When and how do you exchange a temporary residence permit in Ukraine?

When a permit has to be exchanged

A посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP) is exchanged when the card no longer matches reality or is about to expire. The general procedure for obtaining one is described in our guide to the TRP. This article deals only with the exchange. The usual reasons are:

Loss of the card is a separate case. The permit is then revoked and a new one is issued in its place, as explained in the article on a lost residence permit.

• the permit is about to expire while the basis for residence continues;
• the foreigner has received a new passport, including after a change of first name or surname;
• details recorded in the permit have changed, for example a name or a date of birth corrected in the underlying documents;
• an error or inconsistency has been found in the permit's records;
• the card is damaged so that the data cannot be read or the chip does not work.

Exchange deadlines

Different reasons come with different deadlines, and this is the main thing to remember. When the exchange follows a change of circumstances, documents must be filed within one month of the day those circumstances arose, as paragraph 18 of Procedure No. 322 requires. For a new passport, the clock starts on the day you receive it.

Exchange on expiry works differently. Paragraph 19 allows the documents to be filed no later than the last day of the permit's validity. When very little time is left, you have to file directly with the territorial office of the ДМС (State Migration Service, DMS), and the DMS extends your temporary stay for the duration of the review. In other words, someone who is too late to file at a ЦНАП (administrative service centre, TsNAP) has not yet lost their status.

A missed exchange

Subparagraph 11 of paragraph 63 of the Procedure expressly makes it a ground for revocation when a foreigner does not apply for an exchange within the one month set by paragraph 18. This most often happens after a new passport. Someone collects it at their consulate, does not tell the DMS, and a few months later the passport and the permit show different details.

Besides the risk of revocation, the mismatch causes everyday trouble. A bank, a notary or the employment centre sees documents with different passport numbers, and each of them has questions. Treat an exchange after a new passport as urgent.

How the exchange works

Documents for an exchange go to the same places as for a first application, namely the state enterprise managed by the DMS, a TsNAP or the territorial DMS office where you live. The package consists of the standard documents under paragraph 32 of the Procedure and a document confirming your basis. If the passport has changed, the package includes the new passport and a translation of its personal data page.

After your documents are accepted, the old card is handed back to you. The new permit is issued within 15 working days of the date the documents are accepted, and you surrender the old card when you collect it. Throughout the review you therefore keep a document confirming your status.

Damaged cards and name changes

A damaged permit also has to be exchanged if its data can no longer be read or the contactless chip does not work. In that case the damaged card is added to the package. Do not wait until it breaks completely, because a card that the equipment cannot read may be refused as a document at the border or in a bank.

Changing your surname, for example after marriage, is a separate case. The foreigner first changes their passport in their home country and only then applies to exchange the permit with the new passport and the document confirming the change of surname. A foreign marriage certificate usually needs an apostille or legalisation and a translation for this purpose.

A new passport affects other documents too

If you work under a work permit, a new passport affects that permit as well. Your employer has to amend it, as described in the article on amending a work permit. Both procedures run in parallel, and it makes sense to start them on the same day.

Lawyer's experience

The exchange most often forgotten is the one after a new passport. In our practice this happens to clients who replace their passport at home during a holiday and do not see it as something that matters for Ukraine. I recommend a simple rule. Any change in your passport means two applications, one to the DMS to exchange the permit and, if you work, one to the employment centre to amend the work permit.

My second observation concerns names. The spelling in your permit becomes the reference for every later procedure. If the transliteration in your new passport has changed, the exchange records the new spelling, and all later documents have to follow it.

To have the exchange filed on time and without extra visits, let us prepare the update of your permit details for you.

Frequently asked questions