Travel abroad of booked employees on vacation – lawyer’s support during departure

As is known, during martial law, a certain category of men can legally cross the state border. In this article, we will analyze the following question: is it possible for reserved employees to travel abroad on vacation?

Reservation and travel abroad: what to consider?

Let's start with the fact that reservation provides a deferral from military service in the conditions of mobilization of military conscripts.

The reservation procedure is clearly defined by the new Law on Mobilization of May 18, 2024. First of all, reservations are provided to employees of strategically important enterprises for the state. Today, it is possible to make reservations through "Diya".

When it comes to ordinary enterprises, the reservation conditions are no different: up to 50% of employees who belong to the category of "military conscripts" can be booked. The maximum period is 6 months. In the future, the deferral from mobilization must be confirmed.

The restriction on the number of reservations does not apply to the following companies and enterprises:

1. Enterprises belonging to the fuel and energy complex.
2. Companies responsible for the functioning of communication networks and emergency work in some regions (Kyiv region and Kyiv city, Zaporizhia,Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and other front-line regions).
3. Enterprises actively conducting grant innovation and technological activities to ensure the defense capability of Ukraine.
4. Employees of diplomatic institutions and international organizations.
5. Organizations and institutions that include national sports teams.

Important: reservations cannot be obtained by persons who are not subject to mandatory conscription, that is, men under the age of 25. Accordingly, they cannot cross the state border on the basis of a reservation.

If the company/enterprise belongs to the group of critically important for the economy, the reservation is issued for 12 months. Another important issue is the issue of travel abroad by reserved employees.

According to current legislation, reservations allow travel abroad during martial law.

For employees booked on leave to travel abroad, the following documents must be provided:

1. A current international passport.
2. A military registration document.
3. A document confirming the reservation (i.e., deferral from conscription).
4. A leave order (extract from it).
5. A document confirming the right to cross the border (the destination must be indicated).
6. A certificate from the human resources department or an official ID card.

However, even with all legal grounds, difficulties may arise with crossing the state border. That is why professional support from a lawyer when traveling abroad will be a useful service.

Lawyer's support when traveling abroad

In most cases, border guards refuse to reserve military servicemen to cross the state border under the following circumstances:

1. Lack of updated military registration documents or up-to-date information in the "Oberig" system.
2. Violation of the current rules for crossing the state border.
3. Lack of information on the issuance of a deferment and documents that will confirm the completion of the reservation procedure.
4. Lack of documents that will confirm the purpose of the trip.

Important: a conscript may be outside Ukraine for a clearly specified period (it corresponds to the period of a business trip or vacation). If a person violates this rule, such actions are qualified as a violation of the current rules for crossing the state border. What can this end for the enterprise itself? Most often, this leads to problems with the approval of the reservation.

Even if all documents and legal grounds for traveling abroad are available, representatives of the Border Guard Service of Ukraine may refuse a booked employee to cross the state border. Such a decision must be substantiated in writing. This decision may be appealed in court.

To avoid problems with crossing the border legally, it is better to enlist the support of professional lawyers. The specialists of our law firm Prykhodko and Partners provide the service “accompanying a lawyer when leaving”. We have extensive practical experience in this matter. Our lawyers provide the full range of services on mobilization and traveling abroad: from consulting to accompanying you when crossing the border. We work exclusively for results! Our lawyers will be able to help solve even the most complex problems.

Do you have any more questions? We look forward to a preliminary consultation in a format convenient for you (offline or online)! To calculate the cost of a lawyer's services on border crossing issues, fill out the form below.