The process of legalization of foreign citizens in Ukraine has several stages:
- Making a letter of Invitation for Study
- Issuing a visa
- Issuing the temporary residence permit (posvidka)
Making a letter of invitation
Invitations for Study are issued to foreigners for whom an educational institution has granted consent for admission to obtain the appropriate degree of higher education, postgraduate education (advanced training, traineeship), PhD studies, preparatory faculty or department, training for academic mobility programs, or program for studying the state language and/or language of study.
All foreign students arriving at Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University (LUVNU) for more than 90 days will receive a special kind of Invitation for Study issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. After receiving the Invitation for Study, you should pay for the visa verification procedure (“visa support”) on the web page of the Ukrainian State Centre of International Education (ATTENTION!!! The Consular Sections of the Ukrainian Embassies will not consider your Invitation for Study without the visa verification procedure (“visa support”) completed!
With the Invitation for Study and approximately a week after payment for the visa verification procedure /“visa support,” you can apply for the D-type Ukrainian visa (“long-term, multi-entry”). Upon arrival in Ukraine, the D-type visa should be exchanged for the Temporary Residence Permit within its validity (90 days), but not later than 2 weeks before its expiration date.
For making the Invitation for Study, the following documents are required (please contact VNU International Office for assistance):
- Copy of the first page of the applicant’s passport
- Copy of the document certifying the last completed education (diploma and supplement)
- Consent to personal data collection and processing (signed and scanned)
Documents must be scanned and sent to the International Relation Office at inter-dep@vnu.edu.ua. They can also be submitted personally.
How to pay for an invitation
An invitation must be paid in a bank as soon as it is ready.
Fee for issuing an invitation:
648 UAH – for visa support
600 UAH – for organisational expenses of the University
Issuing a visa
Students from visa countries, as well as countries with which Ukraine has signed agreements on visa-free stays of up to 90 days (tourist, private, and business trips), need to obtain a long-term (“study”, type D) visa to Ukraine, which allows them to stay in Ukraine for more than 90 days.
Citizens of countries with which Ukraine has signed visa-free agreements, such as Georgia, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan, do not need to open a visa to Ukraine, but they must provide an original or a photocopy of the “Invitation for study” when crossing the border of Ukraine as confirmation of the purpose of arrival in Ukraine.
To obtain a type D visa, a candidate for study must submit to the Consulate of Ukraine in your country the documents listed on the Embassy’s website. Such a list of documents must include the original “Invitation for Study”. In addition, we draw your attention to the fact that your prior education documents before applying to the consulate must be officially certified in the way adopted in your country (legalized (Ministry of Education + Ministry of Foreign Affairs + Embassy of Ukraine in your country) or certified by Apostille stamp + are legalized at the Embassy of Ukraine). These documents must be officially recognized in Ukraine so a Ukrainian university can give you a diploma after graduation.
Issuing the temporary residence permit (posvidka)
Nationals of visa-free countries can stay in Ukraine for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. That is, to calculate the allowed period of stay from the date of submission of documents is deducted 180 days ago. A foreigner will not violate the rules if he has been in Ukraine for no more than 90 days within this 180-day period. Such foreigners are obliged, within five working days after their arrival at the university, but not later than 30 days before the expiration of the fixed term of stay in Ukraine, to submit to the international relations office the passport and documents necessary for the issuance of the Temporary Residence Permit.
For issuing the temporary residence permit, the following documents are required:
- passport with visa type D;
- notarized translation of the first page of the passport;
- valid medical insurance policy and its copy (for the whole period of study);
- receipts for the administrative services;
The certificate is made as a card containing a contactless electronic medium.
The procedure for registration, issuance, exchange, cancellation, transfer, removal, return to the state, invalidation and destruction of a temporary residence permit was approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 322 of 25.04.2018.
Please note:
The process of issuing the temporary residence permit takes 15 calendar days. During this period, the foreign citizen must stay in Ukraine.
Not later than 30 days after obtaining the temporary residence permit, the foreign citizens should be registered at the place of their actual residence during the study period. Only after this, the temporary residence permit is valid.
The process of the registration of residence takes a maximum of 10 days.
During the period of residence registration, the foreign citizen should not leave the country.
The temporary residence permit cancellation process takes from 10 to 20 days.
Temporary Residence Permit is valid for the period of your study at LUVNU and will allow you to leave and enter Ukraine without any additional documents needed during this period.
The temporary residence permit should always be returned to the Migration Service at the end of the study.
You will need an ORIGINAL Invitation for Study! Count this during preparing documents for visa submission.