, an employee’s status remains uninterrupted during an extension and is displayed as before. With a new reservation, the deferment appears once the employee is transferred to special military registration (the designation used for reserved employees), within the application processing period.

How long does a new reservation last? It does not mean “another year from today.” It cannot outlast the critical importance decision or the contract. For an enterprise critically important to the economy, it is also limited to 12 months. For example, if the critical importance decision is valid until March 31, a reservation issued on December 1 will also end on March 31, not one year later.

“72 Hours for Repeat Reservation”: What Does This Mean? 

The 72-hour period comes from paragraph 29 of the Procedure. After you create the list, the system has this long to check the employee and, if they meet the requirements, automatically transfer them to special military registration, thereby reserving them. In other words, this is the processing period for a new reservation application.

The 72-hour rule applies to repeat reservations as follows:

• If the reservation has expired and you file a new application, the 72-hour period applies, and the employee has no deferment throughout that time;
• If the reservation is still valid and you extend it after status confirmation, the 72-hour period does not apply. The Procedure expressly provides for reservation “without regard to the time limit” in this case, while Diia processes the extension application within 24 hours.

In practice, these 72 hours can mean up to three days without a deferment if the enterprise has waited until the reservation expires. An employer that extends the reservation on time avoids this gap.

What Happens Between Two Reservations: Does a Deferment Continue After Expiry? 

This is the main reason to distinguish an extension from a repeat reservation.

There is no gap when a reservation is extended. The existing reservation remains valid until the new one is approved, and Reserve+ displays the status without interruption.

There is a gap with repeat reservation. Once the term expires, the deferment is canceled and the employee returns from special to general military registration. The register no longer shows them as reserved.

Until the new application is approved, the employee is an ordinary person liable for military service without a deferment (unless another ground for deferment applies) and may be mobilized under the general rules. Merely submitting the application offers no protection from mobilization.

If the reservation has already expired, take these steps:

1. Check whether the enterprise’s critical importance status is still valid. If not, start by confirming it.
2. If the status is valid, submit a new application on the same day the reservation expires.
3. Warn the employee that they have no deferment until a new decision is made.
4. Together with the employee, check Reserve+ for any new obstacles to reservation, such as wanted status or personal information that has not been updated.

Prerequisite: Valid Critical Importance Status 

Without a valid critical importance status, an enterprise cannot extend reservations or reserve employees again. When the critical importance decision or the relevant contract expires, Diia automatically disables the reservation service for that enterprise. We explain how to reconfirm status in our article on reconfirming critically important enterprise status. The quota (covered in our article on employee reservation quotas) and salary requirements for reserved employees continue to apply after an extension.

Why an Extension or Repeat Reservation May Be Refused and What to Do 

Before applying, go through the following checklist from top to bottom:

If Diia returns a “not reserved” result, the response includes an explanation. It is almost always faster to resolve the stated reason and apply again than to dispute an automated check.

If a different authority granted the status this time. Suppose a regional administration originally granted the enterprise’s status, but the relevant ministry confirmed it this time. When the HR specialist opens “Extension of Employee Reservations,” no employees will appear. This is not a system error: the old reservation is canceled together with the old entry on the Unified List, so there is nothing to extend.

The application must be submitted through “Employee Reservations.” Places within the quota are required, and the decision can take up to 72 hours. Time spent searching for a supposed malfunction is time during which employees have no deferment.

What Happens if You Do Not Extend Reservations on Time? 

The Reservation Procedure does not impose a separate fine for failing to extend a reservation on time. The consequence is different and more serious: the employee loses their deferment, and the enterprise risks losing the employee.

Extensions most often fail at the status confirmation stage. Here are three mistakes employers have made in our practice:

• Counting back from the reservation’s expiry rather than the status deadline. An extension is possible only after the confirmed status appears on the Unified List. Status applications are now considered not only by the authority but also by the Coordination Center, taking up to one and a half months. The three weeks that might have been enough previously are now insufficient;
• An error in calculating average salary. If the average salary falls below the applicable threshold for even one month, status confirmation will be refused. The authority uses tax reports for its calculation. Corrections and resubmission take weeks, during which reservations can expire;
• An incomplete package and the “wrong” email address. An application sent from a personal email address rather than the enterprise’s corporate account may be registered late, so make sure it receives an incoming reference number. The authority may also request a corporate income tax return and a recent State Tax Service extract confirming the absence of outstanding taxes and unified social contributions. Obtaining them adds another two or three days.

There are other risks. If the number of reserved employees exceeds the permitted quota, the excess reservations must be canceled. Otherwise, the enterprise may lose its status. If an employee fails to meet the salary requirement, their reservation will be canceled.

False information in an application and violations of military registration requirements are subject to general liability. See our article on fines for military registration violations at enterprises.

How We Help Extend Reservations and Reserve Employees Again

An employer can submit the application itself through Diia in a few minutes. The harder part is reconfirming critical importance status in time: collecting figures and certificates, responding to requests for additional documents, and avoiding weeks of delay caused by a refusal. This is where legal support is needed.

What we do:

• Before the deadline, we verify the enterprise’s status, its entry on the Unified List, and each employee’s details, so an extension is not held up by an error that could have been identified in advance;
• We support reconfirmation of critical importance status: prepare the documents, make sure the application is registered, communicate with the authority, and prepare a new filing if the application is refused;
• We determine which procedure applies in your situation: extension or a new reservation;
• We prepare the application in Diia and assist with filing it. The head of the enterprise or an authorized representative signs it;
• We review a refusal, identify its cause, and determine how to resolve it;
• If the reservation has already expired, we minimize the period without a deferment to the extent that the employer can influence it.

How long our work takes. From several days to two months, depending on whether the status documents are in order. Diia itself takes up to 24 hours to process an extension and up to 72 hours for a new reservation.

What is included in the fee:

• Assessment of the status and reservation periods, which application to file (extension or new reservation), and which employees may fail the eligibility checks;
• Preparation of status confirmation documents: a cover letter, salary and unified social contribution calculations, and a State Tax Service extract and certificate confirming no outstanding taxes or unified social contributions;
• Support during consideration of the application: registration, communication with the authority, and responses to its requests;
• Resubmission after a refusal, if one is received;
• Preparation of the Diia application and assistance with its submission;
• Advice for the head of the enterprise or HR specialist throughout the engagement.

Do your employees’ reservations expire in less than two months? Submit an inquiry on our website or call us. We will prepare the status confirmation and reservation extensions while the current reservations are still valid.

For more information about legal support for reserving employees liable for military service, see our service page.