Closed Ukraine. What is wrong with obtaining Ukrainian long-term visas

Six months ago, the Cabinet of Ministers simplified the procedure for obtaining a long-term visa for foreigners who enter Ukraine without a visa. A long-term visa (“D”) allows staying in our territory for 90 days, as well as obtaining a temporary residence permit on the basis of, for example, a work permit. The rules simplified by the government mean that now, if necessary, foreigners can apply for a “D” visa at the Department of Consular Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right here, in Ukraine. Prior to this, long-term Ukrainian visas could only be obtained at our foreign diplomatic institutions. Ihor Samokhodsky, an analyst with the IT and Telecom sector of the independent BRDO structure, recalls how the old rules annoyed, first of all, employees of international organizations, such as the UN: "Such institutions do not have an informal compensation mechanism for obtaining a visa for employees, so employees paid for such trips from their own pockets." According to him, in this regard, residents of distant states often applied for visas in Poland, the European country closest to us. Officially, the new rules were introduced on June 26 this year. However, unfortunately, according to Samokhodsky, they still do not work. The words of the analyst in practice are confirmed by a U.S. citizen Joel Wasserman, who was issued his latest long-term Ukrainian visa “D” a few weeks ago in Krakow. "It was not much worse than the bureaucracy that Ukrainians have to deal with," the man jokes. Joel is 27 years old, he has been coming to Ukraine for several years as a volunteer – he teaches English with free city courses for Kyiv residents set up by the Kyiv City State Administration. He paid $182 for a D-10 visa (volunteer activity). "To come to Ukraine, an American does not need a visa. But to obtain a temporary residence permit it is necessary. It would be easier if I could apply for a visa in Ukraine," Wasserman admits. Kateryna Tymchenko, lawyer and managing partner at Laudis Law Firm, applied to the Department of Consular Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the second day after the new rules came into force. She was interested in the opportunity to apply for a long-term visa for her client, an IT specialist from Germany. "But they heard about it for the first time, they were surprised and could not understand what kind of visa we needed," recalls Tymchenko. To find out the reasons for such state of affairs, the lawyer sent an official inquiry. She kindly shared the answer of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with UNIAN. Thus, the Foreign Ministry reports that, as of June 27, the Department of Consular Services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot implement the new rules in practice: "During the analysis of the approved changes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed a number of conflicting norms, including contradictions between the existing and introduced norms, which leads to the ambiguity of their interpretation and makes impossible the practical implementation of the changes." It is also reported that the ministry developed and sent for consideration to the competent authorities a draft of another resolution that would allow to regulate visa procedures. This project, for example, provides for the issuance of long-term visas to foreigners from visa-free countries in electronic form. Regarding the implementation of simplified procedures for obtaining a “D” visa, UNIAN sent an inquiry to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 9. We have not received an answer yet.