JURISDICTIONARY TIP: Why do IDPs receive a propiska when they are issued a new passport and how can this problem be solved?

Currently, in Ukraine, a passport of a citizen of Ukraine is issued only in the form of a plastic card with a contactless electronic medium containing personal information and biometric data (ID card).

ID-card

In accordance with the ‘Procedure for registration, issuance, exchange, transfer, withdrawal, return to the state, invalidation and destruction of the passport of a citizen of Ukraine’, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 25 March 2015 No. 302, the following mandatory information about the person is entered on the contactless electronic carrier of the passport

• name of the person
• gender
• citizenship
• date of birth;
• unique record number in the Unified Demographic Register;
• document number;
• expiry date of the document;
• date of issue of the document;
• authorised entity that issued the document (code);
• place of birth;
• digitised image of a person's face;
• digitised signature of the person;
• registration number of the taxpayer's account card. If there is a notice of refusal of the registration number of the taxpayer's account card, the word ‘refusal’ shall be affixed.

The following additional variable information may also be entered on the electronic passport carrier

• place of residence;
• birth of children;
• marriage and divorce;
• change of name.

Mandatory information is also printed on the front and back of the plastic ID card. There is no provision for additional variable information to be put on the plastic card. Therefore, information about a citizen's registered place of residence can only be obtained by reading the ID card using a special device.

It should be noted that today there are not enough ID card readers in the bodies, institutions and organisations where a person may be required to present a residence permit. In this regard, in practice, the ID card is issued with an annex - an extract from the Unified State Demographic Register on registration of residence. The extract is an A4 sheet of paper with the address of the residence. The extract is certified by the signature of the official and the seal of the unit of the State Migration Service that issued the passport.

Grounds for entering information on residence in the passport

In accordance with the Procedure for Registration, Issuance, Exchange, Transfer, Withdrawal, Return to the State, Invalidation and Destruction of the Passport of a Citizen of Ukraine, information on a person's place of residence is entered into a contactless electronic passport upon submission of a certificate of registration of residence in the prescribed form.

The sample of the certificate of residence registration is set out in the ‘Rules for Registration of Residence’ approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 207 dated 02.03.2016 (Annex No. 13 to the Rules).

A person may also provide a certificate of residence registration issued to a person before 04.04.2016. In this case, the certificate must comply with the form set out in Annex 11 to the Procedure for Registration of Residence and Place of Stay of Individuals in Ukraine and Samples of Required Documents, approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine No. 1077 dated 22 November 2012.

Difficulties for persons with a residence permit in the uncontrolled territory

Since 5.04.2016, the executive body of a village, town or city council has been the registration authority responsible for registering a place of residence and issuing certificates of residence registration. In the non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, local authorities do not operate, so there is currently no authority that can issue a certificate to a person with a residence permit in the non-government controlled area.

For this reason, many IDPs and persons residing in the uncontrolled territory have faced the problem that when applying for a new passport, the State Migration Service unit refuses to enter information about their place of residence, and the person is issued a passport supplement with a note that ‘the place of residence is not registered’. This problem is most acute for persons who have reached the age of 14 and are obtaining a passport for the first time.

How to solve the problem

The practice of solving this problem shows that today the State Migration Service does not have a single approach. In the same situation, depending on the specific unit of the State Migration Service, people get different results.

In this regard, it is recommended that before submitting documents for a passport to a particular unit of the State Migration Service, you get a preliminary answer whether the information on your residence will be entered into your passport and an annex with your residence will be issued. If you receive a negative answer, it is recommended that you contact another territorial unit, as it may be easier to solve the problem there. For example, based on feedback from people who have already received new passports, the problem of residence registration is easier to resolve in the territorial units of the State Migration Service in Donetsk region than, for example, in Kyiv.

Certificate from the State Register of Voters

There is a positive practice when units of the State Migration Service enter information on registration in a new passport on the basis of a certificate from the State Register of Voters provided by a person, because according to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the State Register of Voters’, the voter's electoral address is the address at which his or her place of residence is registered. In order to obtain such a certificate, you must contact the State Register of Voters.

The body maintaining the Register is:

1. in a rayon, rayon in the city of Kyiv - the relevant structural subdivision of the apparatus of the rayon, rayon in the city state administration;
2. in a city of oblast significance without rayon division - the relevant executive body of the city council;
3. in a rayon in a city of oblast significance with rayon division - the relevant executive body of the rayon council or the relevant structural subdivision of the executive body of the city council established in the rayon.

According to the Law on the State Voter Register, every voter has the right to receive free of charge at any time from the department of the State Voter Register full information in an accessible form about his/her personal data entered in the State Voter Register.

However, the State Register of Voters does not contain information on persons under the age of 18 and it is not possible to obtain a certificate regarding such persons.

Form A (B) or house book from the housing office

When children receive a passport for the first time, it is common practice for territorial bodies and subdivisions of the State Migration Service to enter information on residence on the basis of a house book or housing records (Form A or Form B). At the same time, it should be reminded that a certificate issued by a housing office cannot be accepted for consideration at this time, as documents issued in the uncontrolled territory cannot be recognised by the state authorities of Ukraine.

Written appeal

If a territorial unit of the State Migration Service refuses to enter information about your residence to your ID card, it is recommended that you send them a written request to provide the reasons for such a refusal. The written refusal of the territorial unit of the State Migration Service may be appealed to a higher unit of the State Migration Service or to the court.

Important: In accordance with the Law of Ukraine ‘On Freedom of Movement and Free Choice of Residence in Ukraine’, registration of a person's place of residence or its absence cannot be a condition for the exercise of rights and freedoms provided for by the Constitution, laws or international treaties of Ukraine, or a ground for their restriction.

Where to apply for an ID card 

In accordance with the ‘Procedure for registration, issuance, exchange, transfer, withdrawal, return to the state, invalidation and destruction of the passport of a citizen of Ukraine’, as a general rule, to obtain an ID-card, you must apply at your registered place of residence (place of registration):

1. To the territorial body (i.e. the Main Department in the region) or territorial subdivisions of the State Migration Service.
2. To administrative service centres.

If a person does not have a registered place of residence, documents are submitted at the place of actual residence.

A person who has reached the age of 14 and whose place of residence is not registered, for the first time submits documents for the issuance of a passport to the territorial unit of the State Migration Service or the Centre for the provision of administrative services at the place of actual residence in Ukraine.

An internally displaced person has the right to submit documents to the territorial body or territorial subdivision at the place of actual residence, which is confirmed by a certificate of registration of an internally displaced person.

Persons registered and residing in the uncontrolled territory of Ukraine who do not have a certificate of registration of an internally displaced person may submit documents to any unit of the State Migration Service or Administrative Service Centre in the territory of the relevant region where their place of residence is registered.

The list of all territorial bodies and subdivisions of the State Migration Service is available at https://dmsu.gov.ua/ (territorial body and territorial subdivisions in Donetsk region - https://dmsu.gov.ua/donetsk territorial body and territorial subdivisions in Luhansk region - https://dmsu.gov.ua/luhansk).