Ukraine implements temporary certificate program in Russian-occupied areas

The New Voice of Ukraine
·2 min read
Passport of Ukraine
Passport of Ukraine

Citizens of Ukraine residing in the temporarily occupied territories or in settlements where hostilities are currently underway will be issued a temporary certificate valid for two years instead of a passport, the Government portal reported on Feb. 23.

Read also: Russia seeks to erase Ukrainian identity in occupied territories, report says

Why a temporary certificate will be issued instead of a passport

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has approved a document On the implementation of a pilot project to issue a temporary certificate of a citizen of Ukraine to Ukrainian citizens who are in the territories where hostilities are taking place or temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. The pilot project will be implemented for two years.

“First of all, such a strategy was agreed upon for the return of Ukrainian citizens from the temporarily occupied territories through third countries,” the Government said.

According to the decree, issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens who are in the temporarily occupied territory “is impossible due to the fact that some countries, especially the aggressor state, will use this as Ukraine’s recognition of the occupied territories as the territory of a foreign state.”

Read also: Freeze ‘em out: No Russian passport, no coal for you – in occupied Kherson Oblast

This decision is expected to help Ukrainian citizens obtain a document to prove their identity and citizenship, which will allow them to leave, in particular, through the territory of Russia, enter other countries, and apply to foreign diplomatic missions to obtain a Ukrainian passport for traveling abroad.

Who will be issued a temporary certificate instead of a passport

This document will be issued to those citizens of Ukraine who:

  • lost their Ukrainian passport of a citizen of Ukraine, which is registered in the Unified State Demographic Register;

  • have lost a foreign passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad, which is recorded in the form of electronic data in the departmental information system of the State Migration Service;

  • are persons under 18 years of age for whom no data is recorded in the Register or in the departmental system of the State Migration Service.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine