Visa regime with Ukraine - basic information
What Russians say about the introduction of visas to enter Ukraine:
There is a visa-free regime between Russia and Ukraine, and entry is carried out according to a simplified procedure. Upon entry, a person must go through border control, and after arriving at the destination, register with the migration authorities within 10 days.
Please note that the visa-free regime only applies for up to 90 days. If you are planning a longer trip, then in this case you will need to apply for some kind of visa (work, student, etc.).
Regarding entry, you also need to remember the following:
- Even in the case of a short visit, it is necessary to present some mandatory documents at customs (we will look at this issue in more detail below). For air travel, documents must be presented at the airport upon arrival.
- The Ukrainian government plans to introduce mandatory biometric control within the next 5-10 months. Today, biometric control at the border is already operating in test mode, but it is not at all necessary to undergo it.
- To enter, you must issue an invitation. The inviting person can be your relative, employer or just a friend who is a citizen of the Ukrainian state.
- From the Ukrainian side, it is very difficult to enter Crimea, DPR and LPR. To visit these regions, you need to separately apply for a special pass (note that not everyone can get such a pass).
- You cannot use a valid Schengen visa to enter Ukraine, since today this country is not included in the Schengen agreement area.
We will tell you in the picture what can be imported into Ukraine without a declaration:
No need for spectacles, serve bread!
But, of course, this situation poses a greater threat to the working class. According to various sources, from 2 to 4 million Ukrainians work in Russia. To imagine that all these people would have to get a visa is simply a disaster. Experts estimate that, given the way visas work, a year of long and grueling queues awaits. Mikhail Pogrebinsky claims that “the services necessary for this are not ready for such an influx of people.”
Victor K. works in Russia as an assistant architect. In Moscow he receives about 45 thousand rubles. But if he had stayed in Lviv, he would have received no more than six thousand hryvnia. That is, about 14 thousand rubles. Victor said that “the most bitter thing” is that the vast majority of people working in Russia have no other source of income to support their families and they “simply cannot stand in line for a year.”
- I have three children. Look at the situation in Ukraine and you will understand why everyone goes to work in other countries. And Russia is our biggest neighbor. If they close the border, then who needs us there? - Victor K. complained.
In addition, many large international companies operate in Russia. In one of them, Life was told why, if a visa regime is introduced between countries, “Ukrainians will remain on the street.” If Ukrainian citizens now need to obtain a patent to work in the Russian Federation, then with the introduction of a visa regime it will be necessary to obtain a work permit. And this is the main problem.
— This procedure is expensive and complicated, so not every employer will agree to these conditions: the costs of obtaining permits are added to the salary. In addition, it takes a long time. A visa regime will be introduced, and all Ukrainian citizens in Russia will have to leave the Russian Federation in order to obtain visas and work permits. And then a long procedure will begin for preparing documents for a summons certificate and other documents so that a Ukrainian can be given a visa to enter the territory of the Russian Federation. In addition, limits are set for foreign workers every year. This means that the employer, even if he wants, will not be able to hire more foreigners than he is allowed by law. And who will benefit from this? If a visa regime is introduced, it will be easier for us to refuse Ukrainian citizens as applicants and hire Russians.
Mikhail Pogrebinsky said that only “people without brains” could do this to their citizens. Therefore, the expert believes that the visa regime will never be introduced. First of all, this will not happen also because such actions of the Kyiv authorities will alienate their “last supporters.”
— Our current government has little support in society. Let's say up to 20%. Moreover, these 20% mainly live in the west and partly in the center of the country. Most people who work in Russia live in the West. Trains Lviv - Moscow are simply full. And back - a half-empty train. It will turn out that even those people who work in Moscow, but still support the Ukrainian government, will refuse to support it - this is simply illogical for these people. This will only create problems for them. It turns out that the authorities with their own hands will push away their last supporters. Therefore, with all my skepticism towards the current government, they will abandon this idea.
Entry for a short period of time
If you plan to visit Ukraine for up to 90 days, then you do not need to apply for a visa. The entry algorithm is as follows:
- You must receive an official invitation from a Ukrainian person. Any individual or legal entity can draw up such a document - it could be your friend, relative, employer, co-worker. This document is drawn up according to special rules, and after registration it is necessary to send this paper by mail.
Look at the picture for a sample invitation:
- At customs you will have to prove your creditworthiness, so you need to save a certain amount of money before traveling. A special complex formula is used to calculate the mandatory minimum, but de facto you will need about 600-800 hryvnia for each day of your stay in the country. If you have already booked a room in the department or will be staying with a relative or friend, then this amount of money will be less.
- Now you must collect all the necessary documents - a foreign passport, personal passport, invitation and a document that confirms your creditworthiness (bank statement, travel check; you are also allowed to take cash with you).
- If you wish, you can apply for a biometric chip at the Ukrainian consulate, but today this is not at all necessary.
- Now you can go to Ukraine. You can enter this country only through customs points that are controlled by the Ukrainian government, and entry through the DPR, LPR or Crimea without a special pass is prohibited. At customs you need to show all the necessary documents. You will also have to apply for a migration card. If you have not applied for a biometric chip, then you will need to additionally submit fingerprints.
- After entry, you must register with the migration authorities, and this must be done within 10 days.
Experts have named the deadline for Ukraine to introduce visas with Russia
Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy head of the Institute of CIS Countries: “The current political situation weighs heavily on the actions of the Ukrainian leadership. They do not want to calculate the consequences of their decisions even a few steps ahead. Human flows between Russia and Ukraine are absolutely unbalanced.
If earlier a certain number of people went to Ukraine to relax in Crimea, now they go there too, but now it’s Russia. With the exception of representatives of the so-called “pop”, Russians travel to the neighboring state to visit their relatives, but this is a weak flow, since they prefer to host relatives at home.
At the same time, millions of labor migrants are coming from Ukraine, for whom the visa regime will create serious obstacles. This will result in not only economic risks for the republic, although this is also not unimportant, since they send hundreds of millions of dollars to their families, and from there the money goes into the country’s budget, but also political ones. In particular, these people are mainly employed in the Russian construction business, cargo transportation and the oil and gas industry. If they cannot work with us, then no one in the West will offer them such jobs. But these are active people, and if they are pressed, they can direct their energy into political channels, including against the Ukrainian authorities.
In addition, the visa regime introduced by Russia with Ukraine will probably not affect the DPR and LPR. Accordingly, there will be a huge number of people wanting to receive these passports. This can lead to a host of political problems.
As for cultural ties between Russia and Ukraine, I think that representatives of the national stage will find an opportunity to visit Kyiv even with visas. And all other cultural exchanges, unfortunately, have practically been curtailed. In particular, the possibilities of printing books in Russian and the distribution of books published in Russia are limited. So it won't be any worse than it is. At the same time, there is the Internet, where it is still possible to maintain contacts.
At the same time, I am not a supporter of repeating the dubious Chinese wisdom regarding Ukraine, which says that if you sit for a long time on the bank of a river, you can see the corpse of your enemy floating by. The current authorities of Kyiv will not pass us by. Frankly speaking, the ruling Ukrainian elite is only growing stronger thanks to the fact that, with the blessing of the West, it is discarding all democratic institutions. A tough totalitarian regime is established there, which can last for quite a long time due to intimidation of the local population.”
Vladimir ISCHENKO, President of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting: “There is no doubt that sooner or later the Ukrainian authorities will introduce a visa regime. In principle, this could happen even before the end of 2021. However, there will be no immediate consequences from this decision.
Firstly, most Russians do not travel to Ukraine often. Previously, they vacationed in Crimea or went to visit relatives, but the former is now part of Russia, and visiting the latter has become dangerous.
Secondly, it will be more difficult for Ukrainian labor migrants to come to Russia, but this opportunity will not be completely lost for them. You will have to stand in a long line at the consulate, which will not have time to issue the required number of visas and so on, but all these issues can be resolved. There has never been a time when the visa regime became an insurmountable obstacle on people's paths. At the same time, a person can be prohibited from entering the country without any visa. This is not done by the embassy or consulate, but by the border guard, who makes a decision regardless of the relationship between your states.
At the same time, Kyiv is really interested in blocking the travel of its citizens to Russia. But it is more convenient to do this by simply interrupting the transport connection, and it is also very close to this. There are no more air flights, all that remains is to block railway tracks and roads. Kyiv is interested in this because its citizens are upset by the results of the Maidan, which took place three years ago. Then they thought that Europe was about to come, but what they got was a country even worse than Somalia. At the same time, they have the opportunity to compare the situation with Russia.
If in 2014 the standard of living in Russia was on average 2-3 times higher than in Ukraine, now this difference has reached ordinal values. Crossing the border, a person immediately understands that he has not even entered another country, but another civilization. And he begins to ask unnecessary questions: why was Maidan and three years of war necessary if they live better than us? This is very unpleasant for the Ukrainian authorities; they understand that, in the end, this will lead to increased social tension.
But in Kyiv they understand that after the rapid deterioration of relations with Moscow began, Ukrainians working in Russia for decades began to think about permanently moving to this country so as not to lose their jobs. The Ukrainian authorities are quite happy with this option. The more such people leave, the easier it will be for them to rule. Maybe Kyiv has been scaring its fellow citizens for three years with a visa regime with Russia precisely in order to squeeze the pro-Russian electorate out of the country as quickly and as much as possible, and then slam the border shut.”
Read the material “Big War” between Ukraine and Russia: the scenario remains probable”
Entry for more than 90 days
If you plan to enter Ukraine for a period of more than 90 days, then in this case you will have to apply for a visa, and the application procedure will be slightly different:
- First you need to receive an invitation and decide on the type of visa. The main visas for Ukraine and Russia are student, work and some others. If you are admitted to a Ukrainian university, then the staff should send you a letter of admission - this document will act as an invitation. If you are entering the country for work, then the employer must issue and send you an invitation.
To receive an invitation, you need to fill out an application (the form is shown in the picture):
- You also need to buy health insurance - this can be done at any high-level hospital or at any travel company. You also need to verify your creditworthiness (cash, bank statement, employer check, etc.). Please note that if you get hired, you will only need money until salary.
- Now you need to collect all the documents - international passport, personal passport, invitation, insurance and 2 photographs (30 mm X 40 mm). You also need to write an application, which should reflect the following information - purpose of travel, city of residence, approximate duration of stay. If you wish, you can also apply for a biometric chip.
- Now you must visit the Ukrainian embassy or consulate for registration. There you must submit all the necessary documents + you will have to pay a consular fee ranging from 85 to 200 dollars depending on the type of visa.
- The period for reviewing documents is 15 days, and you will be notified of the results by phone.
- If successful, you can begin moving. At customs you must show your passport and visa. If you do not have a biometric chip, you will also have to submit your fingerprints. After entry, you must register with the migration authorities within 10 days.
Will Russia introduce a visa regime with Ukraine?
To date, Russia has no plans to introduce a visa regime with Ukraine. This is due to the fact that many Ukrainians live in Russia, most of whom are labor migrants.
We wrote in more detail about the rules of entry into Russia for Ukrainians HERE.
However, Ukraine plans to gradually tighten migration legislation and introduce new consular laws:
- It is planned to introduce biometric control. If this regime is introduced, then in this case, in order for a Russian to visit Ukraine, it will be mandatory to draw up a special document in the form of a chip, which will store all the basic information about the person. Such a document will need to be drawn up at the Ukrainian embassy.
- It is planned to introduce electronic notifications. In this case, before the trip, the Russian will have to draw up a special accounting document that will contain all the basic information about the trip - a list of cities and regions that the person plans to visit, the circumstances of the trip, the purpose of the visit. It will be mandatory to draw up such a document, and after registration the paper will need to be sent to the electronic website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- It is planned to introduce a visa regime between Russia and Ukraine. If this law is adopted, then the visa-free regime will be abolished.
To date, all of the above projects have not been accepted by the Ukrainian government and are under consideration. Time will tell whether there will be a tightening of migration controls between Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
Why does Ukraine need to introduce a visa regime? Probably to prove that there really is a war between Russia and Ukraine. The second reason is to get a response from Russia by introducing a visa regime for Ukraine. However, by and large, the Ukrainians who work in the Russian Federation will suffer the most from this.
Watch a video discussing the new rules for entry into Ukraine for Russians:
Well, the prices!
There is no doubt that Russia will “fight back” and introduce a visa regime in response. As world practice shows, this is exactly what has always happened. Take, for example, the current relations between Russia and the Baltic states. When, after the collapse of the USSR, they decided to follow the principle and close the free border, the Russian authorities had no choice but to respond in kind.
In world politics, everything is built on the principle of reciprocity. For example, everyone knows the “generous” offer of the European Union to Russia about the supposed abolition of the visa regime. But there was one clarification: Russia had to immediately let European citizens onto its lands, but the European Union was not going to rush.
Today, visa liberalization between countries is not new. But all this happens on a mutual basis. However, it is curious that some political players still try to act according to their own rules, such as Ukraine.
The head of Rostourism, Oleg Safronov, believes that Kyiv is acting contrary to the global trend.
“The decision to introduce a visa regime between Ukraine and Russia, if implemented on the initiative of the Ukrainian side, will go against the global trend,” said a senior official.
But even if the Russian authorities show magnanimity, such behavior will lead to significant economic costs for Ukraine. According to experts, the least that Ukrainians can expect is an increase in the price of tickets on transport links with Russia by 60-70%. Today, a plane ticket from Moscow to Kyiv costs from 3 to 11 thousand rubles.
Safronov believes that if a visa regime is introduced, it will infringe on the interests of more than 10 million tourists who annually cross the border in both directions. In addition, in his opinion, this will negatively affect tourism exchange between the two countries.
“Relevant measures taken by governments stimulate an increase in incoming tourist flows by 20-30% in specific destinations, an increase in the volume of non-resource exports and the national gross domestic product of host countries due to the expenses of tourists arriving from abroad,” Safronov said.
