While Ukrainians are long-running European champions in obtaining work permits abroad, foreigners coming to live and work in Ukraine still face rows of bureaucratic hurdles and lengthy delays in obtaining the documents they need.
Iryna Sushko, head of Europe Without Barriers, an organization working to ease relocation for people migrating both in and out of Ukraine, gave a telling example of the problems foreigners are facing.
“We know of a case where a person living in Kyiv had to constantly travel to Odesa to check his application status at the local migration office,” Sushko said at a press conference in Kyiv on Dec. 14.
Ukrainians have been frontrunners among recipients of work permits in the European Union for five years straight, with 661,874 people receiving permits to settle in the EU in 2017. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany and Russia are easing requirements for Ukrainians who want to work in these countries, according to Kateryna Kulchytska, an analyst with Europe Without Barriers.
While an increasing number of Ukrainians want to work abroad, the country is doing a poor job serving foreigners coming to work in Ukraine. According to the study conducted by the organization, obtaining either temporary or permanent residence status in Ukraine is extremely hard, with some of the documents required to obtain this status practically impossible to get hold of, according to Kulchytska.
Foreigners also have problems proving they have no criminal record in their home country, as well as documents showing their registered place of residence in Ukraine. The process by which foreigners can obtain residency registration is so convoluted that many are tempted to use illegal methods to obtain the much-needed document.
“This has created a black marker for registrations,” said Kulchytska.
According to her, depending on the number of supporting documents needed, registration can cost foreigners from $300 to over $1,500, with the process of obtaining this legal status being so complex that many chose to use intermediaries to solve their problems.
Another way out for those seeking a legal status in Ukraine is to enter into a fictitious marriage, which becomes more common, especially in Odesa Oblast, according to Kulchytska.
Obtaining a document proving the absence of a criminal record is especially hard for foreigners who have fought for Ukraine in Donbas – especially Russian citizens, who could face arrest and trial if they were to return to their native country.
Sergiy Hunko, head of communications at the State Migration Service of Ukraine, says that his agency is aware of the problems. However, lowering requirements for foreigners is problematic for national security – especially during wartime.
Foreigners frequently report ever-growing demands for paperwork, which prolongs the process of receiving legal status in Ukraine.
“Immigrants are required to bring additional documents each time (they visit an office), which creates additional problems,” said Kulchytska. The inability to apply for documents online lengthens the process of receiving a permanent residence card or a Ukrainian passport, sometimes to years, she added.
Hunko responded by citing the progress that the Migration Service has made in implementing online registration.
“We’re developing an online queue which will start working hopefully in January,” Hunko said. As for the number of documents required, Hunko said every case was different, which sometimes means additional documents have to be submitted. However, he agreed that some clarification of the legislation and standardization of procedures is required.
Highlighting the legislative problems, Kulchytska gave the example of the Foreign Ukrainian certificate, created back in 2004 to encourage members of the Ukrainian diaspora to return to their motherland. To date, only about 8,000 people have obtained such certificate, with even government officials in Ukraine not familiar with this status.
“It is extremely hard to receive this status, and when those who (make the effort and) actually obtain this status come to Ukraine, they encounter government officials who have never seen this document and do not know what rights this document grants,” said Kulchytska.
Other legislative problems include the lack of a standardized language testing system for those applying for Ukrainian citizenship, and the requirement that new Ukrainian citizens give up their former citizenship within two years.
To obtain a Ukrainian passport, candidates must pass a language exam, yet there is no official list of schools that have the right to conduct those exams. Adding to the headaches, most countries don’t have an official process for giving up one’s citizenship voluntarily.
On the positive side, only a few foreigners encounter corruption, said Kulchytska. “Even though Ukraine still does poorly in all rankings dealing with corruption, among the foreigners (questioned), only a few said they were openly asked for a bribe, while most respondents did not encounter corruption in any form.”
Summarizing the report, Sushko said organization is hoping for some positive changes in this area, with a round table that will include state officials planned for mid-January.
“We advise (the government) to move towards easing the situation, including through the development of an online queue, reducing the number of documents required (to obtain a work permit) and creating a list of documents that doesn’t change all the time,” said Kulchytska.
They should also create a service in which the status of your request can be checked online,” she said.
