How much does a work permit for a foreigner cost in Ukraine, and who pays?

How the fee is calculated

The fee for a work permit is set by Article 42-4 of the Law "On Employment of the Population". The law names no amount in hryvnias. Instead, it expresses the fee as a number of прожитковий мінімум (subsistence minimum) units for able-bodied persons, as fixed by law on 1 January of the year in which the employer files the documents.

Two things follow from this. First, the amount changes every year together with the subsistence minimum. Second, what counts is the year of filing, not the year of issue. An application filed at the end of December is paid at the outgoing year's minimum, even if the decision is taken in January.

What the amount depends on

Only two factors affect the fee. One is the term for which the employer requests the permit. The law divides terms into several bands, and the longer the term, the more subsistence minimums are due. The other is whether this is an issue or a renewal, since renewal costs less than issuing a permit for the same term, by one subsistence minimum.

These are the bands set by Article 42-4, with the amounts for applications filed in 2026.

When and how to pay

The employer attaches proof of payment to the application (part three of Article 42-2). In other words, the fee is paid before filing, not after the decision. The receipt goes into the package along with the other documents listed in the article on documents for a work permit.

Only the employer or its authorised representative should appear as the payer. Suppose someone else paid, for example a ФОП (registered sole proprietor, FOP) paid from a personal card, or the payment was made out for a different foreigner. The центр зайнятості (employment centre) will not credit it to the right permit on its own. The employer then adds a separate application to the package asking for the payment to be credited to a specific permit.

In the payment reference, state which permit and which term you are paying for. The recipient's bank details are provided by the employment centre where the documents are filed, and they differ from region to region.

When the fee is refunded

If the employment centre refuses to issue or renew a permit, the money paid is returned to the employer's current account within 10 working days. This also covers a refusal because a renewal was filed earlier than the law allows. In that case the money is not lost, and the documents can be filed again, this time on schedule.

What costs nothing

No fee is charged for amending a permit or for issuing a duplicate. These procedures are covered in the articles on amending a work permit and getting a duplicate work permit.

Several categories of foreigners have the permit issued and renewed without a fee:

• people for whom documents are being processed for recognition as a refugee or a person in need of complementary protection, and those appealing a refusal of such recognition;
• people who have applied for recognition as a stateless person;
• foreign students of higher education institutions who take up employment on the conditions set by law;
• foreigners who took direct part in repelling and deterring the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

How not to overpay

Most unnecessary spending in work permit cases comes not from the rates but from planning. A few rules help to avoid it:

• choose the permit term from the start with an eye to how long the foreigner will actually work, because every renewal means a new fee;
• file for renewal within the window set by law, because once the permit expires you pay for a new issue, which costs more;
• make amendments on time and free of charge instead of risking revocation and a new permit;
• do not pay the fee until the term in the application has been finally agreed.

What the whole process costs

The state fee is the largest item, but not the only one. You will also need a notarised translation of the foreigner's passport and photos of the prescribed size. If a representative files the documents, a power of attorney is needed. For the посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP) that follows, add the administrative fee of the ДМС (State Migration Service, DMS), an insurance policy and translations of other documents.

In 2026 the state fee runs from UAH 9,984 to UAH 33,280 depending on the term, and from 1 January of the following year it is recalculated at the new subsistence minimum. Our own fees are listed on the work permit service page.

Lawyer's experience

The most common money mistake in our cases is a simple one. The employer pays the amount for issue when a renewal is needed, or the other way round. Next in frequency comes a sole proprietor who pays from a personal card and then wonders why the employment centre cannot see the payment. That is why we check the receipt against the application before filing and check the payer separately.

My third piece of advice concerns the end of the year. If filing falls on the boundary between December and January, work out both options. A new subsistence minimum can make the same application more expensive, and sometimes it pays to file before the New Year.

Frequently asked questions