Immigration to Ukraine: changes in the law “On Immigration”

At the end of June this year, the legislation of Ukraine, which regulates the issue of immigration, changed. In particular, this applies to the Law "On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Immigration". The transformations affected the procedure for immigration of foreigners and stateless persons to our country. The changes will come into force on October 20, so it is worth paying more attention to this issue. Especially considering that the team of our law firm specializes, among other things, in issues of migration law. Law office "Prikhodko&Partners" is a team of specialists who are well-versed in their field of activity, so they provide high-quality services. We propose to dwell in more detail on what has changed in the legislation that regulates the issue of immigration.

What changes have taken place?

So, the changes are as follows:

• Legislators determined what should be understood by "continuous stay on the territory of Ukraine". This is significant for those people who have lived on the territory of our state for the past 5 years and want to be admitted to citizenship. At the same time, continuous residence is one of the grounds for immigration and obtaining a permanent residence permit.
• The powers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in determining the immigration quota have been expanded. If compared to the way it was before, before the current legislative changes, the immigration quota was determined by the Cabinet of Ministers once a year. Now, in the event of a mass arrival of immigrants, the State Immigration Service can apply to the government with the appropriate submission.
• The conditions for obtaining an immigration permit for the husband, wife or minor children of a person who already has a permanent residence permit have changed. This marriage must last at least 2 years. Another criterion is also important - the fact of joint residence in Ukraine.
• The list of categories of persons eligible for immigration has been expanded. We talk about relevant legal norms and their interpretation in detail at our consultations, answering clients' questions.
• The powers of representatives of the State Immigration Service have been expanded to conduct checks to determine the presence or absence of circumstances that make it impossible for a person to receive an immigration permit. Previously, such powers were not legally consolidated and reflected in the current legislation, which complicated the work of the State Security Service.

In addition to all of the above, it is worth separately defining the circumstances under which marriage with a citizen of Ukraine is not a basis for permission to immigrate. This is a situation when people live separately, or it is established that the other spouse received financial payment for agreeing to enter into marriage. In simple terms, it is a sham marriage.

What conclusions can be drawn?

Ukrainian migration legislation has now become stricter. But, at the same time, it is precisely in this format that it integrates our state into the EU, as it makes it impossible to falsify the grounds for obtaining an immigration permit.

If you want to get answers to your questions about this topic, you can contact us for consultation. We work both face-to-face in our office and online. So there is an opportunity to choose a consultation format that is comfortable for you. We also offer a legal support service during your interaction with authorized state bodies, so that this interaction is as comfortable as possible for you.