The family of an IT specialist: is it possible to get permits for the whole family at once

Immigration laws are constantly evolving. Some provisions introduce obstacles to the process of legalizing foreigners in Ukraine, while others aim to streamline it. In this article, we will focus on the positive changes that concern highly skilled professionals, particularly in the IT sector, who are considering immigration to Ukraine for permanent residency.

The central question revolves around whether an IT specialist who secures permanent residency in Ukraine can bring their family with them and the specific types of visas that family members are eligible for.

You may also like: How IT Specialists Can Obtain Residence Permits in Ukraine: IT Immigration

Updated Requirements for Permanent Residency for IT Specialists in Ukraine

IT specialists in Ukraine face varying requirements for permanent residency based on their specific roles (such as engineers, programmers, or analysts). These requirements must be substantiated with proper documentation. Generally, a key requirement is a minimum of 36 months of work experience in a specific role within the last five years.

Proving Your Status as a Highly Qualified Specialist

On the surface, it might seem straightforward to confirm your qualifications through entries in your employment history or formal letters detailing your job title and responsibilities. However, such documents are not always available. For this reason, our legal experts recommend using various types of documentation, including job offers, contracts, agreements, excerpts from orders or directives, certificates of work completion, records of payment for services rendered, salary receipts, and occasionally, performance evaluations.

Additional requirements may include having a higher education degree in fields such as "Mathematics and Statistics," "Applied Mathematics," "Information Technology," "Systems Analysis," "Statistics," "Cybersecurity and Information Protection," and others. In some cases, a certificate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in a relevant field is accepted.

Another additional qualification requirement to confirm specialist status is earning an annual income from work in the specialty of not less than ,000, or an equivalent amount in another currency, within the last year.

Additionally, depending on the specialist's area of expertise, there is an option to submit a recommendation letter confirming specific skills related to IT work. For example, experience with system and application software for Windows, Linux, and/or macOS operating systems, or certification documents such as CISSP, CISA, CISM, ITIL Master, and CompTIA Security+.

All these documents are legalized, apostilled, translated into Ukrainian, notarized, and submitted to confirm your status as a highly qualified specialist to the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

This represents the initial stage, which our legal experts refer to as the foundation for obtaining permanent residency. Simultaneously, documents required for the immigration application are collected.

You may also like: Waiting Time for a Permanent Residence Permit in Ukraine

Simultaneous Immigration for IT Specialists and Their Families in Ukraine

Please note! The procedure for submitting immigration documents for family members of highly qualified specialists, including spouses and their children under 18, has been revised.

Now, it's no longer necessary to wait for the IT specialist to obtain permanent residency before proceeding with the family's application. Today, it is allowed to simultaneously submit documents for all family members. However, there is one crucial condition - the family must enter Ukraine together, through the same border checkpoint, on the same date, and reside in Ukraine together.

You must provide documents confirming your family ties, such as marriage and parenthood. It's crucial to note that your marriage must be official, as civil unions or marriages under Sharia Law are not accepted for immigration purposes. Depending on the country of issuance, your marriage certificate should be apostilled or legalized and translated into Ukrainian. The same requirements apply to birth certificates for your children.

The Migration Service will verify and confirm that you are genuinely a family and that your marriage is legitimate.

Comprehensive Legal Support for Your Family's Immigration to Ukraine

Our experts are ready not only to assist with the verification process through detailed consultations but also to help you gather all the necessary documents required for your family's immigration to Ukraine.

We commence this service with a preliminary document analysis and the development of a step-by-step action plan for the client. This approach enables us to carefully assess and mitigate various risks, including those associated with incorrect entry or arrival in Ukraine with an incomplete or inadequate document package. For example, this could involve missing apostilles, which are only issued in the country of document origin.

Please keep in mind that the process of obtaining a permanent residence permit in Ukraine can be rather intricate. However, our team of legal experts is well-prepared to manage all the essential aspects to ensure the efficient completion of this procedure.

We prioritize saving your time and mitigating the risks associated with the potential rejection of your immigration and resident permits. So, if you're planning to work in Ukraine and need expert legal support, feel free to get in touch with us!

Check out the cost of the Permanent Residence Permit for IT specialists in Ukraine here.