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A refugee certificate or a certificate of a person in need of complementary protection is issued for a period of five years.[1] The certificate is issued to a foreigner by the territorial body of the SMS on the basis of the decision of the headquarters of the SMS to recognise a foreigner or stateless person as a refugee in Ukraine or a person in need of complementary protection within seven business days.[2]
Persons who are recognised as refugees are considered to be permanently residing in Ukraine from the date of the decision to recognise them as refugees.[3] Persons who are recognised as persons in need of complementary protection are considered to be legally residing in Ukraine for an indefinite period of time.[4] There is a legal conflict between the Law on Refugees and the Law on Foreigners regarding the status of persons in need of complementary protection. While both laws guarantee legal residence, one views it as indefinite, while the other ties it to temporary.[5] Although these individuals receive the same social benefits as refugees, the contradiction complicates access to rights, particularly in obtaining Ukrainian citizenship for themselves and their children.
For issuance of a refugee certificate or certificate of a person in need of complementary protection in case of expiration of the previous one, a foreigner or stateless person personally applies in advance to the territorial body of the SMS of Ukraine at the place of residence and submits the documents required to extend the certificate.[6] When re-registering a refugee or a person in need of complementary protection, the validity of the refugee or person in need of a complementary protection certificate is extended.[7] The certificate is replaced within 15 working days.[8] The status of the beneficiaries may be withdrawn at this stage, however, R2P does not report any such cases.
After the full-scale invasion in 2022, those beneficiaries who fled from Ukraine do not have the possibility to issue or extend their certificates and travel documents, abroad.
In some cases, refugees or persons in need of complementary protection could not obtain a certificate for return to Ukraine[9] on a diplomatic mission abroad. Ukrainian missions noted that they could not issue documents as they were unable to connect to IT systems in Ukraine. Further, some refugees report being refused a certificate and being told that the document would only be issued to citizens of Ukraine. In response to our information request, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they lack funding to issue return certificates to people granted protection by Ukraine.[10]
For instance, a citizen of the Syrian Arab Republic, recognised in Ukraine as a person in need of complementary protection, left Ukraine in April 2022 on the basis of a certificate of a person in need of complementary protection to accompany his elderly father. In May 2022, he was denied entry to Ukraine with the same document. The Ukrainian embassy in Germany informed him that he could not be issued a return permit because it was only available to Ukrainian citizens. Therefore, he does not have a proper document to cross the state border of Ukraine.[11]
[1] Article 10(11) Law on Refugees.
[2] Section VI(6.8) Rules for the Consideration of Applications.
[3] Article 14(2) Law on Refugees.
[4] Article 14(3) Law on Refugees.
[5] Article 4(3) Law on Foreigners.
[6] Diia, Extension of the Refugee Certificate, available in Ukrainian here; Diia, Extension of the Validity of a Certificate of a Person in Need of Complimentary Protection, available in Ukrainian here; Article 10 (8) Law on Refugees.
[7] Article 10(11) Law on Refugees.
[8] para. 10 Regulations on the Refugee Certificate.
[9] A certificate of return to Ukraine is an identity document that confirms the citizenship of Ukraine, gives the right to enter Ukraine, and is issued by foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine. The certificate may also be issued to persons who are recognised in Ukraine as refugees or persons in need of complementary protection in case of loss or theft of identity documents issued in Ukraine and entitling them to leave Ukraine and enter Ukraine while abroad, if such documents have expired or are found to be invalid for other reasons (para. 1, 16 Resolution on Approval of the Sample Form, Technical Description and Procedure for Issuing and Issuing a Certificate of Return to Ukraine of 5 April 2017 No. 285).
[10] R2P&HIAS, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ukraine Addressing Protection Risks During Wartime, 05 April 2023, available here.
[11] More examples could be found here: R2P, Note on the Conditions of Crossing the State Border of Ukraine by Refugees and Stateless Persons, 05 December 2022, available in Ukrainian here.