Ukrainian men who travelled abroad before reaching the age of 18 are being massively denied passports: what's going on?
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Ukrainians who travelled abroad before the outbreak of the full-scale war faced problems when obtaining a passport. Find out what's going on and whether they plan to solve this problem
Ukrainian passport services abroad massively refuse to issue passports to men who left the country before the age of 18. In addition, men who are not included in the Oberig conscription register are also denied.
This applies to those who left Ukraine before 2022, for example, to study, or left the country after the start of the full-scale invasion and were unable to register with the MCC, the Judicial and Legal Newspaper writes.
The main reasons for refusals
- Lack of an automated registration mechanism. Men abroad cannot register remotely.
- The requirement to check military registration documents. The law requires checking the availability of such documents before issuing a passport.
- Penalties for violation of registration. Citizens who fail to register are considered violators and are required to pay a fine, but it is not yet possible to do so remotely.
As noted by the Committee on Youth and Sports, the refusals of passport services are officially explained by the lack of ‘technical capability’ to transfer information about a person to the Oberig Register of Conscripts. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, only 9 people who had no entry in the Oberig Register were accepted for issuance.
‘This encourages young citizens to apply to foreign countries for temporary documents, as they are unable to register for military service and obtain a passport. And this is despite the fact that they are not subject to mobilisation,’ the Committee noted.
Despite the simplification of the procedure approved by the government, the technical mechanisms for implementation are still not working. Most applications to passport services are rejected, even if citizens are not subject to mobilisation.
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How is it proposed to fix this?
The parliamentary committee recommends allowing passports to be issued without mandatory military registration.
It also proposes to establish interaction between the demographic register, Oberig and the State Migration Service (SMS). In addition, the committee recommends developing and publishing an algorithm of actions for men abroad.
By the way, if you have any questions when moving to another country, we advise you to contact migration lawyers. Professionals will help you with the collection of documents.
We remind you! Citizens of Ukraine who find themselves in Poland face the issue of obtaining a temporary document. A ‘grey passport’ or a Temporary Foreigner's Travel Document (TDP) allows you to confirm your identity, travel to Schengen countries and access basic rights. We told you who can get this document, what steps you need to take to apply for it, and more.
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