Student temporary residence permit in Ukraine

Ukraine is one of the most desired destinations for students from Africa and Asia. Indeed, while the tuition fees are one of the lowest worldwide, the quality of Ukrainian education, especially in sciences, is unparalleled. Ukrainian universities are alma maters of the many internationally renowned software developers, physicists, chemists, engineers, physicians, and biologists. Yet, while a graduate of a Ukrainian university can effectively compete with the alumni of the world-class European and American schools, the costs of studies and living in Ukraine are dramatically lower.

However, while Ukraine is remarkably rich in academic opportunities, each student has to go through the number of bureaucratic intricacies to get a student Ukraine residence permit:

D-class Student Visa.

The first step in getting a temporary residence permit in Ukraine as a student is to get class D student visa through one of the Ukrainian embassies abroad.

In order to get this visa, the student should submit a number of documents to the embassy. One of the most important documents from this list is original invitation from the university. This invitation is signed by the university official only.

You should also take into consideration that the visa is issued by the embassy only after you are successfully admitted to the university. There is no “general” student visa in Ukraine – if your enrollment with a university is for some reason revoked, the visa becomes invalidated simultaneously.

Essential considerations about student temporary residence permits in Ukraine.

Getting a student temporary residence permit in Ukraine has certain specific features:

• It is a university foreign students department, which is responsible for filing the student’s application to the Ukrainian State migration service. Thus, you should bring the documents there, and the international students’ department will forward them to the authorities. After your permit is issued, the State migration service will send it to the university, and you will collect it from there;
• Though certain complications may happen, it is legally possible to get an invitation from one university and then to enroll to another. However, you should be mindful of the fact that the second university should have the license for accepting international students;
• If you are for some reason expelled from the university, your temporary residence permit becomes automatically revoked. In this case, there will be no possibility to enroll at another university without leaving the country, receiving another invitation and re-applying for the D-class student visa;
• If you already have a temporary residence permit by study and are enrolled at a particular university, but you are not satisfied with it, transferring to another university and preserving the permit is possible. However, the second university should possess the license for accepting international students;
• It is the responsibility of your university to make sure that your temporary residence permit Ukraine is renewed every year. However, you should not forget submitting the required documents to the international students’ department of your university on time;
• Failure to renew the residence permit for any reason will result in cancellation of your studies, and there will be no other option, but to leave the country and to re-apply for D-class student visa.

Recap of student temporary residence permit in Ukraine key points.

In contrast to other types of temporary residence permits, getting a study permit is rather easy. The only serious challenge is getting enrolled at a Ukrainian university, and getting an invitation to study. Once you have the invitation, the process of getting the residence permit will be smooth.

You should also take into consideration that sometimes student residence permit is used as a ground to legitimize a one’s stay in Ukraine. Student’s temporary residence permit is issued for a year, which the permit holders often use for exploring the country and assessing other opportunities (business, professional, etc.) here. A very popular practice is getting student’s resident permit first and then marrying in Ukraine. This option allows staying in Ukraine almost indefinitely.

Finally, some of the Ukrainian universities are very flexible regarding admitting students. In case you are not sure whether you meet the entry requirements, you should always attempt applying. In many cases, the university will turn a blind eye to the certain shortcomings of your application, and eventually, you will get your temporary residence permit.