New rules for extending permanent residence in Ukraine on the basis of a work permit in 2023

In Ukraine, many companies engage foreign workers in their activities. However, this is quite a complicated task for in-house lawyers and personnel department employees.

Firstly, the legislation itself is rather complicated, and secondly, it is constantly changing. For example, on October 15th, 2022 a new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Employment" came into effect that has almost completely changed the algorithm for obtaining work permits for foreign workers at Employment Centers.

Only in the last two weeks have we provided services to a Ukrainian bank and two IT companies that employed foreign workers. Two clients were previously denied by the Employment Center, which resulted in violations of the deadlines for the renewal of permanent residence permits, leading to the need for the employee to travel abroad in order to obtain a new visa D.

Our specialists checked the documents and the correctness of the registration, and today they have already identified the need to make changes in some permits and prescribed the algorithm for the transfer of foreign workers to other positions and issues of combining jobs. Also, two work permits were successfully extended, and documents for obtaining permits for two foreign workers have been submitted.

If your company employs foreign specialists, we advise you to contact experts in advance and check whether you comply with all the requirements stipulated by the recent legislative updates regarding foreigners. This will help avoid fines, cancellations, and refusals in the future – it is always better to prevent than eliminate the consequences.

You may also like: How to Employ a Foreigner in Ukraine in 2022?

How to avoid refusal of a visa for an employee in Ukraine?

The first thing you will need is to arrange a visa for your employee. H/S must be on the territory of Ukraine in order to submit documents.

Often foreigners have problems when obtaining a visa in the consular offices of Ukraine. Here you can get a refusal for no big deal, and re-sending a new package of documents abroad requires additional time and money.

Also, if you get a visa refusal, the next time the documents will be checked more thoroughly. The Migration Service also has its own requirements for documents.

Before submitting documents, you should pay attention to:

1. The correctness of filling out applications for both permits and visas, as well as taking into account the peculiarities of the employment agreement (contract) or gig contract for a foreign specialist;
2. Separate requirements are imposed on the passport document of a foreigner and its translation. Therefore, the passport must be valid for at least 10 years, have at least two blank pages, but preferably more, and be valid for at least six months on the date of application. The translation must meet the requirements and must be certified by a notary;
3. Health insurance policies for D visas and for permanent residence permits are different, and each has different requirements and validity periods. For example, for a visa it is important to cover expenses not less than 30,000 euros;
4. An equally important document for the consul and a representative of the border service will be a document of financial security for the period of stay in Ukraine. It is important to consider that the introduction of martial law entitles consuls and border guards to limit the granting of permits to enter our country. In this connection, our migration lawyer adds separate requirements to these documents, which a foreigner undertakes to comply with in Ukraine.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the peculiarities of employment of certain categories of employees. For example, our client is an international charitable foundation, which we helped to open its representative office in Ukraine. Our lawyers helped to obtain D visas and to submit documents for obtaining a temporary residence permit for foreigners, as members of the representative office, and explained why and under what requirements according to Ukrainian legislation they have the right not to obtain a work permit.

The absence of a foreigner at the place of residence indicated when submitting documents is the most common reason for refusing to receive the permit. Our lawyers pay special attention to this point and explain to the foreigner what requirements must be met to avoid rejection on this or other grounds as much as possible.

Our lawyers also have extensive experience in obtaining work permits from Employment Centers. We prepare and submit all documents on the basis of a power of attorney, so you employees do not take on additional work.

Our lawyers will prepare the documents for obtaining a work permit and D visas, taking into account all the requirements of wartime conditions. We will also help you to fill out the electronic application form and find the nearest consular office.

You may also like: Myths and Reality of the Work Permit Procedure for a Foreign Employee in Ukraine.

Legal services when applying for work permits in Ukraine for business

When working with our corporate clients, we take into account the following factors:

• where it is more convenient for the foreigner to submit the documents;
• the workload and availability of vacant spots;
• the ability of consular offices to issue a visa, as well as the need to comply with additional requirements or prepare to submit additional documents.

To avoid problems when entering Ukraine, we also provide a package of documents to be presented to employees of the State Border Guard Service. It is not uncommon when even with a visa a foreigner is refused entry to Ukraine.

Of course, it is impossible to calculate all risks, but you can do your best to avoid and prevent unpleasant situations. This is what our specialists do.

After entering Ukraine, our lawyers will prepare a package of documents and will help to obtain a residence permit, and register the place of residence.

But this is not the end of our support. Very often it happens that a work permit requires making amendments. For example, the name of the company, the position of the foreign worker, the passport document of the foreigner, or his/her name or surname has changed. In all these cases our experts will help you to make the appropriate changes in time.

We also provide explanations and advice on the following issues:

• setting the minimum wage of a foreigner in accordance with the specific situation and the basis for obtaining a work permit;
• the accrual and payment of the single social contribution and other taxes;
• grounds for cancellation of the permit.

Our lawyers will help you to obtain a duplicate work permit in case of its loss. If necessary, we can correctly draw up documents for the cancellation of a work permit and a temporary residence permit.

Even considering all these nuances, there are still grounds for refusal/cancellation of the required document. We are often addressed by companies that want to minimize risks, and prepare everything in time and with high quality, avoiding unnecessary risks.

We have experience in supporting Diia City residents and many startups that attract foreign specialists.

If the company has more than ten foreign employees, we recommend hiring a separate employee who will lead the HR department, constantly monitor changes, study the requirements, and undergo advanced training. Otherwise, it is financially more beneficial to hire an outsourced specialist for such work.

The cost of obtaining Work Permits for foreign employees in Ukraine here.

The cost of obtaining a Permanent Residence Permit here.