Obtaining work permits for foreigners in Ukraine

To employ a foreigner in a company, it is necessary to obtain a permit for his or her employment. The permit is issued to the employer for a certain period of time for each foreigner and the position that he or she will occupy.

The following documents are required to obtain a work permit:

  • application in the form established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine;
  •   a copy of the passport with the translation into Ukrainian, certified by a notary;
  •   a color photograph of a foreigner sized 3.5×4.5 cm;
  •   a copy of the draft labor contract with a foreigner, certified by the employer.

Regarding certain categories of foreigners, in particular workers of creative professions, seconded specialists, additional documents specified by law are submitted.

The permit is issued on the condition that the company will pay the foreign worker a salary in the amount of at least 10 minimum wages, that is, at least 65,000 UAH as of 2022.

However, the minimum wage requirement does not apply to the following categories of persons:

1) foreign IT professionals;

2) foreign highly paid professionals;

3) founders and/or participants and/or beneficiaries (controllers) of a legal entity established in Ukraine;

4) university graduates who are in the top 100 in world university rankings;

5) foreign workers of creative professions;

6) gig specialists.

The official fee for obtaining a work permit is:

  • for a permit for the period from 1 to 3 years – 14886 UAH
  •   for a permit for the period from 6 months to 1 year – 9924 UAH
  •   for a permit for up to 6 months – 4962 UAH

In the case of employment of a foreigner without obtaining a work permit, a legal entity faces a fine for each registered employee in the amount of twenty times the minimum wage.

VigoLex provides qualified support for the procedure for obtaining work permits for foreigners, in particular IT specialists, including the provision of consultations, preparation and submission of documents, obtaining permits and submission of labor contracts concluded with foreigners to the supervisory authority.

+38 097 215 66 70