Confirmation of Ukrainian citizenship for a child

When it comes to confirming Ukrainian citizenship for a child, this applies to children under 18 years of age who:

• were born on the territory of our state from parents where one is a citizen and the other is a foreigner or stateless person;
• were born from parents where both are foreigners or stateless persons, but legally reside in the territory of Ukraine;
• were born outside our country, but one of the parents is a citizen of Ukraine;
• were born outside of Ukraine from parents, both of whom are citizens of our state.

If you are interested in a detailed legal mechanism for confirming Ukrainian citizenship for a child in your particular case, you can seek advice from the lawyers of the Prikhodko & Partners law office and receive qualified assistance. We offer services in a consulting format, as well as legal support for your interaction with authorized government bodies.

What should I know about confirming my child’s citizenship?

An application to register a child as a citizen of Ukraine or to acquire this citizenship by territorial origin is submitted at the place of registration of one of the parents. The procedure itself takes up to 90 days from the moment the corresponding application was submitted.

The body accepting the application for registration of the child’s citizenship is the State Migration Service. If everything happens abroad, then we are talking about a consular office, which also works at this level of government structures.

Sometimes clients have questions as to whether it is necessary to submit an application for a child to obtain Ukrainian citizenship if one of the parents is a citizen. The answer here will be in the affirmative, since without such an application and the subsequent issuance of a certificate, it is impossible for the child to receive an internal passport of a citizen of Ukraine and a foreign passport in the future. The certificate, which will be issued by the territorial department of the State Migration Service or a consular office abroad, will contain information that the child is a citizen of Ukraine from the moment of his birth.

What to do if the child’s parents are foreigners or stateless persons?

The Law “On Citizenship of Ukraine” well regulates the following cases. Article 8 of this legal act states that a child of foreigners or stateless persons legally residing on the territory of Ukraine can obtain Ukrainian citizenship. This applies to children who were born in Ukraine after August 24, 1991 and are stateless persons or foreigners in respect of whom a petition has been filed to terminate foreign citizenship. Then one of the legal representatives submits a petition for the child to receive Ukrainian citizenship. This is exactly how the principle of territorial origin works in the matter of acquiring citizenship.

However, as already noted, what is needed here is the fact of legal residence of the child’s parents on the territory of Ukraine. Otherwise, there will be no grounds for her to receive citizenship of our state.

Unlike the previous case, the date the child acquired Ukrainian citizenship is the day when his citizenship was registered with the State Migration Service of Ukraine. By the way, for the child’s parents, his citizenship will be a big plus if they intend to continue living in Ukraine. Then you can obtain an immigration permit by submitting an appropriate application and preparing an accompanying package of documents. The result will be a permanent residence permit. If you are interested in this opportunity, the lawyers of the Prikhodko & Partners law office are ready to answer all questions related to this topic as part of the consultation.

Also, our clients often have questions about whether it is necessary to document that the child does not have citizenship of other countries. No, there is no such need. Therefore, when you submit documents to confirm your child’s Ukrainian citizenship, you do not need to additionally prove that he is not a citizen of other countries.

If you are interested in consulting and legal support on issues of confirming Ukrainian citizenship for a child, you can contact the lawyers of the Prikhodko & Partners law office. And we will help you efficiently.