Which foreigners can work in Ukraine without a work permit?

The general rule and its exceptions

An employer in Ukraine may engage a foreigner only on the basis of a дозвіл на застосування праці, the work permit. This is the rule in part one of Article 42 of the Law "On Employment of the Population". Part six of the same article lists the people who can be hired without one. The list is short, and every item on it has clear limits.

Exemption from the permit covers only the right to work. It gives no right to live in Ukraine and does not replace a посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP). This is easy to forget, and a person who works lawfully without a permit can still end up in breach of the rules of stay.

For a foreign company or an HR team, the practical consequence is simple. Before relying on an exemption, identify the exact item of part six that applies and the document that proves it. Then deal with the employee's right of residence as a separate question.

Who can work without a permit

Part six of Article 42 names the following categories:

The last item is open-ended, yet it works only when another law or treaty expressly exempts a particular category. Pointing to it "in general" is not enough.

One such law is the Law "On Foreign Ukrainians" No. 1582-IV. Its Article 9 lets foreign Ukrainians work in Ukraine without a work permit. The status is confirmed by a foreign Ukrainian certificate, which is valid for 10 years. How to obtain the certificate and a residence permit on this basis is covered in the article on residence permits for foreign Ukrainians.

1. 1foreigners and stateless persons who reside in Ukraine permanently;
2. 2those who have obtained refugee status or an immigration permit;
3. 3persons recognised as needing complementary protection, or granted temporary protection;
4. 4representatives of foreign sea or river fleets and of airlines who service these companies in Ukraine;
5. 5persons whom the ДМС (State Migration Service, DMS) has recognised as stateless;
6. 6employees of foreign media accredited to work in Ukraine;
7. 7professional athletes, performers and arts workers who work in Ukraine in their profession;
8. 8staff of emergency rescue services carrying out urgent work;
9. 9employees of branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities;
10. 10clergy staying in Ukraine temporarily at the invitation of religious organisations for canonical activity, with the official approval of the body that registered the organisation's statute;
11. 11participants in international technical assistance projects;
12. 12lecturers and researchers invited by institutions of professional pre-higher and higher education;
13. 13other foreigners in cases provided for by the laws and international treaties of Ukraine.

A second job and covering for a colleague

Separately, the law allows a foreigner to work without an additional permit in two situations. The first is a secondary job (сумісництво) with the same employer. The foreigner may hold a second position on these terms if the contract for it does not run longer than the permit for the main job. The second situation is combining duties (суміщення). The foreigner may stand in for a temporarily absent employee for up to 60 calendar days a year.

Work for another employer is a different matter. Each employer obtains its own permit, and working for another company under someone else's permit is not allowed. The consequences are described in the article on fines for working without a permit.

No work permit still means a TRP

A foreigner from an exempt category must still be in Ukraine lawfully. Anyone who has come for a long period needs a temporary residence permit on the appropriate ground. For such cases paragraph 33 of Procedure No. 322 provides that the employment contract or gig contract is filed with the DMS in place of a work permit.

Some categories have their own ground for a TRP in the law, for example staff of branches of foreign companies, media correspondents and religious figures. The documents filed on each ground are collected in the article on grounds for a residence permit.

Common mistakes

Most often, an exemption is attributed to someone who does not have one. A foreigner who founded their own company is not an employee of a branch of a foreign legal entity, and gets a permit like any other employee. A foreign student also gets a permit, although free of charge. A lecturer is exempt only when the educational institution itself has issued the invitation.

The second mistake concerns staff of representative offices. The exemption applies to branches and representative offices of foreign legal entities registered in Ukraine. A Ukrainian subsidiary of a foreign group is not a branch, and its employees need a permit.

Here is how the common assumptions compare with what the law says:

Lawyer's experience

When a client tells me they do not need a permit, my first question is which item of part six of Article 42 that is based on. Quite often the answer is "a friend told me so" or "everyone here works like that". That approach ends with a fine for the employer, because an exemption from the permit has to be backed by a document.

Spouses of Ukrainian citizens often get this wrong. Article 42 has no separate item for them, and a temporary residence permit through marriage does not exempt anyone from the work permit. If the husband or wife of a Ukrainian citizen works or wants to work, I tell them plainly that a permit is needed until they hold a permanent residence permit or an immigration permit. The way to obtain it is set out in the article on documents for a work permit.

A migration law consultation is worth booking before the foreigner starts work, not after the first inspection.

Frequently asked questions