Photo: TURSVIT.INFO
Fines will be imposed again on the foreigners who violate the terms of their stay in Ukraine. Such a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers from July 21, 2021 came into force on Saturday, August 7, making amendments to the law from March 18, 2020.
These changes repeal the previous rule of the resolution, according to which all foreigners who violated the period of stay in Ukraine during or as a result of quarantine, were released from administrative liability. Importantly, the release applied exclusively to the foreigners who stayed legally in Ukraine at the moment when the quarantine was established. The State Migration Service of Ukraine also stated on March 17, 2020 that the legal period of stay in Ukraine was frozen at that date till the end of the quarantine, after which it will be counted again, taking into account the time that passed before it was frozen.
The current law makes things more complicated. According to the official website of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, after the resolution came into force, i.e. from August 7, only those foreigners will be released from administrative liability, who didn’t have the opportunity to leave Ukraine or weren’t able to apply to the State Migration Service of Ukraine to request prolongation of their stay through quarantine. The sanction of Article 203 of the Code of Administrative Offenses determines a fine in the amount of UAH 1,700 to UAH 5,100 ($63 to $189). The governmental resolution states the amendments as following:
«2. The decision to grant [foreigner] an immigration permit, taken within one year before or during the establishment of quarantine throughout Ukraine, is valid for two years from the date of its adoption.»
Still, it remains unclear whether the rule of freezing the legal period of stay in Ukraine was repealed by this new law.
Vitalii Holich
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