Changed Period of Temporary Stay of Foreigners and Stateless Persons in Ukraine

Baker&McKenzie, Kyiv, Ukraine
Mon, April 20, 2015

On 31 March 2015, the Cabinet ofMinisters of Ukraine (hereinafter - the "CMU") adopted the amendments¹(hereinafter - the "Amendments") to the "Procedure toextend the period of stay and extend or reduce the period of temporary stay offoreigners and stateless persons within the territory of Ukraine",approved by Resolution of the CMU No.150 of 15 February 2012.

New period of stay

The Amendments state that foreigners and stateless persons who have legallyentered the territory of Ukraine can stay temporarily:

• for the validity period of their visa (for foreigners that require avisa to enter Ukraine);
• for no more than 90 days in total during any 180-day period (forforeigners that are citizens of visa-free states), unless otherwise providedfor by the international agreements of Ukraine (in particular, the agreementson visa-free travel of citizens);
• for the validity period of their visa, but no more than 90 days in totalduring any 180-day period (in the case if the entry visa was issued before 11September 2011).

Therefore, foreigners and stateless persons that do not need a visa to enterUkraine may stay in Ukraine for up to 90 days within any 180-day period.

Calculating the period ofstay

Under the Amendments, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine must furtherestablish the procedure to calculate the period of stay of foreigners andstateless persons in Ukraine that do not need a visa to enter the territory ofUkraine.

Before the Amendments took effect the 180-day period within which aforeigner/stateless person was entitled to stay in Ukraine was counted from thedate of the first entry into Ukraine.

According to the explanations of the representatives of the State Border GuardService of Ukraine, now the 180-day period is counted retroactively each time aforeigner/stateless person leaves the territory of Ukraine starting from, andinclusive of, the day the foreigner/stateless person departs.  In otherwords, a foreigner/stateless person is entitled to stay in Ukraine within thisperiod of time, but for no more than 90 days. 

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¹SeeResolution of the CMU No. 163 "On Amendments to paragraph 2 of theProcedure to extend the period of stay and extend or reduce the period oftemporary stay of foreigners and stateless persons within the territory ofUkraine" dated 31 March 2015.