Visa requirements for a stay of different groups of foreign persons in Ukraine

Ukrainian legislation provides regulations regarding foreign and stateless persons’ arrival onto, departure from and transit through the territory Ukraine. These rules apply to all foreign and stateless persons, entering Ukraine, regardless of their status and purpose of arrival.

Admission into and exiting from Ukraine by both foreign and stateless persons can be conducted according to the following documents, namely:

• in terms of foreign persons, – a passport and a corresponding visa available, unless there is a different procedure for the admission and exiting, established by the legislation of Ukraine;
• in terms of foreign persons with permanent residence in Ukraine, – a passport with indication of the permanent residence permit and the permanent residence permit;
• in terms of stateless persons with permanent residence in Ukraine, – an identification document of a stateless person for exiting from abroad;
• in terms of foreign and stateless persons which stay in Ukraine on the grounds of a fixed-term work permit, issued by the corresponding employment center, – a passport with a stamp of Ukraine border crossing, existing work permit and a temporary residence permit;
• in terms of foreign and stateless persons which have been studying at the educational institutions of Ukraine for a period not less than one-year, – a passport with a stamp that verifies the place and duration of study.

Therefore, in most cases apart from requiring a passport, it is required to have a visa and/or a certain stamp of the purpose of arrival. All categories of visas are issued by the diplomatic representative offices and consular offices of Ukraine abroad. Diplomatic and public servant visas, issued to diplomatic personnel, representative, and consular offices’ employees (staff of international and other accredited organizations in Ukraine) shall be prolonged by the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

A visa is not required for the citizens of countries with whom Ukraine entered into Mutual Visa-free Agreements (such citizens enter Ukraine on the basis of valid passports, unless otherwise provided by international agreements of Ukraine).

Apart from that, a visa is not required for the citizens of some countries for stays in Ukraine up to 90 days, among which are: Austria, Andorra, Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Canada, Cyprus, Monaco, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, the United States of America, Hungary, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Sweden, Japan and others.

Subject to the purpose of a trip to Ukraine, there are determined categories and types of visas, i.e.:

• transit visa (indicated by the letter B, at the machine-readable zone – VB). It is issued to foreign and stateless persons for transit through the territory of Ukraine to third countries, and, moreover, for transportation of goods and persons via motor transport;
• short-term visa (indicated by the letter C, at the machine-readable zone – VC). It is issued to foreign and stateless persons for entrance to Ukraine, provided that the period of their stay in Ukraine is not more than 90 days within 180 days from the date of first entrance;
• long-term visa (indicated by the letter D, at the machine-readable zone – VD). It is issued to foreign and stateless persons for entrance to Ukraine in order to legalize the documents which give a right to stay or to reside in Ukraine for more than 90 days.

For issuing visas, the diplomatic representative and consular offices of Ukraine charge a consular fee according to the following tariffs, unless otherwise provided by international agreements of Ukraine, i.e.:

• one-time visa – USD 85,00;
• two-time visa – USD 130,00;
• multiple visa – USD 200,00.

Foreign persons as well as stateless persons shall bear responsibility under the legislation of Ukraine for infringement of established rules of stay in Ukraine, namely, habitation in Ukraine without residence permit documents or habitation according to invalid documents; non-observance of established rules for registration or movement and selection of the place for residence and/or employment; evasion of exit after termination of a term of stay; more-over, non-observance of the rules for transit through the territory of Ukraine.