What is Ukraine's Work permit + type D visa + temporary residence permit?

Foreign professionals with a Ukrainian employer. Three instruments from three bodies, in a fixed order: the EMPLOYER obtains a work permit (дозвіл на застосування праці іноземців) from the regional employment centre, you then get a type D visa at a Ukrainian consulate if your nationality needs one, and only then does the State Migration Service issue the temporary residence permit that actually makes you resident. It lasts the work permit runs for the term of the employment contract, and the fee scale is published for bands up to six months, six months to one year, one to two years and two to three years. The temporary residence permit is issued for the period stated in the work permit — for ordinary employment that means one year at a time, renewed alongside the permit. Renewal of the work permit must be applied for not later than 20 and not earlier than 50 calendar days before it expires. Not automatic, and this is the single most misunderstood thing about Ukrainian residence. Years on a temporary permit do not mature into permanent residence. Permanent residence requires a separate IMMIGRATION PERMIT under Law No. 2491-III, and an ordinary employee qualifies only inside the annual Cabinet quota, in the 'highly qualified specialists and workers in acute demand for the economy of Ukraine' category — a quota that is small and set yearly. Once granted, the immigration permit is valid one year to be used, and the permanent residence permit that follows runs for ten years. Naturalisation sits beyond that again; since Law No. 4502-IX took effect on 16 January 2026 Ukraine recognises multiple citizenship for citizens of states on a Cabinet-approved list, so renunciation is no longer automatically required, but the list itself must be checked and Russian citizenship is excluded.

What is Ukraine's Student temporary residence permit?

Foreign nationals enrolled at a Ukrainian university, vocational or pre-university institution. Ukraine ran one of Europe's larger international student populations before 2022, concentrated in medicine, and the admission machinery — a state-run digital account and a state-issued invitation — is still operating. It lasts issued for the duration of your studies rather than as a fixed term, and renewed against current enrolment evidence. None, and Ukraine has no post-study work visa. A graduate who wants to stay needs an employer to run the full work-permit process from the beginning — including clearing the 10-minimum-wage salary floor, or 5 if the employer is an educational institution — exactly as if they had never studied here. Study time counts towards nothing on the immigration-permit side either; permanent residence still requires a quota or outside-quota category under Law No. 2491-III.

What is Ukraine's Family reunification and spouse of a Ukrainian citizen?

Two different situations that people conflate. First, family members joining a foreigner who already holds a Ukrainian residence permit — that is family reunification and it produces a temporary permit. Second, the foreign spouse, child or parent of a UKRAINIAN CITIZEN — that is an outside-quota immigration permit and it leads to permanent residence. The second is a materially better position than the first and the difference is worth understanding before you apply for either. It lasts family-reunification temporary permits are issued for longer than the ordinary one-year term — the DMS service page assigns three to four years to the family grounds in Article 4, depending on which part applies. The immigration route instead produces a permanent residence permit valid ten years, after an immigration permit that must be used within one year of being granted. This is the honest answer for Ukraine: the family categories are the main realistic path to permanent residence, and marriage to a Ukrainian citizen sustained for more than two years is the clearest of them. It runs immigration permit → permanent residence permit (ten years) → naturalisation. Since 16 January 2026, when Law No. 4502-IX brought Article 5-1 into the Law on Citizenship, Ukraine recognises multiple citizenship for citizens of states on a list the Cabinet is directed to set, weighing EU membership and whether the state applies sanctions over the aggression against Ukraine — so naturalising no longer necessarily means renouncing what you hold. Russian citizenship is excluded, and the same law added new grounds for LOSING Ukrainian citizenship, including threats to national security and participation in armed aggression against Ukraine.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Bulgaria to Ukraine

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Bulgaria

UkraineShort stay

Visa-free · 90 days

Bulgaria passport holders can enter Ukraine without a visa and stay up to 90 days.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Ukraine — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Ukraine's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to Ukraine

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Work permit + type D visa + temporary residence permit

Foreign professionals with a Ukrainian employer. Three instruments from three bodies, in a fixed order: the EMPLOYER obtains a work permit (дозвіл на застосування праці іноземців) from the regional employment centre, you then get a type D visa at a Ukrainian consulate if your nationality needs one, and only then does the State Migration Service issue the temporary residence permit that actually makes you resident.

What you need

A Ukrainian employer willing to apply — the work permit is applied for and paid for by the employer, never by you; it names one employer and one position and does not travel with you if you change jobs
A salary at or above the statutory floor: at least 10 minimum wages for most employment, or 5 minimum wages where the employer is a public association, a charitable organisation or an educational institution. At the 2026 minimum wage of UAH 8,647 that is UAH 86,470 and UAH 43,235 per month respectively
A type D long-term visa if your nationality requires a visa. It is issued as a multiple-entry visa valid 90 days, purely as a window in which to apply to DMS in Ukraine — it is not itself a residence right
Valid medical insurance covering the whole period of the permit — DMS lists this as a document, not a recommendation
A notarised Ukrainian translation of the personal-data page of your passport
Application to DMS no later than 15 working days before your permitted stay expires

How long it lasts: The work permit runs for the term of the employment contract, and the fee scale is published for bands up to six months, six months to one year, one to two years and two to three years. The temporary residence permit is issued for the period stated in the work permit — for ordinary employment that means one year at a time, renewed alongside the permit. Renewal of the work permit must be applied for not later than 20 and not earlier than 50 calendar days before it expires.
Path to permanent residence: Not automatic, and this is the single most misunderstood thing about Ukrainian residence. Years on a temporary permit do not mature into permanent residence. Permanent residence requires a separate IMMIGRATION PERMIT under Law No. 2491-III, and an ordinary employee qualifies only inside the annual Cabinet quota, in the 'highly qualified specialists and workers in acute demand for the economy of Ukraine' category — a quota that is small and set yearly. Once granted, the immigration permit is valid one year to be used, and the permanent residence permit that follows runs for ten years. Naturalisation sits beyond that again; since Law No. 4502-IX took effect on 16 January 2026 Ukraine recognises multiple citizenship for citizens of states on a Cabinet-approved list, so renunciation is no longer automatically required, but the list itself must be checked and Russian citizenship is excluded.
Cost: The employer pays the work permit fee, which is set as a multiple of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons at 1 January — UAH 3,328 in 2026. Issue: UAH 9,984 for up to six months, UAH 16,640 for six months to a year, UAH 26,624 for one to two years, UAH 33,280 for two to three years. Renewal is one subsistence minimum cheaper in each band: UAH 6,656, UAH 13,312, UAH 23,296 and UAH 29,952. The residence permit you pay for yourself is trivial by comparison: UAH 1,140 in total, being UAH 34 state duty, UAH 452 for the administrative service and UAH 654 for the card blank. The consular fee for the type D visa is set by the MFA tariff and we do not quote it — the MFA's own pages refused automated access, so confirm it with the consulate handling your file.
Processing time: DMS issues the residence permit within 15 working days of accepting the documents. The employment centre's decision on the work permit sits ahead of that and is the unpredictable half; it publishes the decision on its official site and notifies the employer electronically within two working days of taking it.

Worth knowing

You cannot fly in. Ukrainian airspace has been closed to civil aviation since February 2022 and no scheduled passenger flights serve Kyiv or Lviv. Every arrival is overland, in practice through the Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian or Moldovan crossings, and onward by train. Budget a day of travel from the nearest airport, not an afternoon.
The permit belongs to the employer, not to you. It names one employer and one position; changing job means a new permit and a new fee, and there is no grace period during which you are simply 'a resident looking for work'.
The salary floor is a real filter and it moves every January with the minimum wage. Ten minimum wages is far above the Ukrainian median, which is deliberate — the mechanism is designed so that hiring a foreigner is only worth it for a role a Ukrainian is not filling. The 5-minimum-wage band for NGOs, charities and educational institutions is the exception that carries most of the international humanitarian sector.
Martial law does not suspend any of this, but it does change the calendar. Permit validity, exchange deadlines and stay periods have repeatedly been altered by Cabinet resolution since February 2022 rather than by the ordinary rules, so a printed timetable more than a few months old is unreliable. DMS's own service page is the thing to re-read, not a relocation blog.
Russian citizens are excluded by name from the wartime accommodations DMS applies to other foreigners' permits.
Register your place of residence after you have the card. Cabinet Resolution No. 648 of 13 May 2026, in force 30 May 2026, governs declaring and registering a place of residence; the service runs through the Diia portal and the ЦНАП administrative service centres, and a foreigner must additionally produce the passport and the certified Ukrainian translation of its data page.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)Державна служба зайнятості — Розмір плати за видачу та продовження дії дозволу на застосування праці іноземців у 2026 році Державна служба зайнятості — Закон України «Про зайнятість населення»: все про застосування праці іноземців (пороги 5 і 10 мінімальних зарплат)Гід онлайн Дія — Видача дозволу на застосування праці іноземців та осіб без громадянства Державна служба зайнятості — Дозвіл на застосування праці іноземців (роботодавцям)Embassy of Ukraine — Long-term (D) visa: purposes and supporting documents (MFA mission mirror of the master page)ДМС — Постанова КМУ від 13 травня 2026 р. № 648 «Питання декларування та реєстрації місця проживання (перебування) в Україні» (чинна з 30 травня 2026)

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

International technical assistance, NGO, volunteer and accredited media permits

The route most foreigners actually use to live in wartime Ukraine: staff of international technical assistance projects, people working for foreign and Ukrainian NGOs and charities, volunteers, accredited foreign correspondents, and — a ground added during martial law — those providing medical and rehabilitation assistance. Article 4 of Law No. 3773-VI treats each of these as its own residence ground, separate from ordinary employment.

What you need

For international technical assistance: registration of the project with the Ukrainian authorities, which is what fixes the permit's validity to the project's implementation period
For NGO and charity employment: the same work-permit machinery as ordinary employment, but at the reduced salary floor of 5 minimum wages (UAH 43,235 per month in 2026) where the employer is a public association, charitable organisation or educational institution
For accredited media: accreditation as a correspondent or representative of a foreign mass medium
For volunteers assisting the armed forces during martial law: certification from the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, per the DMS service page
For medical and rehabilitation assistance during martial law: the ground is explicitly unavailable to citizens of Russia and Belarus
In every case: the standard DMS file — passport, notarised Ukrainian translation of the data page, medical insurance for the full permit period, and proof of the administrative fee

How long it lasts: Ground-dependent. An international technical assistance permit runs for the project's implementation period. NGO employment tracks the work permit, generally a year at a time. Accredited foreign media get the most unusual treatment of all: for the duration of martial law and 30 days after it ends, correspondents and representatives of foreign media are not subject to the ordinary limits on temporary stay in Ukraine. The volunteer ground is tied to martial law itself.
Path to permanent residence: None by this route on its own. Humanitarian, media and volunteer permits are temporary permits and do not accumulate towards permanent residence, which requires a separate immigration permit under Law No. 2491-III. In practice the people on this route who do settle permanently get there through the family categories — marriage to a Ukrainian citizen — rather than through their work, and it is worth knowing that before treating a five-year posting as a step towards anything.
Cost: The residence permit itself is UAH 1,140 (UAH 34 state duty, UAH 452 administrative service, UAH 654 card blank) and UAH 1,140 again on exchange. Where a work permit is involved the employer pays the same scale as ordinary employment — from UAH 9,984 for a permit up to six months to UAH 33,280 for two to three years, on the UAH 3,328 subsistence minimum in force from 1 January 2026. International technical assistance and accreditation grounds do not carry a work-permit fee of their own.
Processing time: 15 working days at DMS once the file is accepted. The lead time that matters is upstream — project registration, accreditation or ministry certification — and that is not on a published clock.

Worth knowing

This is the honest shape of foreign residence in Ukraine right now. The country's foreign community is heavily weighted towards aid, reconstruction, defence-adjacent industry and journalism, and the permit categories reflect that. If you are reading this page hoping for a lifestyle move, the route list is telling you something.
The media exemption is genuinely unusual and widely missed: it lifts the temporary-stay limit rather than extending a permit, and it runs for 30 days past the end of martial law.
The medical and rehabilitation ground is closed to Russian and Belarusian citizens by the terms of the ground itself, not by discretion.
The volunteer ground requires certification by the Ministry of Defence or Ministry of Internal Affairs and is tied to the martial-law period; DMS's page attaches a deadline running from the end of martial law. We could not independently verify the exact wording of that deadline, so treat it as a reason to ask DMS directly rather than as a date to plan around.
Working for an NGO at the 5-minimum-wage floor still requires the full work permit. The reduced threshold is a discount on the salary condition, not an exemption from the permit.
Air-raid alerts, curfews and regional movement restrictions are part of daily working life, and military administrations can set special entry, exit and movement regimes in their areas under martial law. That is a fact about the job, not about the paperwork.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про правовий статус іноземців та осіб без громадянства» № 3773-VI Державна служба зайнятості — Закон України «Про зайнятість населення»: все про застосування праці іноземців (пороги 5 і 10 мінімальних зарплат)МЗС України — Entry regime to Ukraine for foreign citizens Гід онлайн Дія — Оформлення та видача посвідки на тимчасове проживання

StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Student temporary residence permit

Foreign nationals enrolled at a Ukrainian university, vocational or pre-university institution. Ukraine ran one of Europe's larger international student populations before 2022, concentrated in medicine, and the admission machinery — a state-run digital account and a state-issued invitation — is still operating.

What you need

An applicant's digital account in the Unified Interdepartmental Information System, created through the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education (МОН) — this is the state's single front door for foreign applicants and universities work through it
An offer of admission, followed by an Invitation for Study issued by the university once it has checked your documents
A type D student visa at a Ukrainian embassy or consulate, if your nationality requires a visa, using the original invitation letter
On arrival: the standard DMS file — passport with the D visa, notarised Ukrainian translation of the data page, medical insurance for the whole permit period, enrolment documents, proof of fee
Application to DMS no later than 15 working days before your permitted stay expires

How long it lasts: Issued for the duration of your studies rather than as a fixed term, and renewed against current enrolment evidence.
Path to permanent residence: None, and Ukraine has no post-study work visa. A graduate who wants to stay needs an employer to run the full work-permit process from the beginning — including clearing the 10-minimum-wage salary floor, or 5 if the employer is an educational institution — exactly as if they had never studied here. Study time counts towards nothing on the immigration-permit side either; permanent residence still requires a quota or outside-quota category under Law No. 2491-III.
Cost: UAH 1,140 for the permit — UAH 34 state duty, UAH 452 administrative service, UAH 654 for the card blank — with no student rate. Tuition, the consular fee for the D visa and the mandatory insurance are separate and are the real cost.
Processing time: 15 working days at DMS. The invitation and visa stages sit ahead of that.

Worth knowing

Do this with your eyes open. Ukraine is under martial law and its cities, including Kyiv and Lviv, are subject to missile and drone attack. Universities run hybrid teaching and shelter drills, and semesters are interrupted by alerts. Institutions in the occupied territories and near the front have relocated and teach remotely under their original names, so verify where a programme physically sits before accepting an offer.
You will arrive overland. Airspace is closed to civil aviation; the practical route is a flight to Warsaw, Kraków, Rzeszów, Budapest or Chișinău and then rail or bus.
Medical insurance valid for the entire permit period is a listed DMS document. A policy that lapses mid-year is a permit problem, not just a health one.
The invitation must come through the state system. Agents offering 'guaranteed admission letters' outside the МОН digital account are the classic scam aimed at this exact route, and a letter that is not in the state system will not support a D visa.
Check the language of instruction. English-medium programmes exist, especially in medicine, but a great deal of university and city life runs in Ukrainian, and since 2022 Russian-medium teaching has largely gone.

Sources:Study in Ukraine — Ukrainian State Centre for International Education (МОН): invitation for study and the applicant's digital account Ukrainian State Admission System for International Students (ЄДЕБО digital account)ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)Embassy of Ukraine — Long-term (D) visa: purposes and supporting documents (MFA mission mirror of the master page)

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Family reunification and spouse of a Ukrainian citizen

Two different situations that people conflate. First, family members joining a foreigner who already holds a Ukrainian residence permit — that is family reunification and it produces a temporary permit. Second, the foreign spouse, child or parent of a UKRAINIAN CITIZEN — that is an outside-quota immigration permit and it leads to permanent residence. The second is a materially better position than the first and the difference is worth understanding before you apply for either.

What you need

Family reunification (temporary permit): documents establishing the relationship to the permit holder, plus the standard DMS file — passport, notarised Ukrainian translation of the data page, medical insurance for the full period, evidence of sufficient means, proof of fee
Spouse of a Ukrainian citizen (immigration permit, outside the quota): the marriage must have lasted MORE THAN TWO YEARS. This is the threshold the whole route turns on and there is no discretion in it
Children and parents of Ukrainian citizens also sit outside the quota, as do guardians and wards of Ukrainian citizens, people entitled to Ukrainian citizenship on territorial grounds, foreign Ukrainians (закордонні українці) and their relatives, widows and widowers of deceased Ukrainian service personnel, and people whose immigration is in the state interest of Ukraine
For the immigration permit file: passport copies with Ukrainian translation, proof of residence, three 3.5×4.5 cm photographs, family composition details, the marriage certificate where relevant, a medical certificate, a criminal record certificate, and proof of the fee
Foreign civil-status documents legalised or apostilled and translated into Ukrainian

How long it lasts: Family-reunification temporary permits are issued for longer than the ordinary one-year term — the DMS service page assigns three to four years to the family grounds in Article 4, depending on which part applies. The immigration route instead produces a permanent residence permit valid ten years, after an immigration permit that must be used within one year of being granted.
Path to permanent residence: This is the honest answer for Ukraine: the family categories are the main realistic path to permanent residence, and marriage to a Ukrainian citizen sustained for more than two years is the clearest of them. It runs immigration permit → permanent residence permit (ten years) → naturalisation. Since 16 January 2026, when Law No. 4502-IX brought Article 5-1 into the Law on Citizenship, Ukraine recognises multiple citizenship for citizens of states on a list the Cabinet is directed to set, weighing EU membership and whether the state applies sanctions over the aggression against Ukraine — so naturalising no longer necessarily means renouncing what you hold. Russian citizenship is excluded, and the same law added new grounds for LOSING Ukrainian citizenship, including threats to national security and participation in armed aggression against Ukraine.
Cost: Temporary permit UAH 1,140 (UAH 34 + UAH 452 + UAH 654). Immigration permit: an administrative fee of half the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons, which is UAH 1,664 in 2026; applying through a Ukrainian mission abroad adds a separate consular fee under the MFA tariff. The permanent residence permit that follows is UAH 1,235 — UAH 85 state duty, UAH 496 administrative service and UAH 654 for the chipped card blank.
Processing time: The immigration permit is the slow step by an order of magnitude: up to SIX MONTHS when the application is filed with DMS inside Ukraine, and up to ONE YEAR when filed through a Ukrainian embassy or consulate abroad. Both residence cards are then issued within 15 working days.

Worth knowing

Filing inside Ukraine halves the wait. Six months at DMS against a year through a consulate is the largest single lever on this route, and most people discover it after choosing.
The two-year marriage rule catches couples out constantly. A recent marriage to a Ukrainian citizen does not open the outside-quota door; you wait, usually on a temporary permit obtained on some other ground.
If you are also a Ukrainian citizen — by birth, by descent or by naturalisation — Ukraine treats you as a Ukrainian citizen inside Ukraine regardless of your other passport. For men aged 18 to 60 that means general mobilisation applies and the exit restrictions apply. Since 27 August 2025 men aged 18 to 22 inclusive may travel abroad on a passport plus a military registration document, including in electronic form; outside that window the restriction stands. Understand this BEFORE naturalising, not after.
Multiple citizenship became law on 16 January 2026 but depends on a Cabinet list of qualifying states. We could not confirm an adopted list from an official source and deliberately do not name countries here — check with DMS before assuming your nationality is on it.
The permanent residence permit is valid ten years, and older cards without an electronic chip must be exchanged at ages 25 and 45. Permits issued before 24 February 2022, other than those of Russian citizens, confirm the right of residence for the duration of martial law and 30 calendar days after it ends, with an exchange application due within 30 days of martial law ending.
A temporary permit whose exchange fell due after 24 February 2022 was given a fixed exchange window of 7 May to 4 August 2026 by Cabinet resolution of 5 February 2026 No. 141. If that is you and you are reading this at or after the deadline, contact DMS directly — we could not confirm whether the window has been extended.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на постійне проживання ДМС — Оформлення дозволу на імміграцію (квота та поза квотою)ДМС — Підстави для надання дозволу на імміграцію та квота імміграції Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про імміграцію» № 2491-III від 7 червня 2001 року Верховна Рада — Закон України № 4502-IX від 18 червня 2025 року (множинне громадянство; ст. 5-1 Закону «Про громадянство України»), чинний з 16 січня 2026 ДМС — Нові правила набуття та збереження громадянства України: що змінилося з 16 січня 2026 року Кабінет Міністрів України — Роз'яснення МВС щодо виїзду за кордон чоловіків віком 18–22 років включно (27 серпня 2025)Гід онлайн Дія — Оформлення та видача посвідки на постійне проживання

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Investor temporary residence permit and the investor immigration quota

Founders and shareholders who put real money into a Ukrainian company. Ukraine has two investor doors with two different thresholds in two different currencies, set by two different statutes, and mixing them up is the standard mistake.

What you need

Temporary permit: a foreign investment in the economy of Ukraine, in convertible foreign currency, of not less than EUR 100,000, contributed to the charter capital of a Ukrainian legal entity and valued at the National Bank's official rate on the date the investment was made — the ground added to Article 4 of Law No. 3773-VI by the law removing barriers to attracting foreign investment
Where the investment was made in money: evidence of the founder's or participant's share of not less than EUR 100,000 at the NBU rate on the investment date
Where the investment was made in property: the customs declaration for movable property contributed to charter capital and the transfer act, or the transfer act for movable or immovable property bought inside Ukraine
Immigration permit (the permanent route): a separate and higher-bar category inside the annual Cabinet QUOTA, for a person who has made a foreign investment in the economy of Ukraine in convertible currency of not less than USD 100,000 under Law No. 2491-III
In both cases the standard DMS file, including medical insurance and a notarised Ukrainian translation of the passport data page

How long it lasts: The investor temporary residence permit is issued for TWO years — one of only two grounds that beats the ordinary one-year term — and is renewable while the investment stands. The immigration route instead produces a ten-year permanent residence permit.
Path to permanent residence: Real but not automatic and not fast. The EUR 100,000 temporary permit confers no entitlement to permanent residence at all; for that you need the immigration permit, whose investor category is a USD 100,000 threshold inside a quota the Cabinet sets annually and which is small. Ukraine has no citizenship-by-investment programme and no golden visa. Investing buys a renewable two-year permit and a place in a queue, not a passport.
Cost: The permit fees are negligible next to the thresholds: UAH 1,140 for the temporary permit, UAH 1,664 for the immigration permit application, UAH 1,235 for the permanent residence card. The binding costs are the EUR 100,000 or USD 100,000 itself, company formation, and the legal and audit work needed to evidence the contribution to charter capital in a form DMS will accept.
Processing time: 15 working days at DMS for the residence permit once the file is complete. The immigration permit, if you go that way, takes up to six months in Ukraine or up to a year through a mission abroad. Documenting the investment to the standard DMS wants is the part that actually takes time.

Worth knowing

EUR 100,000 and USD 100,000 are not the same threshold and not the same route. The euro figure sits in the law on foreigners and buys a two-year temporary permit; the dollar figure sits in the immigration law and buys a place in the quota for permanent residence. Advisers quote whichever is convenient.
The investment must go into CHARTER CAPITAL. Buying an apartment, lending to a company or holding cash in a Ukrainian bank does not qualify, and Ukraine has no real-estate residency route of any kind.
The valuation is fixed at the NBU official rate on the date of the investment, which matters in a currency that has moved a great deal since 2022. Record the date and the rate at the time you invest.
This is wartime investment. Capital controls, cross-border payment restrictions and wartime tax measures are in force, war-risk insurance is a real line item, and infrastructure — power in particular — is a live operating risk. The permit is the easy part.
Ukraine's e-Residency (uResidency) programme is not this and is not a residency route. It is a Ministry of Economy scheme letting a non-resident register a business in Ukraine, earn income outside Ukraine and pay 5% tax, and the ministry states it grants no right to live in or visit Ukraine. Any page selling '5% tax Ukrainian residency' is describing a tax status, not a permit.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)Верховна Рада — Закон «Про внесення змін до деяких законодавчих актів України щодо усунення бар'єрів для залучення іноземних інвестицій» (посвідка для інвестора)Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про правовий статус іноземців та осіб без громадянства» № 3773-VI ДМС — Підстави для надання дозволу на імміграцію та квота імміграції Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про імміграцію» № 2491-III від 7 червня 2001 року Міністерство економіки України — Ukraine is launching an electronic residency programme for foreigners (uResidency)

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Contract service in Ukraine's armed forces, and permits for the family

Foreign nationals and stateless persons serving under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard or the State Special Transport Service, and their family members. This is a real, published residence ground with its own DMS service pages, not an improvisation — Article 4 of Law No. 3773-VI carries it, and part 15 of the same article carries the family's separate entitlement.

What you need

For the serviceperson: a contract for military service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard or the State Special Transport Service, and completion of the contract term as the basis for the permit
For a family member: original and copy documents establishing the family relationship with the serviceperson — DMS defines family as spouse, minor children including stepchildren, incapacitated parents, and other persons treated as family members under the law of the applicant's country of origin
The serviceperson's own status documents and the family member's previous residence permit where one exists
Passport plus a certified Ukrainian translation of its data page, evidence of sufficient means, medical insurance, proof of the administrative fee, and the tax registration document where one has been issued
Filed no later than 15 working days before the current permitted stay expires

How long it lasts: The serviceperson's permit runs for the contract term plus six months. Family members' permits are issued on the same 15-working-day service and renewed against the serviceperson's status.
Path to permanent residence: Better than any other work-based route, and this is a deliberate policy choice rather than an accident. Military service members appear among the immigration-permit categories under Law No. 2491-III, and widows and widowers of deceased Ukrainian service personnel sit in the outside-quota list. Law No. 4502-IX of 18 June 2025, in force 16 January 2026, was explicitly aimed in part at simplifying procedures for foreign military personnel and their family members. That said, the route runs through the ordinary immigration permit and the ordinary permanent residence permit — there is no automatic grant, and the timelines are the same six-month and 15-working-day clocks as everyone else's.
Cost: The same schedule as every other temporary permit: UAH 1,140 in total, being UAH 34 state duty, UAH 452 for the administrative service and UAH 654 for the card blank. Certain categories are exempt from the service and blank costs; check the DMS exemption list rather than assuming.
Processing time: 15 working days from acceptance of the documents, with collection in person.

Worth knowing

This is a combat contract in an active war. Nothing on this page should be read as encouragement; it is here because the residence ground exists, is published by DMS, and is otherwise absent from every relocation guide.
Your own country's law is the first thing to check, not Ukraine's. Several states criminalise or strip citizenship for foreign military service, and Ukraine's willingness to issue a permit says nothing about your home country's position.
The family permit is a separate application with its own file, not a rider on the serviceperson's. DMS publishes a distinct procedure for it under part 15 of Article 4.
The permit ends six months after the contract does. That six-month tail is the whole window in which to arrange something else, and it is short.
Foreign servicepeople are being documented in practice, not just in theory — DMS regional offices have publicised issuing these permits. It is a live procedure.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання членам сім'ї іноземця-військовослужбовця (ч. 15 ст. 4 Закону № 3773-VI)ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на тимчасове проживання (підстави, документи, строки, вартість)Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про правовий статус іноземців та осіб без громадянства» № 3773-VI Верховна Рада — Закон України № 4502-IX від 18 червня 2025 року (множинне громадянство; ст. 5-1 Закону «Про громадянство України»), чинний з 16 січня 2026 ДМС — Нові правила набуття та збереження громадянства України: що змінилося з 16 січня 2026 року

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Immigration permit → permanent residence (посвідка на постійне проживання)

Anyone whose plan is to settle in Ukraine rather than to stay for a few years. This is the only instrument that produces permanent residence, it is governed by its own statute, and it is filed on its own merits — it is not a graduation from a temporary permit. It is filed under 'family' here because the outside-quota categories, which are the realistic ones, are overwhelmingly family-based.

What you need

An immigration permit under Law No. 2491-III, granted either OUTSIDE the annual quota or WITHIN it
Outside the quota: a spouse of a Ukrainian citizen where the marriage has lasted more than two years; children and parents of Ukrainian citizens; guardians and wards of Ukrainian citizens; people entitled to Ukrainian citizenship on territorial grounds; people whose immigration is in the state interest of Ukraine; foreign Ukrainians and their relatives; widows and widowers of deceased Ukrainian service personnel; and stateless persons with two years' residence
Within the quota: figures in science and culture whose immigration serves Ukraine's interests; highly qualified specialists and workers in acute demand for the Ukrainian economy; investors who have put at least USD 100,000 of convertible currency into the Ukrainian economy; full siblings, grandparents and grandchildren of Ukrainian citizens; former citizens of Ukraine; the parents, spouse and minor children of an immigrant; victims of trafficking; and military service members
The application file: passport copies with Ukrainian translation, proof of residence, three 3.5×4.5 cm photographs, family composition details, marriage certificate where relevant, a medical certificate, a criminal record certificate, and the fee receipt
For the residence card itself: a type D visa where your nationality needs one, a notarised Ukrainian translation of the passport biographical page, a copy of the immigration permit decision, and the tax registry document where you have one

How long it lasts: The immigration permit is issued for one year — meaning you have a year in which to use it, not a year of residence. The permanent residence permit that follows is valid for TEN years. Older permits without an electronic chip must be exchanged at ages 25 and 45.
Path to permanent residence: This IS the permanent route; beyond it lies only naturalisation, under Law No. 2235-III on Citizenship of Ukraine as amended by Law No. 4502-IX with effect from 16 January 2026. That amendment added Article 5-1, defining when Ukraine recognises multiple citizenship — for Ukrainians acquiring the citizenship of states on a Cabinet-defined list, and for citizens of those states acquiring Ukrainian citizenship — with the Cabinet directed to weigh EU membership and whether the state applies sanctions over the armed aggression against Ukraine. The same law added new grounds for LOSS of citizenship, including threats to national security and participation in armed aggression against Ukraine. Russian citizenship is excluded from recognition.
Cost: The immigration permit application costs half the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons as at 1 January, which is UAH 1,664 in 2026; filing through a Ukrainian mission abroad adds a consular fee under the MFA tariff. The permanent residence card is UAH 1,235 — UAH 85 state duty, UAH 496 administrative service, UAH 654 for the chipped blank. Exemptions exist for specified categories, including Chornobyl survivors and people with disabilities of groups I and II.
Processing time: Up to six months for the immigration permit when filed with DMS inside Ukraine, up to one year when filed through a Ukrainian embassy or consulate abroad. The permanent residence card is then issued within 15 working days.

Worth knowing

Time on a temporary permit does not convert. Ukraine has no 'five years and you're settled' rule of the European kind; you qualify because you fall in a listed category, or you don't qualify at all. This is the most common false expectation about Ukrainian residence and the one most likely to cost someone years.
The quota is annual, set by the Cabinet, and small. If your only route is a quota category — highly qualified specialist, investor, scientist — treat the numbers as the binding constraint, not the paperwork.
File inside Ukraine if you possibly can: six months against a year is the difference between the two channels.
The medical certificate and criminal record certificate both have their own validity periods and are the two documents that most often go stale during a six-month wait. Time their collection to the filing, not to the decision to apply.
Permanent residence permits issued before 24 February 2022, other than those of Russian citizens, confirm the right of residence for the duration of martial law and 30 calendar days after it ends, with an exchange application due within 30 days of martial law ending. Do not let a card that looks expired panic you into a bad decision — and do not assume the concession applies to a card issued after that date.
Permanent residence removes the work-permit requirement, which is the practical prize: a permanent resident is employable on the same footing as a citizen, without the 10-minimum-wage salary floor and without a permit tied to one employer.

Sources:ДМС — Оформлення дозволу на імміграцію (квота та поза квотою)ДМС — Підстави для надання дозволу на імміграцію та квота імміграції ДМС — Оформлення посвідки на постійне проживання Верховна Рада — Закон України «Про імміграцію» № 2491-III від 7 червня 2001 року Гід онлайн Дія — Оформлення та видача посвідки на постійне проживання Верховна Рада — Закон України № 4502-IX від 18 червня 2025 року (множинне громадянство; ст. 5-1 Закону «Про громадянство України»), чинний з 16 січня 2026 ДМС — Нові правила набуття та збереження громадянства України: що змінилося з 16 січня 2026 року

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

What martial law changes for everyone (entry, exit, permits and conscription)

Everyone on every route above, and anyone weighing whether the paperwork is even the relevant question. This is not a permit — it is the set of wartime rules that sits on top of all of them, gathered in one place because a guide that described Ukraine's peacetime bureaucracy would be actively misleading.

What you need

Accept that you will arrive and leave overland: Ukrainian airspace has been closed to civil aviation since February 2022 and there are no scheduled passenger flights
Short-stay entry is unchanged on paper — citizens of the EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the United States among others may stay 90 days in any 180 without a visa, and an e-Visa for holders of 45 listed nationalities gives single or double entry for 30 days, processed in one working day urgently or three ordinarily
A type D long-term visa, issued as a multiple-entry visa valid 90 days, is the instrument for coming to APPLY for a residence permit — it is not itself the right to reside
Military administrations may set a special regime for entry, exit and movement in their areas, and may restrict the movement of people and vehicles
Register your place of residence once you hold a card: Cabinet Resolution No. 648 of 13 May 2026, in force 30 May 2026, governs declaration and registration, delivered through Diia and the ЦНАП centres

How long it lasts: Martial law has run continuously since 24 February 2022 and is extended in 90-day blocks. The current period runs from 05:30 on 2 August 2026 to 31 October 2026, voted on 14 July 2026 — the twentieth extension. General mobilisation was extended to the same date in the same session. The President has said martial law will end only once Ukraine has security guarantees from partners, so do not plan around a fixed end date.
Path to permanent residence: None — this entry is context, not a route. What martial law does to the permanent routes is change their calendar rather than their substance: exchange deadlines, permit extensions and stay periods have repeatedly been set by Cabinet resolution since February 2022, and permits issued before 24 February 2022 (other than those of Russian citizens) confirm residence rights for the duration of martial law and 30 days after.
Cost: Nothing to pay. The costs here are not fees: overland travel from a Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian or Moldovan airport, war-risk insurance where you can get it, and the operating reality of a country under regular missile and drone attack.
Processing time: Not applicable. The one deadline in this entry that is: temporary residence permits whose exchange fell due after 24 February 2022 were given a fixed exchange window of 7 May to 4 August 2026 by Cabinet resolution of 5 February 2026 No. 141.

Worth knowing

CONSCRIPTION AND EXIT — the most consequential paragraph on this page. General mobilisation applies to male citizens of Ukraine aged 18 to 60, and those men are, with exceptions, barred from leaving the country under the Rules for Crossing the State Border approved by Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 27 January 1995 as amended in wartime. Since 27 August 2025 men aged 18 to 22 inclusive may travel abroad on a passport for international travel plus a military registration document, including in electronic form, presented on request; those holding certain government posts may travel only on official business.
A second passport does not help you inside Ukraine. Ukraine treats a person it regards as its citizen as a citizen only, with full Ukrainian obligations — so a dual national man of military age is in the same position as any other Ukrainian man, whatever else he carries. Naturalising in Ukraine, or claiming citizenship by descent, therefore has a consequence that no other country's naturalisation carries right now. Get advice before you file.
Foreign nationals who are not Ukrainian citizens are not subject to Ukrainian mobilisation. The exit restriction is a rule about citizens, not about residents.
Russian citizens are excluded by name from the wartime permit accommodations extended to other foreigners, and the martial-law medical and rehabilitation residence ground is closed to citizens of Russia and Belarus.
Air-raid alerts are a daily fact in Kyiv and a frequent one in Lviv, and both cities have been struck. Curfews are set regionally and change. Whatever you conclude about the paperwork, that is the thing you are actually deciding about.
Crimea and the occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts are outside the reach of every procedure described here. Ukrainian permits are not issued or serviced there.