News

Temporary residence permits in the form of an ID card. Expectations and reality.

  At the beginning of 2018 the Ukrainian authorities announced the change of residence permits which looked like a book to biometric cards. The necessary acts and regulations  were accepted  at the legislative level, and all began to wait for the beginning of summer to see how the system will work.
What awaited ?
  According to the novelty, every foreigner must be present personally at the moment of submission of documents, because the photo and signature are digitized during the filing of documents, and dactyloscopy is also carried out.  The photo, fingerprints are placed on the chip of the biometric document. After receiving the ID-card on the chip, information about the place of registration is recorded.
  Information about children can’t be placed on a foreigner's personal card, but all children from the age of 16 can have their own personal card.
  And what reality is that?
  Since June 1, all the adopted innovations have come into force, but, unfortunately, nothing has changed in practice. Until the middle of September, the documents were accepted in the same quantity, and temporary residence permits issued in the form of a passport, as it was before. The only change was that TRP was issued and printed in great delay.
  Since September 10,  began to receive documents in accordance with the new order, digitizing photos and signatures, taking prints. To date, however,  cards haven’t been issued yet, and none of the inspectors can say at what point the extraction of cards will begin. Again, adjust to the delay.
  The situation with children under the age of 16 became unclear. Foreign children are legally entitled to stay on the territory of Ukraine according to the general rule of 90 days and 180 (with or without a visa, depending on the country). Not having a separate TRP and not being inscribed in the TRP by one of the parents, the children actually don’t have documents confirming the right to stay in the country for longer than 3 months.
  The State Migration Service explains this by the lack of the necessary legislative provisions for the issuance of TRP to children under 16 years of age. The border service still passes children, not counting the deadline, because according to the general Ukrainian legislation, children under 16 are not subjects of administrative responsibility, and therefore can not be punished. Being familiar with the realities, we are waiting for precedents.
  In addition, the  State Migration Service   stopped putting stamps in the passports of foreigners, which slightly complicates the passage of the border by foreigners.  There is a tendency towards the  absolute inability of the State Migration Service  and the Border Service to act as a united front.
  In any case, we keep our hands on the pulse of events and are ready for any changes in legislation, procedures and innovations.

 

Head of Legal Department
Svitlana Mozharivska