How do you appeal a decision of the DMS, an employment centre or the border guards in Ukraine?

Which decisions can be challenged

Almost any decision in a migration case can be challenged. That covers a refusal by the ДМС (State Migration Service, DMS) to issue or extend a посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP), the revocation of a permit, a refusal to extend your permitted stay, and a decision on forced return or an entry ban. The list also includes a refusal by a центр зайнятості (employment centre) to grant a work permit, a refusal of entry by a border guard, a visa refusal by a consulate and a fine. You can also challenge inaction, when an authority simply fails to decide within the time it is given.

Each decision may follow its own procedure. The general rules come from the Law "On Administrative Procedure" and the Code of Administrative Procedure (Кодекс адміністративного судочинства, CAP), and special laws add their own details on top. This guide gives you the overall map. Separate articles take each situation in turn, with documents and practical advice.

Two routes

The first route is an administrative complaint to the higher authority. It is faster, needs no court and, at the request of the person complaining, suspends the decision unless the law says otherwise. The second route is a lawsuit in an administrative court. It takes longer, but the court is independent of the authority and is the safer choice when the dispute turns on how the law should be read.

You can combine the two. A common sequence is to file a complaint first and go to court if the higher authority says no. That order buys time and keeps the court option open. How to draft a complaint is covered in the article on the administrative complaint, and how to file a lawsuit in the article on challenging DMS decisions in court.

Where each decision is challenged

Deadlines

Deadlines in migration cases are short, and missing them is the most common way people lose the right to challenge a decision. Under Article 80 of Law No. 2073-IX an administrative complaint is filed within thirty calendar days. The general deadline for a lawsuit under Article 122(2) of the CAP is six months. Visas, the border, immigration, extensions of stay, fines and expulsion have their own deadlines under special acts, and these are often much shorter.

The day the clock starts

Article 74 of Law No. 2073-IX says that a decision takes effect on the day the person is notified of it. Article 75 lists the ways of notifying. The decision can be handed over in person, sent by registered post with a delivery receipt, sent by email or other means of communication, or announced publicly in certain cases.

For a decision imposing a fine, the period runs from the day the decision was made. Inaction has no separate deadline, and a complaint can be filed at any time after the period for a decision has passed. Keep envelopes, letters and delivery receipts, since they prove the date from which the appeal period runs.

The administrative complaint in detail

Article 78 of the law gives the right to complain to anyone whose rights have been, or may be, infringed by a decision, act or failure to act of an authority. The complaint is made in writing, on paper or electronically, and is filed through the authority that made the decision. That authority must pass it to the reviewing body no later than the next day.

After the review, under Article 85, the decision may be cancelled, the authority may be ordered to look at the case again, or the complaint may be dismissed. The single most useful practical tip is to ask in the complaint itself, in plain words, that the decision be suspended while the complaint is reviewed.

The court route in detail

Article 20 of the CAP splits cases between courts. Local general courts, acting as administrative courts, hear cases on forced return, expulsion and detention of foreigners. They also hear administrative offence cases. All other disputes with the DMS, an employment centre or other authorities go to the district administrative courts.

For return and expulsion cases Article 288 of the CAP sets a fast-track procedure. The court hears them within ten days with both parties required to take part, an appeal must be lodged within the same period, and no court fee is charged.

Work permit

A refusal by the employment centre to issue, extend or amend a work permit is challenged by the employer, because the employer is the applicant. The Law "On Employment of the Population" offers two routes. The employer can complain to the State Employment Centre within 15 calendar days, or file a lawsuit in an administrative court.

Before appealing, compare the stated reason with the closed list of grounds in Article 42-9 of that law. A refusal on a ground that is not on the list is unlawful. Fixing the defect and filing again is often quicker than waiting for a complaint to be decided. There is more on this in the article on work permit refusals.

Visa

A visa refusal is not challenged with a complaint to the DMS. Instead, you send an appeal letter to the same consulate or foreign ministry body that handled the application. The letter must be sent within 60 working days of receiving the refusal, and the second review takes no longer than 10 working days. After a second refusal an appeal letter is no longer accepted, and the only option left is a new application with a new set of documents.

Border

When a border guard refuses entry, the decision is issued in writing with reasons. It can be challenged within one month before the higher body of the State Border Guard Service or in the administrative court where that body is based. Challenging the decision does not suspend it, so entry stays closed while the dispute goes on.

Immigration

If the DMS refuses an immigration permit, it informs the applicant by letter stating the reason and how to appeal. Article 15 of the Law "On Immigration" provides two routes. An administrative complaint is filed within two months, and the refusal can also be taken to court. A decision to revoke an immigration permit or declare it invalid is challenged in court, and filing that court challenge suspends any forced return decision until the court's ruling becomes final.

Extension of stay

A refusal by a regional DMS office to extend your period of stay is challenged before the DMS or in court within 10 working days, under paragraph 41 of the Procedure approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 150. The complaint should include documents that support your ground for staying longer. Time matters most here, because your permitted stay keeps running out in the meantime, so plan a departure or another ground for staying at the same time.

Fines

Fines imposed by an authority are challenged before a higher authority or in a district court, and a fine imposed by a court is challenged on appeal. A complaint against an authority's decision is filed through the authority that issued it within ten days of the decision, and an appeal against a judge's decision within ten days. Cases under Article 203 of the Code of Administrative Offences (CAO), which covers foreigners breaching the rules on their stay, are decided by the DMS, so it is usually a DMS decision that people appeal. Whoever appeals is exempt from state duty. An unpaid fine that has not been challenged becomes a ground for an entry ban in its own right, so decide straight away whether to pay or appeal.

Entry ban

An entry ban can be lifted in two ways. If the reason for it no longer exists, for example the fine has been paid, ask the authority that imposed the ban to review its decision. If the decision was unlawful from the start, challenge it in court. A ban that comes with a return or expulsion decision is challenged together with that decision under the fast-track procedure.

When the authority stays silent

Sometimes an authority neither grants nor refuses. The DMS does not issue the permit, or the employment centre does not process the application. That is inaction, and it can be challenged too. A complaint about inaction can be filed at any time after the period for a decision has run out. You can also go to court and ask it to order the authority to deal with the application.

Before complaining, make sure the period really has expired and that the authority has not lawfully paused the review, for instance by asking for additional documents. The article on checking whether your documents are ready explains how to track your case.

Preparing for the hearing

In return and expulsion cases both parties must take part, so be ready to attend in person or make sure your representative does. Bring the original documents, an interpreter if you need one and a short timeline with the dates of entry, of each application and of each decision. A clear timeline helps the court see the core of the case quickly.

Language and interpreter

Proceedings in administrative courts are conducted in Ukrainian. At the same time Article 15 of the CAP guarantees that participants who do not speak the state language, or do not speak it well enough, may make statements, give explanations and address the court in their own language or another language they know, using an interpreter. Written evidence in a foreign language is filed with a translation.

After you win

In most cases the court declares the authority's decision unlawful, cancels it and orders the authority to review the application again in line with the court's findings. The authority must comply with a court ruling once it becomes final. The review is a fresh check of your documents, though, so update the pack to avoid giving the authority new grounds for refusal.

What you need to prove

The court and the higher authority check whether the authority acted on a legal basis, within its powers and in the way the law prescribes, whether the decision is reasoned and whether all circumstances were considered. The strongest evidence is therefore the documents you filed that the authority ignored or assessed wrongly.

Proof of lawful stay, of ties to Ukraine, of work and of family can also help. If the authority points to a mismatch in your data, show that there is none. If it says a document was missing, show that you filed it. Why name spellings so often lead to refusals is explained in the article on name spelling discrepancies.

Representatives and documents from abroad

A complaint or lawsuit can be filed by a representative holding a power of attorney. If you are abroad, the power of attorney is signed there, legalised or apostilled, and then translated. The article on apostille and legalisation shows how. Any document in a foreign language must be translated into Ukrainian for the authority or the court.

Staying in Ukraine during the dispute

The main rule is simple. The dispute must not leave you without a lawful ground to stay. A complaint with a request to suspend puts the decision on hold unless the law provides otherwise. A court challenge to the revocation of an immigration permit suspends enforcement of a forced return decision. An ordinary lawsuit against a TRP refusal, however, does not extend your permitted stay.

If your period of stay is ending, arrange a separate ground, such as an extension of stay. The details are in the guide to how long foreigners can stay.

Reapplying instead of appealing

Appealing is not always the right move. If the refusal came from a missing document or a mistake in the pack, fixing the cause and applying again is often faster. A complaint or a lawsuit makes sense when the authority got it wrong and a fresh application with the same documents would end the same way. Sometimes people do both, challenging the refusal while preparing a new pack in parallel.

Compensation for damage

Article 85 of the Law "On Administrative Procedure" allows the body reviewing a complaint to order the authority to remove the negative consequences and compensate material damage caused by an unlawful decision. In practice the main goal of a migration dispute is your status, but keep a record of the costs an unlawful decision has caused you.

Who else may be a party

In some cases the party is not the foreigner at all. The employer challenges a work permit refusal because it is the applicant. A refusal to extend the period of stay is challenged together with the host party. A migration dispute often involves several people, and their positions should be aligned.

Costs

No court fee is paid for the lawsuit or the appeal in forced return and expulsion cases. A person challenging a decision in an administrative offence case is exempt from state duty. In other administrative cases the court fee is paid under the law on court fees. Budget separately for translations, legalisation and a representative.

Documents worth keeping at all times

The best preparation for any dispute is a tidy archive. Keep copies of every application and pack you filed, lists of accepted documents, receipts, letters and decisions, envelopes with postmarks and printouts of your case status from the DMS website. When a dispute arises, these documents show what you filed, when, and how the authority responded.

Separately, keep proof of your border crossings, such as tickets, boarding passes and photos of the stamps in your passport. You will need them to prove how long you stayed, which is the issue that most often ends up in dispute.

Common mistakes

• Putting the decision in a drawer while the deadline runs out.
• Throwing away the envelope or receipt that proves the delivery date.
• Filing a complaint without asking for the decision to be suspended.
• Writing an emotional complaint with no reference to the law and no evidence.
• Assuming a lawsuit extends your permitted stay.
• Trying to enter Ukraine despite a ban while the dispute is pending.
• Appealing without translations of documents written in a foreign language.
• Leaving the employer or host party out of the dispute when they are the applicant.

Lawyer's experience

The right to appeal is lost most often because of the deadline. The decision arrives by post, the person does not realise what it means, and the period quietly runs out. That is why I ask clients to send me a photo of any letter from the DMS, the employment centre or a court on the day it arrives.

My second piece of advice concerns the choice of route. A complaint with a request to suspend often gives you the thing that matters most, which is time. In that time you can arrange a new ground for staying or prepare a strong lawsuit. So even when we plan to go to court, we first consider whether a complaint should come first.

Expectations are the third point. Winning in court usually means a fresh review, not an instant document. We stay with the client at that stage too, so that the second attempt at the DMS does not end the same way as the first.

If you have received a decision you believe is unlawful, book a migration law consultation and we will assess it and choose how to challenge it.

Everything on this topic

• [Administrative complaint](/knowledge/appeals/administrative-complaint)
• [Challenging a DMS refusal in court](/knowledge/appeals/appeal-dms-refusal)
• [Appealing the revocation of a TRP](/knowledge/appeals/appeal-permit-cancellation)
• [Lifting an entry ban](/knowledge/appeals/appeal-entry-ban)
• [Appealing a fine](/knowledge/appeals/appeal-migration-fine)
• [Detention of a foreigner](/knowledge/appeals/detention-of-foreigners)

Frequently asked questions