DEPARTURE ABROAD OF A WOMAN OR HUSBAND WHO INDEPENDENTLY RAISES A CHILD(CHILDREN) UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE

Currently, the possibility of going abroad during martial law still exists for some categories of men in Ukraine. However, this list is quite limited.

Therefore, situations often occur in our lives when a child stays with one of the parents due to certain life circumstances. A child needs attention, care and education provided by parents (or one of the parents). In view of this, women or men who independently raise a child (children) under the age of 18 have a deferment from conscription for military service during mobilization. And therefore they are able to go abroad.

Thus, in accordance with the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine, clauses 2-6 state that in the event of a state of emergency or martial law being introduced on the territory of Ukraine, conscripts who are not subject to conscription for military service during mobilization have the right to cross the state border in accordance with Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Mobilization Training and Mobilization".

If everything is more or less clear with women, then what about men?

• So, in order for a man who is raising a child to cross the border on his own, it is necessary to present certain documents that would confirm the possibility of implementing this procedure:
  First, this is the birth certificate of the child(ren).
• Secondly, the legislation does not clearly indicate the condition of the death of one of the parents or recognition of the missing person as absent. However, in practice, there are cases when men were refused leave, arguing that the child has the opportunity to see his mother, even if it happens once a year. However, if you analyze the wording of this item in detail, you can pay attention to the fact that this reason in the legislation sounds like "independent upbringing of a child", so documents such as:
• court decision on divorce;
• the act of establishing the fact of residence and examination of the conditions of residence of the father and child;
• confirmation that the child is fully supported by the father;
• court decision to deprive the mother of parental rights;
• a court decision to take the child away from the mother without depriving her of parental rights;
• the court's decision to recognize the missing mother as absent;
• the court's decision to declare the mother dead;
• death certificate of the child's mother.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that, in view of the clarification of the DPSU, men who are married a second time do not have grounds for leaving abroad on the basis of independent upbringing of a child (children) under the age of 18, since they are considered to be raising a child together with his current wife.

The legislation does not clearly stipulate the need to have a permission document for departure, which a person receives from the military headquarters, but in practice, the DPSU requires a corresponding mark on the postponement in the military registration document. In this case, in order to go abroad, it is necessary to take a number of appropriate actions:

• The first step is to apply to the recruitment and social support center (military office) to obtain a deferral with the entry of relevant data into the military registration documents.
• The next step is to collect the necessary documents.
• And the final step is the direct crossing of the border.