New rules on obtaining the WP
On September 21, 2022, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted amendments to the legislation of Ukraine regarding the issuance of permits for the employment of foreign citizens in Ukraine – the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Employment of Foreigners and Stateless Persons in Ukraine and the Provision of Mediation Services in Employment abroad” (hereinafter – the “Law”). The specified Law has already been signed by the Chairman of the Parliament of Ukraine and handed over to the President for signature. It will enter into force from the moment of publication.
Salary requirements
Any restrictions on the salary for foreign employees (regardless of position, qualification) are abolished. The current requirements are the following: the salary of a foreign employee must be at least 10 times the minimum salary, except for certain categories of employees (in particular, IT specialists, founders/participants, beneficial owners of legal entities, graduates of top 100 universities).
Categories of foreign employees
Thus, after the entry into force of the Law, there will be the following categories of employees:
• foreign employee;
• seconded foreign workers;
• intra-corporate assignees;
• foreigners and stateless persons, in respect of whom a decision was made to issue documents to resolve the issue of recognition as a refugee or a person in need of additional protection; foreigners and stateless persons who appeal the decision on refusal to issue documents to resolve the issue of recognition as a refugee or a person in need of additional protection;
• persons who submitted an application for recognition as a stateless person, and persons who appeal the decision to refuse recognition as a stateless person;
• foreigners and stateless persons who have arrived to Ukraine for the purpose of studying in institutions of higher education and intend to work in Ukraine during the period of study and after graduation, provided that they are employed no later than 30 calendar days before the end of their studies.
The validity period of the work permit
• up to 3 years – for certain categories of foreign employees, for intra-corporate assignees;
• up to 1 year – for persons who have received the status of a refugee or a person in need of additional or temporary protection or who are undergoing the procedure of appealing the refusal to grant the specified statuses, for students;
• up to 2 years – for other categories of foreign employees and gig-specialists.
Concurrent jobs
The Law stipulates that foreigners and stateless persons may work on various positions at one or more (two or more) employers, provided that each employer obtains a work permit.
The work of foreigners and stateless persons can be used without a permit in part-time positions at one employer. At the same time, the term of validity of the employment contract for a part-time position should not exceed the term of validity of the permit at the main place of work.
Thus, if a person works part-time for the same employer or has concurrent jobs, then only one work permit of this employer is sufficient. However, if a foreigner works part-time for different employers, each of them must obtain a permit.
Deadlines for extending the work permits
The Law also established the deadlines for submitting an application for the extension of a work permit – such an application may be submitted no earlier than 50 calendar days before the expiration of the permit and no later than 20 days before the expiration of the work permit.
Examination of the documents
The Law makes changes regarding the introduction of verification of candidates from among citizens of the russian federation and the republic of belarus by the bodies of the Security Service of Ukraine. Such verification by the bodies of the Security Service of Ukraine is decisive, at the same time, the Law does not specify a deadline for conducting such an inspection. In view of the fact that the Law provides that an application for extending the validity of a work permit cannot be submitted earlier than 50 days before the expiration of the permit, and the document is necessary for extending the validity of a temporary residence permit in Ukraine, such the gap will have negative consequences (when it will be necessary to argue the impossibility of submitting documents on time for reasons beyond the control of the applicant). We hope that such a gap will be eliminated and the administrative procedure will be defined more specifically.
Duplicate of the work permit
Finally, the gap in the possibility of obtaining a duplicate of the work permit by the employer is being eliminated.
State fees
• for permits up to 6 months (inclusively) – 3 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons (in 2022, this is 7,443 UAH = 204 USD);
• for permits for a period of 6 months to 1 year (inclusively) – 5 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons (in 2022 –12,405 UAH = 340 USD);
• for permits for a period of 1 to 2 years (inclusively) – 8 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons (19,848 UAH = 543 USD);
• for permits for a period of 2 to 3 years – 10 subsistence minimums for able-bodied persons (24,810 UAH = 679 USD).
The fee for the extension of the validity period of the permit will be smaller by 1 subsistence minimum from the amount provided for the issuance of the permit.
In addition, the Law implements the free issuance (and extension of the validity period) of the permit for the following categories:
• students;
• refugees or persons in need of additional or temporary protection;
• persons who submitted an application for recognition as a stateless person, and persons who appeal the decision to refuse recognition as a stateless person;
• foreigners or stateless persons who took a direct part in repelling and restraining the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine (for this category of citizens, a special procedure for confirming this fact is provided – relevant information must be provided by the relevant state authority, which is carried out by the relevant employment center independently).
Specific rules for the citizens of Republic of Poland
The Parliament of Ukraine adopted a separate Law of Ukraine “On the Establishment of Additional Legal and Social Guarantees for Citizens of the Republic of Poland Staying in the Territory of Ukraine”, which, among other things, provides that citizens of the Republic of Poland have the right to employment without a work permit.