After a week of bureaucratic terror and uncertainty amid the coronavirus outbreak, an American couple living in Ukraine can breathe a small sigh of relief.
Erin Hennessey Arant and her husband were aiming to get a visa to replace his soon-to-expire temporary residency permit, which would require him to leave Ukraine. Then the COVID-19 quarantine hit, and the State Migration Service said he had no choice but to leave the country, despite the closed borders and canceled flights.
The spouses were left to watch their March 25 deadline draw inexorably closer, knowing that if he overstayed, their adoption of two orphaned Ukrainian children would be thrown into jeopardy. The little girls, who have health issues, are at heightened risk from the pandemic, which has killed more than 7,500 people around the world.
“The only answer we kept getting is that ‘he needs to leave,’ and nothing else,” Arant said of her interaction with the local migration service.
Now, a new law that was approved by parliament on March 17 and signed by the president on March 18 offers a ray of hope to some.
Among other provisions, the legislation says foreigners will not be held liable for staying past their deadline or failing to apply to extend their stay if these violations occur during or as a result of the quarantine.
Risky limbo
Arant and her husband were not alone. Many foreigners’ lives were thrown into limbo by the quarantine if they were unable to receive a needed visa or extension without leaving the country.
The D visa is a prerequisite to receiving a residency permit in the country and needs to be issued by Ukrainian consulates abroad. Ukrainian consulates are currently not accepting applications for most regular visas.
Even if leaving to receive a visa were possible, they would be endangering their health by traveling and risk being stuck indefinitely away from their homes, jobs and significant others. But if they overstayed, they risked a $200 fine and the possibility of being shut out from Ukraine.
The new legislation freezes administrative terms until after the end of the quarantine, stating “from the date of termination of the quarantine, the duration of these terms shall continue, taking into account the time elapsed before its termination.”
Vasyl Cherednichenko, a partner with the Expatpro law firm, said that, as a result, people’s visa and residency renewal deadlines were automatically frozen until after the quarantine ends. According to the migration service, everyone who had not overstayed by March 16, would not be penalized. Liability will apply to those whose deadlines ran out prior to that date.
The migration service press office confirmed that the deadlines will be extended by the total length of the quarantine.
The law was welcome news for the foreign nationals who call Ukraine their home. Arant said that the fear of possibly losing their daughters was somewhat lifted by the news.
“It frees up our minds to spend this time with our girls and not worry about consequences,” she said.
Open questions
However, several questions still hang over the law. People whose status was right on the cusp of expiring before the quarantine went into force may be required to leave Ukraine immediately after the quarantine ends to prevent overstay, which might cause difficulties. The migration service did not say whether a grace period would be implemented.
People who are stuck outside Ukraine, having gotten part way through their residency permit applications, also face challenges as they are unable to access the offices that have their documents.
While the migration service will look to the legislation for guidance, the press office could not provide any specifics about implementation, he said.
Implementation is a serious concern. Several foreigners told the Kyiv Post that, in the past week, they had no way to obey the law and protect their health and livelihoods.
A Canadian national who is married to a Ukrainian man was in a similar boat. She and her husband had come to Kyiv from China, where they were temporarily teaching English when COVID-19 broke out. She spoke to the Kyiv Post on condition of anonymity, as she fears she could be attacked for fleeing to the country from China.
The Canadian’s 90-day visa will expire in April. Moreover, she recently discovered that she is one month pregnant and did not want to travel and risk endangering her health. However, the Canadian embassy told her that there was no way around it, in spite of the risk.
Meanwhile, foreign nationals who were caught outside Ukraine while in the process of applying for or renewing their residency permit are not able to return, said Cherednichenko.
Thomas Houghton, a commodity market analyst, told the Kyiv Post that he left for London on March 11 and was scheduled to return on March 18. With his flight canceled, he is stuck in London. Meanwhile, his temporary residency permit expires on March 29.
“The passport service told me this morning that they processed my application, but I have been advised not to return to collect it as they could close before I am back,” said Houghton.
“So now I have a residency permit I cannot collect, and will likely have no way of legally entering the country again once this calms down without spending more money on a new Type D application,” he added.
