Before you start

A ground under Article 4 — the permit follows your employment, project, study, family or investment; there is no generic route
A type D long-term visa if your nationality needs one; multiple entry, valid 90 days, purely a window 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 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 Lviv oblast employment centre for the дозвіл на застосування праці іноземців. For humanitarian and medical work it is usually an international technical assistance project registration or NGO employment; for media it is accreditation; for study it is an Invitation for Study through the Ukrainian State Centre for International Education, which UCU, Lviv Polytechnic and Ivan Franko all use.
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 take the train from Przemyśl
Citizens of the EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the United States among others enter visa-free for 90 days in any 180, but that window is not a residence right — the D visa is the instrument built for it. Airspace is closed to civil aviation, so the route into Lviv is a flight to Rzeszów, Kraków or Warsaw and then rail or coach through Przemyśl. The train is almost always faster than the road: coach queues at the crossings can run to many hours.
In personWho: You, at a Ukrainian consulateConsular processing varies; the journey itself is a long dayConsular fee per the MFA tariff — we do not quote a figure because the MFA's own pages block automated access; confirm with the consulate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 Lviv
Documents go to the ДМС territorial unit for Lviv oblast or a ЦНАП covering your address, NO LATER THAN 15 WORKING DAYS before your permitted stay expires. Bring the passport, the notarised Ukrainian translation of its data page, the 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
Collected in person. Then declare and register your place of residence under Cabinet Resolution No. 648 of 13 May 2026, in force since 30 May 2026 — the service runs through the Diia portal and the ЦНАП centres, and a foreigner must additionally produce the passport and its certified Ukrainian translation on top of the permit.
Mobile appWho: You, via Diia or a ЦНАПSame day at a ЦНАП in most cases
5
Then the tax number, the bank account and the SIM — in that order
The permit unlocks the РНОКПП; the РНОКПП unlocks the bank; the bank and a Ukrainian number unlock everything else. Doing them out of order is the standard way to lose a fortnight.
In personWho: YouAbout a week for all three once 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 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

Being 70 km from the EU makes the document-chasing part of this dramatically easier than it is in Kyiv.

Apostilles, consular appointments, notarisations that must happen in an EU member state, and courier deadlines are all a day-trip from Lviv and a serious expedition from anywhere else in Ukraine. If you have a choice of Ukrainian city and a messy document trail, choose this one.

Source: practical, from the Przemyśl rail corridor

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

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. Years of lawful temporary residence do not create an entitlement.

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

Medical and rehabilitation assistance is its own residence ground, added during martial law.

It matters here more than anywhere: Lviv is the country's rehabilitation centre and draws a lot of foreign clinical volunteers, who often assume they must squeeze into an NGO employment permit. The ground is closed to citizens of Russia and Belarus.

Source: ДМС service page

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

It is ДМС's own rule, and missing it puts you out of status — which then blocks the tax number and therefore the bank account.

Source: ДМС service page

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming a 90-day visa-free stay can simply roll into residence. It cannot, and an overstay also blocks the issue of a tax number.
Booking a flight to Lviv. There are none; the airport is closed to civil aviation like every other.
Taking a coach across the border when the train exists. Coach queues at the crossings are the single biggest avoidable delay on this route.
Reading a pre-2022 guide. Wartime Cabinet resolutions have repeatedly reset deadlines and stay periods.
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 for men aged 18-60.

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