Family Residence Permit in Ukraine: Family Immigration Practices

Family immigration to Ukraine is becoming more and more widespread Typically, this is facilitated by the temporary relocation of workers or businessmen to our country, which over time has the prospect of becoming permanent.

In this publication, we will consider several successful cases of our company, when entire families came to Ukraine for long-term residence.

Read also: How To Properly fill In The D-Type Visa Form

Residence permit for a foreign-Ukrainian couple

In this case we are talking about the so-called family reunion with Ukrainian citizens.

An example is the case, when our lawyers accompanied the obtaining of a residence permit for 1 year for a citizen of Egypt, who was married to a Ukrainian citizen. The Client did not intend to permanently reside in Ukraine, but he visited the country from time to time and had to obtain a visa every time.

The alternative was to obtain a residence permit, which must be extended once a year and which allows unlimited entry and exit during its validity. In addition, after 2 years of marriage you can get a residence permit for 10 years, which greatly simplifies not only crossing the border, but also gives the opportunity to work and even to obtain citizenship of Ukraine.

Read also: How Can A Foreigner Enter Into Marriage In Ukraine?

The main conditions for successfully obtaining a residence permit in this case are as follows:

• The fact of being married. You should confirm this fact by a marriage certificate in the Ukrainian format (if the marriage was concluded in Ukraine) or by a marriage certificate, marriage contract, license or other document confirming the fact of marriage abroad.

Please note! Given the need for documentary evidence, such forms of relationship between a couple as religious marriage (except in countries where religious marriage is recognized) and “civil marriage” would not be suitable for obtaining the residence permit.

• Certification and translation of the documents. Documents issued abroad must be duly certified. For a number of countries, such certification takes the form of an apostille. Some countries require a complex legalization procedure, and some countries do not require certification at all. After certification, the document shall be translated into Ukrainian and certified by a notary;

• Obtaining a visa and crossing the border after marriage. For most countries, after marriage and before applying for a residence permit, you need to obtain a special migration D-type visa. For states that do not need to obtain such a visa, you will need to just cross the border (even if the marriage is concluded in Ukraine and the foreigner is already here, you still need to leave the country and get back there).

• The place of residence registration. After obtaining the visa, the foreigner must undergo the registration procedure at the place of residence. This may be a spouse’s accommodation or a rented accommodation, the owner of which is not against the registration procedure and wishes to participate in it.

Residence permit for a foreign-foreigner couple

This category is also called family reunification, but not with Ukrainian citizens, but with foreigners who stay legally in Ukraine. This category is less common than the previous one because it requires both foreigners to obtain the residence permit, which significantly narrows down the grounds.

As in the previous example, the key to success is the fact that people are officially married. Let’s elaborate on the practical side of obtaining such residence permits using the example of our two Clients.

Example of obtaining a residence permit for a married couple from Turkey.

The first step to legalize this couple was to obtain a residence permit for a man who came to Ukraine to do business. During the multi-step procedure, which provided for the registration of the company and obtaining a work permit, the husband received a residence permit for 3 years.

The next step was to legalize the wife. There were 3 possible options:

• Similar to her husband, through a separate company and a work permit;
• By transferring her husband’s share of the company and hiring her to work in it;
• Using the option of family reunion.

Since the business was just at the starting stage and our Clients wanted to minimize costs, we refused the first two options because they implied the wife’s salary (and, accordingly, taxes).

Therefore, we had only option 3. The procedure is similar to the one described in the previous section, except for one additional document, namely the financial obligation of the husband (as a host) regarding the wife’s stay in Ukraine. Also, in contrast to reunion with a citizen of Ukraine, this permit does not give the right to obtain a permanent residence permit or citizenship in the future. As in the past case, it is issued only for a year with the right to prolong it.

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Obtaining a residence permit for a British student.

Another case was the situation of a student from the UK, who came to Ukraine to study and received a residence permit as a student. He brought his wife with him, whom we got a residence permit by family reunion. In the absence of business in Ukraine, it was the best and easiest option. In addition, both husband and wife were bipatrides, which allowed us to choose the most preferential approach in obtaining a residence permit.

Obtaining a residence permit in Ukraine for family reunification for citizens of Azerbaijan.

Not isolated cases are applications to our company for obtaining a residence permit in Ukraine for residents of Azerbaijan. The procedure itself is identical to what we have already described in the article above. The specific difference between the process of obtaining a residence permit for citizens of Azerbaijan is that there is no need to obtain a D visa, which means leaving and visiting Ukraine once again. The main thing is to meet the deadlines of 90 days - having arrived in Ukraine, a resident of Azerbaijan has 90 days of stay, it is important not to violate this deadline, and meet it with all the preparations: translation of documents, insurance, etc. And of course, you need to apply for a residence permit at least 15 days before the end of the 90-day period.

If you need help with obtaining a residence permit for you, or for your whole family, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will choose the best option and provide you with legal stay on the territory of Ukraine.