How do you get a Ukraine work permit for a seconded foreign worker?

Who counts as a seconded foreign worker

The Law "On Employment of the Population" gives a precise definition. A відряджений іноземний працівник (seconded foreign worker) is a foreigner sent to Ukraine by a foreign employer to perform a certain scope of work or services under a contract between Ukrainian and foreign business entities. The key point is that the person's employment relationship stays with the foreign company.

A typical example looks like this. A foreign company supplies equipment to Ukraine and, under its contract with the Ukrainian buyer, installs it. For the installation it sends its own engineers. These engineers do not become employees of the Ukrainian company, yet they work in Ukraine, and for that they need a дозвіл на застосування праці, the work permit.

How this differs from other routes

What separates a seconded worker from an ordinary hired employee is the absence of an employment contract with a Ukrainian employer. What separates them from an intra-corporate transferee is that the companies need not be related. A transferee is moved within one group and in Ukraine signs an employment contract with the Ukrainian group company. That route is covered in the article on work permits for intra-corporate transferees.

Which documents are filed

The package for a seconded worker is set by Article 42-2 of the law. As for other categories, the application is filed with a copy of the foreigner's passport bearing a certified translation and a colour photo. Instead of a draft employment contract, the package contains a copy of the зовнішньоекономічний договір (foreign economic contract) between the companies that provides for foreigners working in Ukraine. It also contains a copy of a document confirming the worker's employment with the foreign employer. Proof of fee payment is attached to the application.

Foreign documents filed with a Ukrainian authority must be translated and, where necessary, legalised. Depending on the country, this means an apostille, consular legalisation, or nothing at all if Ukraine has a treaty on legal assistance with that country. The general approach to the package is described in the article on documents for a work permit.

What term the permit is issued for

The permit is issued for the term of the contract between the companies, but for no longer than up to three years. That is longer than for an ordinary hired employee. If the contract between the companies is shorter, the permit will be just as short, so the contract term is worth aligning with the plans for the person's work in Ukraine before filing.

As for cost, the permit fee depends on the term and is highest for the longest bracket. How the fee is calculated is explained in the article on how much a work permit costs.

When the permit ends

A seconded worker's permit rests on the contract between the companies. Once performance of that contract stops, the employer is obliged to apply to the центр зайнятості (employment centre) to revoke the permit (Article 42-10). A revocation on application creates no obstacles to future permits.

For the worker, this means the ground for the посвідка (temporary residence permit, TRP) disappears together with the work permit. If the secondment ends but the person wants to stay in Ukraine, a new ground is needed.

A residence permit for a seconded worker

A work permit is a ground for a TRP, and a seconded worker obtains one in the same way as other employees. The TRP is issued for the period of work stated in the work permit. How this works is explained in the article on a residence permit based on a work permit.

Lawyer's experience

In cases involving seconded workers, most of the time goes not on the application but on the contract between the companies. It is often written in English, and the employment centre needs a translation. Even more often, the contract says nothing explicit about the foreign company sending its staff to Ukraine. I advise checking this before filing and, if needed, signing a supplementary agreement, because the law requires precisely a contract that provides for the employment of foreigners.

My second piece of advice concerns the term. The contract between the companies sets the term of the work permit, and therefore the term of the TRP. If the work drags on, the contract, the permit and the TRP all have to be extended. It is better to build in a realistic term from the outset.

If you are planning to second foreign specialists, we handle work permit processing from checking the contract between the companies to receiving the permit.

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