Does a foreigner who directs their own company in Ukraine need a work permit?

There is no exemption for owners

The most expensive mistake in this area sounds like "it is my company, so I do not need a permit". Part six of Article 42 of the Law "On Employment of the Population" lists the foreigners who may work without a дозвіл на застосування праці, the work permit. Founders and members of a company are not on that list. The full list of exemptions is covered in the article on who is exempt from a work permit.

Until October 2022 founders, members and beneficial owners really did form a separate "special category" with conditions of their own. Law No. 2623-IX removed that category with effect from 15 October 2022. Since then an owner-director obtains a permit as an ordinary foreign employee. The same deadlines and documents apply, and the same fee is paid.

Founder and director are two different roles

A foreigner can be a founder or member of a ТОВ (limited liability company, LLC) without any work permit. Holding a stake is an investment, not work. The permit becomes necessary at the moment the foreigner starts working in the company. Most often that means the director's position, although any other position counts in exactly the same way.

In what order to act

For a new LLC with a foreign director, the order of steps matters because each one rests on the one before it. In our practice the typical sequence looks like this:

Before step six the foreigner should not actually perform the director's functions. If the state register already shows them as head of the company while the permit has not yet been issued, the company risks a fine.

1. 1The foreigner obtains a Ukrainian tax number.
2. 2The decision to set up the company and its charter are prepared, and the signatures are certified or the documents are signed electronically.
3. 3A state registrar registers the LLC.
4. 4The company opens a bank account and obtains a qualified electronic signature.
5. 5The company files an application for the director's permit with the центр зайнятості (employment centre), together with a draft employment contract.
6. 6Once the permit is issued, the company signs an employment contract with the director within 90 calendar days, issues a hiring order and files a notice with the ДПС (State Tax Service).
7. 7Within ten days of signing, a copy of the contract is filed with the employment centre.

The director's contract and salary

A director is subject to the same requirements as any other employee. Pay for full working hours cannot be lower than the minimum wage, and the contract has to comply with Ukrainian labour law. There are no salary multiples for foreigners, as explained in the article on the minimum salary for a foreigner.

As the employer, the company accrues the director's salary, withholds taxes and pays the єдиний внесок (single social contribution, ESV) for them. Failure to pay the contribution within two months of the contract date is a ground for revoking the permit. The employer's general obligations are collected in the article on employment conditions for foreigners.

Signing documents from abroad

While the foreigner is outside Ukraine, company documents can be signed through a representative. That requires a notarised power of attorney issued abroad, with an apostille or consular legalisation and a notarised translation into Ukrainian. The alternative is an electronic signature. Дія.Підпис (Diia.Signature) is available to foreigners who hold a biometric TRP and a tax number, and a qualified signature can be obtained from the tax service.

Citizens of Russia and Belarus

For citizens of Russia and Belarus a work permit is issued only with the approval of the regional office of the СБУ (Security Service of Ukraine, SBU), and in practice the review time depends on that approval. On top of this, persons connected with the aggressor state face restrictions on notarial and registration actions. We take on such cases only after a separate consultation.

Lawyer's experience

Owner-directors usually come to us after the LLC has already been registered, when they learn that they need a permit too. Nothing critical has happened if the foreigner has not yet started working in practice. Still, I advise building the permit into the plan from the outset, alongside the company registration, because the residence permit depends on it.

My second piece of advice concerns documents from abroad. An extract from a foreign company register or a power of attorney has a limited shelf life in the eyes of Ukrainian authorities, so order them closer to the filing date. When documents come from different countries, check the legalisation of each one separately.

If you are setting up a company and plan to run it yourself, we handle the work permit application together with planning the whole sequence. The document package for the permit is described in the article on documents for a work permit.

Frequently asked questions