Ukraine's Foreign Ministry provides additional clarification on consular services for Ukrainian men abroad

Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued another explanation regarding the suspension of consular services for Ukrainian men living abroad.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The Foreign Ministry emphasised that the decision only applies to military-age men and represents a temporary suspension of the acceptance of applications from this group of individuals in order to prepare for work under the new law.

Quote: "Men of military age who have updated their personal details in accordance with the requirements of the law will be able to apply for consular services, obtain a slot in the electronic queue, and get an appointment at the consulate," the explanation said.

"The system for upgrading and validating military credentials for males of military age who are temporarily based abroad is currently being determined from among the available options and agreed upon by the participating state bodies. Once this interagency process is complete, diplomatic organisations and the Foreign Ministry will publish more extensive explanations," the ministry said.

Secondly, the Foreign Ministry stated that this decision has no bearing on the provision of emergency consular support to Ukrainian citizens in the event of an emergency (road accidents, arrest, natural disasters and so on); in such instances, full consular assistance would be offered to everyone.

The Foreign Ministry rejects the accusation that the decision is illegal due to the fact that the mobilisation law had not yet come into force when it was made.

"This does not imply that services will be discontinued as such, only that the acceptance of new applications for consular services will be temporarily suspended. This decision was necessitated by the fact that the time required to review them could exceed the timeframe for the new legislation to take effect. The aim is to ensure that all categories of residents receive effective and organised services in the face of legislative changes.

The duration of the suspension of acceptance of new applications is dictated by the time required to make technical adjustments to the algorithms of the information and communication systems used to carry out the relevant consular functions, as well as to amend the secondary legislation after the new law is enacted," the explanation says.

The Foreign Ministry notes that all applications for consular services submitted to foreign institutions before 23 April 2024 "are being considered and processed by consular institutions in full, including applications submitted before this date for a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for travel abroad".

Furthermore, the ministry stated that they are preparing to modernise the provision of consular services for Ukrainian citizens. This will generally simplify access to consular services for all categories of citizens, shorten processing times, and solve a number of problems associated with the increased demand due to the rise in the number of Ukrainians abroad since 2022.

Previously:

• Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, stressed that Ukraine will not forcibly bring military-age Ukrainian men back from other countries.
• Meanwhile, the Polish government has requested an EU decision on the extension of permits for Ukrainian men to continue residing in Poland.

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