Why does Ukraine's Migration Service refuse a temporary residence permit, and what can you do?

On what grounds can the DMS refuse?

Refusing a посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP) is not left to an inspector's discretion. Paragraph 61 of the Procedure approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 322 contains a closed list of grounds, and the ДМС (State Migration Service, DMS) cannot refuse for any other reason. We describe the general procedure in our guide to the TRP, while this article looks at what can go wrong.

Under paragraph 61 the DMS refuses if:

• the foreigner already holds a valid TRP, a permanent residence permit, a refugee certificate or a complementary protection certificate, unless the permit is being exchanged;
• they are in Ukraine in breach of their permitted stay, or an unenforced decision on forced return, deportation or an entry ban applies to them;
• data in state registers does not confirm what they declared;
• the person turns out to be a Ukrainian citizen;
• a legal representative applies without proven authority;
• the documents are incomplete or were filed in breach of the deadlines in paragraphs 17-19 of the Procedure;
• the National Police, the Security Service of Ukraine or another body has reported a threat to national security or public order;
• the passport is forged, damaged, belongs to someone else, does not match the approved specimen or has expired;
• knowingly false information or forged documents were submitted;
• the foreigner has not complied with a decision of a court or of a body that imposes penalties, or has other property obligations;
• other grounds expressly provided for by law apply.

What usually lies behind a refusal

Decisions are worded in official language, but they usually hide everyday problems. In our cases, packages come back because of an error in the passport translation, an insurance policy that is shorter than the permit term, or a missing document that a particular office treats as mandatory. Legally, all of these read as "documents filed incompletely".

Name spelling is a story of its own. If the name in the passport translation differs from how it was recorded in earlier Ukrainian documents, the register "does not confirm" the data. This happens especially often to citizens of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, because one name can be transliterated in several ways. We check the spelling against every previously issued document before the translation is made.

Clients tend to underestimate two more causes. The first is debt. An unpaid fine or another debt entered in the Unified Register of Debtors leads to refusal even if everything else is flawless. The second is the address. The DMS may check whether you actually live where your application form says you do, and false address details are also a ground for refusal.

How to appeal a refusal

Paragraph 77 of Procedure No. 322 offers two routes. One is an administrative complaint to the DMS, filed within 30 calendar days of the day the decision was brought to the foreigner's attention. The other is a claim in the administrative court. A complaint should be accompanied by documents showing why the decision needs to be reviewed. Paragraph 78 gives the DMS 30 calendar days to consider the complaint.

The clock starts with the copy of the decision. The DMS must send it, with the reasons for the refusal, no later than three working days after the decision is made, so record the date you received the letter or were handed the copy.

After a complaint the DMS may cancel the decision and order the permit to be issued on the documents already filed, send the application for a fresh review, or leave everything unchanged. In practice the administrative route rarely brings a result. Going to court takes longer but is more promising when the refusal does not actually rest on paragraph 61, or rests on it only formally.

Before appealing, count the time you have. Neither a complaint nor a claim automatically extends your permitted stay. Sometimes it is faster and safer to remove the cause and file again than to spend months proving you were right.

Reapplying after a refusal

Paragraph 62 of the Procedure lets you apply again as soon as the circumstances behind the refusal have changed or been removed. A new filing needs a full package and must respect the filing deadlines in paragraphs 17 and 19. Documents must be filed no later than 15 working days before your permitted stay ends. If your permitted stay is almost used up, refiling may become impossible without leaving the country, which is why a refusal has to be analysed on the day you receive it and not a week later.

General rules for appealing migration decisions are collected in the guide to appealing DMS decisions.

Lawyer's experience

Most of the refusals I see could have been prevented at the stage of checking the package. We check the client in the register of debtors before any work starts, not on filing day. We compare the name in the translation with every earlier Ukrainian document. We make sure the insurance policy covers the whole permit term with a margin.

My other piece of advice concerns the interview. The DMS invites citizens of some countries for a conversation after filing. They ask about the job, the employer or the organisation, about the marriage if that is the ground, and about the housing. Bring the documents for your flat and make sure the address in the lease matches the address in the application form. A small mismatch here can easily turn into doubt about the whole case.

If you already have a refusal in hand, do not rush into a new filing at random. First identify exactly which ground from paragraph 61 was applied and whether it can be removed. The full document list is in the article on documents for a TRP, the insurance requirements are covered in the piece on insurance for a TRP, and choosing a ground is explained in the article on grounds for a TRP.

When there are several reasons for refusal or your permitted stay is running out, it is better to talk to a lawyer straight away. We run the residence permit process with a package check before filing, and in a case like this the new filing is built on an analysis of the previous refusal.

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