Men with residence permits in other countries will not be able to leave Ukraine
5 June 2024 09:45
Ukraine has cancelled the “residence abroad” exemption for people with dual citizenship, which allowed them to leave the country. Now, Ukrainians with dual citizenship will not be able to leave Ukraine and may be mobilised into the Armed Forces. This was reported by the US Embassy in Ukraine, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The change reportedly came into force on 1 June 2024. Since Ukrainian law does not recognise dual citizenship, American-Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 60 may lose the ability to leave the country. They will be treated exclusively as citizens of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian law does not recognise dual citizenship. Thus, during their stay in Ukraine, American-Ukrainian dual citizens are treated exclusively as citizens of Ukraine and are subject to the rights and obligations of Ukrainian citizens,”
– the statement said.
Previously, dual nationals could freely enter and leave Ukraine if they deregistered their residence in Ukraine and registered it in the United States.
The US Embassy stressed that it could not change this situation and recommended that citizens carefully read the information on the US State Department’s website, which provides all the necessary information for dual-citizen travellers.
The embassy also advises men aged 18 to 60 who hold two passports or claim Ukrainian citizenship to refrain from travelling to Ukraine.
State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andriy Demchenko confirmed during the telethon that men with a residence permit in other countries cannot cross the border to leave Ukraine.
“Previously, we did allow people who had marks in their passports about leaving for permanent residence to be registered for permanent consular registration outside Ukraine. However, the Law “On Military Duty and Military Service” stipulates that such Ukrainian citizens are excluded from the list of persons subject to deregistration. And now they are obliged to register for military service by the relevant government decree,”
– he said.
Demchenko noted that the State Border Guard Service is guided by the current laws in its work. Therefore, until this issue is separately regulated in the rules for crossing the border for this category of citizens, they will not be allowed to leave the border.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Dmytro Lazutkin, said that Ukrainians who are abroad and whose status in the ‘Reserve’ app has been updated to ‘wanted’ should return to Ukraine and personally contact the TCC and JV.
