Before you start

A ground under Article 4 — the permit is not a category you choose, it is a consequence of your employment, study, project, family or investment
A type D long-term visa if your nationality needs one; it is a multiple-entry visa valid 90 days, purely a window in which to apply to ДМС inside Ukraine
Valid medical insurance covering the entire permit period — a listed document, not a recommendation
A notarised Ukrainian translation of the personal-data page of your passport
For employment: an employer willing to obtain the work permit and pay a salary of at least 10 minimum wages, or 5 for public associations, charities and educational institutions

Step-by-step

1
Establish the ground before you travel
For sponsored employment your employer applies to the Kyiv city employment centre for the дозвіл на застосування праці іноземців. For an international technical assistance project it is the project registration; for media it is accreditation; for study it is an Invitation for Study issued through the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education. Get this settled first — the D visa and the permit both hang off it, and there is no generic 'move to Ukraine' route to fall back on.
Via employerWho: Your employer, project or institutionWeeks; the employment centre publishes its decision and notifies the employer within two working days of taking itWork permit paid by the employer: ₴9,984 up to 6 months, ₴16,640 for 6-12 months, ₴26,624 for 1-2 years, ₴33,280 for 2-3 years (2026 scale)
2
Get the type D visa, then travel overland
Citizens of the EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the United States among others may enter visa-free for 90 days in any 180, but that window is not a residence right and cannot be converted into one from inside the country in every case — the D visa is the instrument built for it. Apply at a Ukrainian embassy or consulate with the ground documents. Then travel: airspace is closed to civil aviation, so the route is a flight to Warsaw, Rzeszów, Kraków, Budapest or Chișinău and then rail or bus into Kyiv, typically an overnight train.
In personWho: You, at a Ukrainian consulateConsular processing varies; allow a week of travel planning on topConsular fee per the MFA tariff — we do not quote a figure because the MFA's own pages block automated access; confirm with the consulate
3
File at the State Migration Service in Kyiv
Documents go to the ДМС territorial unit or a ЦНАП administrative service centre covering your address, and they must be lodged NO LATER THAN 15 WORKING DAYS before your permitted stay expires. Bring the passport, the notarised Ukrainian translation of its data page, the medical insurance policy, the ground documents and the fee receipts. Photographs and biometrics are taken on site.
In personWho: You, in personPermit issued within 15 working days of the documents being accepted₴1,140 in total — ₴34 state duty, ₴452 administrative service, ₴654 for the card blank
4
Collect the card and register your place of residence
The permit is collected in person. Then declare and register your place of residence: Cabinet Resolution No. 648 of 13 May 2026, in force since 30 May 2026, governs the procedure, which runs through the Diia portal and the ЦНАП centres. A foreigner must additionally produce the passport and the certified Ukrainian translation of its data page on top of the permit.
Mobile appWho: You, via Diia or a ЦНАПSame day at a ЦНАП in most cases
5
Then get the tax number, the bank account and the SIM — in that order
The permit is the key that unlocks the rest. The РНОКПП tax number comes next because the bank will ask for it; a bank account follows; a registered SIM after that. Doing them out of order is the most common way to lose a fortnight.
In personWho: YouAbout a week for all three if the permit is in hand

Documents you’ll need

Passport, plus a notarised Ukrainian translation of the personal-data page
Type D visa where your nationality requires one, and the entry stamp
Medical insurance covering the whole permit period
Ground documents — work permit and employment contract, project registration, media accreditation, enrolment evidence, marriage certificate or investment evidence
Proof of the administrative fee, and the tax registration document where you already have one

Things most newcomers don’t know

Time on a temporary permit converts into nothing. There is no five-year settlement rule in Ukraine.

Almost every European country a reader will have in mind grants settlement after a qualifying period of legal residence. Ukraine does not: permanent residence comes from an immigration permit granted by CATEGORY — spouse of a Ukrainian citizen married more than two years, child or parent of a citizen, foreign Ukrainian, or a small annual quota for investors and specialists. Ten years on a work permit leaves you exactly where you started unless you fall into a category.

Source: ДМС / Law of Ukraine 'On Immigration' No. 2491-III

The permit fee is ₴1,140; the work permit behind it can be ₴33,280.

People budget for the visible number and are blindsided by the invisible one. The employer pays the work permit, but in a small NGO or a startup that fee is a real negotiating point, and it is the reason some employers push a shorter permit band than you want.

Source: Державна служба зайнятості fee scale, 2026

File 15 working days before your stay expires, not on the day it does.

ДМС's own rule is that documents must be lodged no later than 15 working days before the end of the permitted period. Miss it and you are not merely late, you are out of status, which in turn blocks the tax number and therefore the bank account.

Source: ДМС service page

Accredited foreign correspondents are exempt from the ordinary temporary-stay limits for the duration of martial law and 30 days after.

It is a genuine, published exemption that almost no guide carries, and it changes the calculus for a journalist deciding whether to base themselves in Kyiv or commute from Warsaw.

Source: ДМС / МЗС

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a 90-day visa-free stay can simply roll into residence. It cannot; the D visa exists precisely because the short-stay window is not a residence right, and overstaying it also blocks the issue of a tax number.
Booking a flight. There are none — airspace has been closed to civil aviation since February 2022, and the western land border is the only way in.
Letting the medical insurance lapse mid-permit. It is a listed condition of the permit, not just a health decision.
Reading a pre-2022 guide. Wartime Cabinet resolutions have repeatedly reset exchange deadlines, stay periods and permit extensions; anything not re-checked against the ДМС page this year is unreliable.
For anyone with a Ukrainian parent or birthplace: treating a second passport as protection. Ukraine treats a person it regards as its citizen as a citizen only, with mobilisation and exit restrictions applying to men aged 18-60. Get advice before claiming citizenship by descent.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.