Ukrainian govt okays new visa regulations

Kuwaitis to obtain entry visas on arrival

KUWAIT CITY, April 11: The government of Ukraine has approved new Ukrainian visa regulations which will come into force from April 16, 2017.

These rules are designated to approximate Ukraine’s immigration and visa policy to the EU standards and harmonize the regulatory framework in visa field with modern requirements.

In accordance with the new visa regulations of Ukraine, Kuwaiti nationals will have an opportunity to obtain entry visas to Ukraine with business or tourist purpose on arrival at the Ukrainian international airports in cities Kyiv and Odesa, provided that they have relevant confirming documents. Such visas shall be issued as singleentry for the period of up to 15 days.

At the same time, citizens of Kuwait will be allowed to apply for single-entry, twoentry and multi-entry visas for a period up to 5 years to the Embassy of Ukraine in the State of Kuwait or any other Ukrainian diplomatic missions worldwide.

New visa rules provide for a number of simplifications in visa processing, aimed at increasing tourist flow to Ukraine, such as:

1. Reduction of visa processing time: from 15 calendar days to 10 working days for ordinary issuance and up to 5 working days for urgent issuance.

2. Introducing the only rate of consular fee of 65 US dollars for any kind of visa regardless of its multiplicity and validity (under previous visa rules, visa fee was 85 USD for single-entry visa, $130 — for two-entry visa and $200 — for multi-entry visa).

3. Procedure of issuing short-term entry visas has been considerably simplified. Henceforth, instead of invitations issued by migration offices in Ukraine, in order to obtain an entry visa to Ukraine applicants may submit one of the following documents:

notarized letter of invitation from an individual — Ukrainian citizen, foreigner or stateless person who legally resides in Ukraine;

proof that a visa applicant has a real estate on the territory of Ukraine;

document confirming family relationship with Ukrainian citizens.

Business visa will be issued on the basis of letter of invitation from a legal entity registered in Ukraine.