Before you start

A residence permit (посвідка) — a tourist stamp will get you very little
A РНОКПП tax number, or acceptance that nine zeros go in its place and your options narrow
A Ukrainian mobile number, because everything is confirmed by SMS and app push
A registered place of residence, which several banks ask to see

Step-by-step

1
Get the tax number first
Do not attempt this in the other order. The РНОКПП turns you from an awkward non-resident file into an ordinary customer. The Kharkiv oblast tax office publishes the current addresses and hours of its taxpayer service centres — check them, because they are not the pre-2022 ones.
In personWho: You, at ДПС in Kharkiv oblastDays
2
Favour a bank you can operate entirely from an app
This is the Kharkiv-specific advice. monobank is card-only and lives in an app; PrivatBank's Privat24 covers almost everything remotely and PrivatBank has the largest surviving branch and ATM network. Both survive a branch being closed, relocated or dark far better than a bank that wants you at a counter. Keep an international-group bank only if you need documentation a foreign employer will accept.
Mobile appWho: YouAn hour of comparison
3
Open the account
Bring the passport, the residence permit, the РНОКПП and a Ukrainian phone number. The NBU has permitted opening with a digital passport through Diia, which some banks support and others still want physical documents for — check before travelling to a branch, which in Kharkiv is advice about the journey as much as the paperwork. Expect AML questions about the source of your funds and answer them with documents.
In personWho: You, at a branch or in-appSame day at a branch; minutes in-app where the bank supports remote onboardingCurrent accounts and basic cards are typically free or a small monthly fee
4
Learn the FX limits before you need them
Under the NBU's wartime regime, non-cash purchases of foreign currency without a supporting obligation are capped at the equivalent of ₴50,000 a month; cash withdrawals from an account at the equivalent of ₴100,000 a day; abroad, ATM withdrawals from a hryvnia card at the equivalent of ₴12,500 per seven calendar days and cashless spending at the equivalent of ₴100,000 a month; and card-based P2P transfers from Ukraine abroad on a hryvnia card were reduced to the equivalent of ₴30,000 a month. Treat every one as a moving number and check the NBU's liberalization page.
OnlineWho: YouTwenty minutes that saves a bad surprise
5
Keep a cash reserve, and keep it at home
Not a lifestyle tip. Outages take card terminals and ATMs down together, and Kharkiv's grid is attacked. Two or three thousand hryvnia in small notes, plus a small foreign-currency reserve if you have one, is the standard local arrangement.
In personWho: YouOne withdrawal

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Residence permit (посвідка на тимчасове or постійне проживання)
РНОКПП tax number card or extract
Ukrainian mobile number
Proof of registered place of residence, and for larger balances, source-of-funds documentation

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Kharkiv, choose the bank by how little it needs you to visit a building.

Everywhere else this is a preference. Here it is a resilience decision: branches close, relocate and lose power, and a bank you can fully operate from an app is one fewer thing that stops working on a bad week.

Source: community-reported

From 1 May 2026 a non-resident can legitimately convert and send abroad the Ukrainian salary they were paid.

Before that easing a foreign employee paid in hryvnia had no clean route out and was pushed towards the ₴30,000 monthly card-transfer cap. It is the most consequential banking change for foreign workers since the invasion.

Source: НБУ, April 2026

Nine zeros is what a bank writes where your tax number should be.

It is the tell that you are being onboarded as a non-resident individual, and it narrows what the bank will let you do. Get the РНОКПП and go back.

Source: НБУ / bank identification rules

Keep cash for blackouts.

When the grid goes down the terminals and ATMs go with it. Kharkiv's grid is a standing target and the outages are both scheduled and unannounced.

Source: Харківська ОВА / community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Trying to open an account before the residence permit and tax number are in hand.
Assuming the FX caps are stable. The NBU has both eased and tightened them repeatedly since 2022.
Choosing a bank on branch prestige rather than on remote capability.
Letting the residence permit lapse and being surprised when outgoing payments stop.
Moving large sums without source-of-funds documentation.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.