On April 23, consular services temporarily stopped being provided to Ukrainian men of military age abroad. That is, currently, men cannot actually obtain passports that have already been issued, nor apply for new ones, except for the processing of documents for returning to Ukraine.
"It is not fair when some fight and others want to stay abroad." — the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine explained this decision.
Consular services are, first of all, obtaining an internal or extending the validity period of a foreign passport, entering information about a minor child, issuing a birth certificate. As well as help in the event of an emergency, but it will continue to be provided under any conditions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified.
Consulates stopped providing services to men - details of the decision
As explained in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all due to the fact that on May 18 the new law on mobilization will enter into force, and it became necessary to resolve the issue of military registration of men of mobilization age who are abroad. After the mobilization law enters into force, the process of accepting and considering applications will be resumed taking into account the new requirements of the law.
"We emphasize that the decision to suspend the process of providing consular services to a category of Ukrainian citizens defined by law is a temporary step due to the need to resolve issues regarding the military registration of citizens of mobilization age who are abroad." - reported in the ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained that submitting an application by April 23 guarantees receiving a new document. According to the ministry, all applications for the provision of consular services, submitted by the specified date, will be considered and processed by the consular institutions in full.
"Temporarily, only new applications from the category of citizens specified in the new law will not be accepted, since the term of consideration of such applications may exceed the time remaining before it enters into force. We strive to protect citizens from situations where the ordered service cannot be provided in the end." — noted in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The temporary restrictions will be lifted on May 18, 2024. That's when the law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Certain Issues of Military Service, Mobilization and Military Registration" will be adopted. However, it is worth noting that the process of accepting and considering applications for consular actions will continue taking into account the new requirements arising from the provisions of the law.
The ministry said the new law provides that once military registration data is updated at the TCC, men between the ages of 18 and 60 with valid military registration documents will have full access to consular services in accordance with the law.
"The mechanism for updating and verifying military registration data for men aged 18-60 who are temporarily abroad is currently being determined from among the available options and agreed upon by the involved state authorities. As soon as this interagency work is completed, diplomatic institutions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue additional detailed clarifications." - explained the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
If the conscript does not register, consular services will be limited to him and can issue a fine in the amount of 3400 to 5100 hryvnias.
The Cabinet of Ministers banned sending passports for men abroad
In addition, on April 24 it became known that that by resolution № 443 The Cabinet of Ministers banned sending abroad foreign passports and passports of citizens of Ukraine of men of military age. That is, now men can get their documents only in Ukraine.
"Obtaining a passport of a citizen of Ukraine, a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for traveling abroad by a male citizen of Ukraine aged 18 to 60 years is carried out at the territorial body/territorial subdivision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Forwarding of such passports to a separate unit or foreign diplomatic institution of Ukraine for the organization of their issuance is not carried out", - informed the government.
They noted that these requirements do not apply to men who are allowed to cross the border in accordance with established rules.
As specified in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ban on sending passports abroad applies only to Dokument SE. The ministry indicated that consular services to Ukrainians are provided in foreign diplomatic missions of the state, and "Dokument" is not part of the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic or consular service. This is a separate state-owned enterprise that is under the management of the State Migration Service of Ukraine. The procedure of the consular service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remains unchanged.
Men revolt abroad: scandals in passport services
The news caused a wave of indignation in social networks and in the queues for passports at the representative office of Ukraine in Warsaw. Passports stopped being issued on the same day.
People say that these changes caught them by surprise. According to the new law on mobilization, Ukrainians abroad will be able to receive consular services only if they have a military ticket and update their data in the TCC.
But the law should enter into force on May 18, and the issuing of documents has already been suspended.
What can we say about those men who came to foreign institutions the day before, where they had to submit documents to renew their passports or get new ones. Near passport issuing centers mad queues of angry men gathered and their families, and the employees of the centers could not provide any explanations.
In fact, at the same time as the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Dokument State Enterprise's database was suspended and they stopped issuing ready-made passports to both men and women.
On April 24, it became known that Ukrainians in Poland blocked the passport service with the demand to provide them with passports. People received a message that the documents were ready, but when they came to collect them, the service refused to issue passports. Because of this, huge clashes took place there. The Ukrainians called the police, but they could not help.
"There is horror happening here. For example, yesterday, today people come to pick up documents, they received an SMS that the document is ready. For example, yesterday this (information about the suspension of consular services - ed.) appeared only at 10 in the morning, people arrived on the 7th, on the 9th in the morning, they are already there to pick up documents. And on the 9th everything was fine, on the 10th people are told that "we will not issue you documents, do what you want, goodbye"... Of course, people are outraged, people have paid money, people cannot get their passports, their documents for which they paid" - said Evgeny Semenyaka, a specialist in the legalization of the stay and work of foreigners in Poland.
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