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Attention!  The most comprehensive explanation of the restriction of travel and mobility due to emergency measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

15 March 2020

Attention!  Below is the most comprehensive explanation of the restriction of travel and mobility due to emergency measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Please read carefully.

We also remind you that the issue of changing arrival and departure dates, refunds for purchased tickets and cancellation of flights is the responsibility of the airlines.

Please keep calm and use only the reliable sources information.

Government website: https://www.kmu.gov.ua/news/rozyasnennya-vid-mzs-ukrayini-shcho-treba-znati-pro-vyizd-na-teritoriyu-ukrayini-ta-konsulsku-dopomogu-u-zvyazku-z-covid-19 (https://www.kmu.gov.ua/news/rozyasnennya-vid-mzs-ukrayini-shcho-treba-znati-pro-vyizd-na-teritoriyu-ukrayini-ta-konsulsku-dopomogu-u-zvyazku-z-covid-19)

The rapid spread of coronavirus in the world has become a global challenge for all humanity. On March 13, WHO Director-General  Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underlined that it is Europe that had become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Countries around the world are taking extraordinary measures to prevent the spread of infection and protect the population from the effects of the disease.

As no vaccine exists for coronavirus infection, human movement restrictions and quarantine are recognized as the most effective measures of counteracting a pandemic.

On March 14, the Government of Ukraine adopted an order temporarily restricting the crossing of the state border aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is doing everything possible to protect and assist the citizens of Ukraine being abroad and clarifies what it is necessary to know about the emergency measures: 1) When does Ukraine close its borders for entry?From March 16, 2020 from 00 hours 00 minutes to 00 hours 00 minutes April 3 (the night of April 2 to 3) entry to the territory of Ukraine for foreigners and stateless persons is banned. The entry ban may be annulled or extended depending on the situation of the coronavirus spread in the world.

2) Will Ukrainian citizens be allowed to enter the country during the entry ban period?Yes, all citizens of Ukraine have the right to cross the state border to return to the territory of Ukraine. 3) Does the ban apply only to entry or also to exit from Ukraine?As of today, Ukraine has not set up travel restrictions for exit. However,                          the country to which the citizen travels may have entry restrictions. Latest update on measures taken by foreign countries to combat the spread of COVID-19 outbreak may be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

4) Who will not be able to get to Ukraine?Foreign nationals or stateless persons who are not entitled to permanent or temporary residence in Ukraine. 5) Will foreigners who have the right to permanent or temporary stay in Ukraine be able to enter Ukraine?Foreigners who are entitled to permanent or temporary residence in Ukraine may enter the territory of Ukraine as well as citizens of Ukraine.

6) Who else can enter Ukraine?Entrance is also allowed for people who are spouses or children of Ukrainian citizens, employees of foreign diplomatic missions and consular posts accredited in Ukraine, representations of official international missions, organizations accredited in Ukraine and members of their families, drivers and service staff of vehicles and crew members. Apart from that, exceptions are envisaged for certain groups of foreigners. The decision on their admission will be made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. For example, if doctors or other specialists need to come to Ukraine.

7) What should Ukrainians, who are abroad on leaves, short-term business trips or for other purposes, which involve returning home within the next 2 weeks, do?1. Try to find a way to return to Ukraine by 0:00 on the night of March 16-17.2. If you are unable to do so, register with the FRIEND.It is a special system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, where you enter your data and inform the MFA and all foreign diplomatic institutions about your stay in a certain country. For instance, lists for returning citizens of Ukraine in case of urgent need during the period of restrictions will be generated, in particular, using the data of this system. 3. Contact your embassy or consulate in your country by calling the hotline of an official page, emailing or using their social media pages. 4. Sometimes, because of too many users, the system can “hang up” and hotlines are too «hot». We apologize for that and kindly ask you to understand such situations. 8) How much does it cost to call the MFA of Ukraine from abroad?By agreement between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Ukrainian mobile operators, calls from mobile phones in roaming to the MFA hotline are free of charge.

9) How citizens who are abroad should return to Ukraine?Ukraine temporarily closes the international scheduled passenger service from                17 March 00:00 Kyiv time to 3 April. In addition, the border control posts of Ukraine for railway and bus connections will be closed at this time. All citizens of Ukraine and foreigners who are entitled to permanent or temporary residence in Ukraine and are abroad on short-term business trips, leaves, vacations are encouraged to return to Ukraine by March 17.

Those citizens who will not be able to do so in time for objective reasons (inability to buy tickets for flights, good personal circumstances, etc.) are recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to contact the Ukrainian Consulates.The MFA will make every effort to help those, who need to return to Ukraine urgently before the end of the restriction period, to return home. The updated information will be provided on a regular basis through all official channels of communication as well as through foreign diplomatic institutions.

10) How will Border Control Posts work?According to the Government’s decision, 123 Border Control Posts (BCP) continue to operate. 107 Border Control Posts are closed until April 3.The full list of the closed BCP as well as BCP where pedestrian traffic is suspended, can be found on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

11) Should people, arriving to Ukraine, undergo additional examination or comply with the other safety rules?

Specially established sanitary departments operate at the border control posts. Upon returning from the countries, where according to the WHO adverse epidemiologic situation occurred due to the spread of coronavirus, all citizens will undergo temperature screening at the border control posts and appropriate measures will be taken – a person will be sent for self-isolation at home within 14 days, or medical center, if appropriate.

12) Will foreigners, who drive lorries, transit transport or are crew members, be able to enter Ukraine?

Crews of vessels, vehicles, aircraft will be allowed to enter Ukraine, but are subjected to additional examination.

13) Actions in case you are abroad and cannot contact the Consulate due to the hotline overload.

Visit the page of the Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate in your country of stay.

It contains e-mail address and links to the pages in social media. You can write a request to this e-mail or on media pages. Even on the weekend, in the evening or at night. A special order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was issued for 24/7 response under special working hours. Even though there is queuing, the hotline is still operating: +38 (044) 238 16 57.

We would like to apologize, if we cannot answer you immediately or our possibilities do not meet your expactations. But we assure you that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs makes every effort to provide you with the necessary assistance.

14) Are there changes in the foreign diplomatic institutions working hours?

Amid the rapid spread of coronavirus infection across the world, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs that foreign diplomatic institutions will temporarily switch to a special schedule, for a week, which provides a distance form of work with the citizen appeals and enhanced processing of citizen resorts.

A special form of work provides that diplomatic institutions abroad will continue its functions in distance mode except force-majeure circumstances, requiring immediate consular actions and functions, especially connected with the pandemic.

Within this period the foreign diplomatic institutions (FDI) will process appeals regarding the formalization of:

  • Identity cards for return to Ukraine in case of necessity to return to Ukraine next week;
  • Acquisition of nationality of Ukraine by birth of children, born in the country of stay and in connection with issuing them identity cards for return to Ukraine in case of a real necessity to come back to Ukraine immediately;
  • Visas for entry to Ukraine for serving of interests of Ukraine in the field of foreign and home policy as well as in cases, bearing humanitarian nature upon the decision of the head of FDI.

A special schedule, providing distance form of work with citizen appeals and enhanced processing of citizen resorts will be effective from Sunday, 15 March to                                    Friday, 20 March 2020 inclusive.

15) Which appeals will not be processed temporarily due to the emergency?

Appeals of citizens to the consular posts, which temporarily will not be processed due to the emergency:

  • Issue of passports of the citizens of Ukraine for going abroad;
  • Identity cards for return to Ukraine, except for the loss/absence of passport documents, real necessity of a citizen to return to Ukraine; in other cases, which are critical for the citizens of Ukraine, upon the decision of the head of FDI.
  • Registry with the consular department;
  • Issues of notarial system (except force-majeure circumstances, for example, certification of records of death, necessary for transportation of deceased, applications on children’s exit etc.), Civil Registry Office, demands, documents legalization;
  • Issues of nationality, except for formalization of acquisition of nationality of Ukraine by birth of children, born in the country of stay and in connection with issuing them identity cards for return to Ukraine in case of a real necessity to return to Ukraine;
  • Issuance of visas for entry to Ukraine or transit across its territory, except for cases of necessity of serving interests of Ukraine in the field of foreign and home policy as well as in cases, bearing humanitarian nature, upon the decision of the head of FDI;
  • Certification of official documents with apostille and according to the procedure of consular legalization (for representative offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the territory of Ukraine);
  • Visit of the persons in the custody/detention etc;
  • Onsite consular services.

Upon resuming of the normal working schedule, all requests will be processed.

16) What should you do if you have not found the answer to your question in your list?

Contact a diplomatic institution in your country, the MFA of Ukraine hotline at +38 (044) 238-16-57 or write an e-mail to this email address: [email protected].

Information of the emergency operation centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine regarding the coronavirus and the situation with Ukrainian citizens abroad:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UA_MFA_Info  

Facebook: https://bit.ly/2v9WUDb

Telegram: https://t.me/s/Coronavirus_Info_MFA

17) How to protect yourself and your relatives? • Avoid contact with people having symptoms of SARS and with persons having cold symptoms. The minimum distance is 1.5 meters.• Strengthen your immunity and monitor your well-being. Good nutrition, healthy sleep, exercise and water balance of the body.• Wash your hands frequently with soap for 20 seconds or use an antiseptic with an alcohol content of at least 60-80%.• Avoid touching your face. Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth with the dirty hands. • Heat the products. Do not eat raw meat, flesh by-products and eggs.• Disinfect surfaces and packaging.• Cancel events that involve large crowds.• Work from home whenever possible.• Contact your doctor in time. If the first symptoms of SARS appear, contact your family doctor immediately.

More information on coronavirus is available at https://covid19.com.ua

and on telegram channel of the MoH of Ukraine https://t.me/COVID19_Ukraine

We will keep you updated on a regular basis, so stay tuned. We wish you good health!