Ukrainians with Dual Citizenship Banned from Leaving Ukraine – What We Know

On Wednesday, June 4, the US Embassy in Ukraine published an update that from June 1 “US-Ukrainian dual citizens, including those who live in the US, may no longer be able to depart the country.”

However, the latest changes technically only apply to Ukrainians with permanent residence abroad, according to the Ukrainian State Border Service.

Here’s what we know so far.

Who cannot leave the country?

Males aged 18-60 who are Ukrainian citizens – meaning those with a passport issued by Ukraine – would not be able to leave the country even if they have a different citizenship or permanent residence abroad.

What’s the difference between citizenship and permanent residence?

Citizenship normally refers to those who possess a passport of a country (with some extraordinary exceptions) who enjoy all the rights and obligations of being a citizen, and permanent residence refers to those with a right to live in a country with some restrictions to their civil rights, such as voting.

Ukraine does not recognize dual citizenship, as stated in the US Embassy announcement and by Ukrainian Border Guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko. Therefore, Ukrainian citizens with Ukrainian passports will be considered Ukrainian by the State Border Service regardless.

What exactly changed then?

Previously, Ukrainians with permanent residence abroad could leave the country if they deregistered their place of residence in Ukraine and registered their place of residence abroad. This is no longer the case.

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“Under martial law, Ukrainian citizens who permanently resided outside Ukraine ... could travel outside Ukraine. This possibility is now limited for them,” said Demchenko, citing changes in legislation linked to military service, as reported by AFP.

Demchenko told Interfax Ukraine that those with dual citizenship – if one of the passports is Ukrainian – would be considered Ukrainian regardless and cannot leave the country since martial law was introduced.

“And, for example, at the border, border guards have repeatedly found citizens of our country who, at passport control, pretended to be foreigners. Such citizens are always brought to the responsibility defined by the law,” said Demchenko.

Potential issues with the latest update

There are still unanswered questions as to who might encounter issues while leaving Ukraine.

While Ukraine technically prohibits dual citizenship, requiring citizens to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship while acquiring foreign citizenship and vice versa, a number of people still have both Ukrainian and foreign passports under various circumstances.

Assuming a person possesses a different passport and uses that passport – without producing a Ukrainian passport – while entering and leaving Ukraine, questions arose as to how the State Border Service could identify that person as a Ukrainian citizen, since it’s not common to deploy fingerprint checks on the border at present.

Moreover, the US Embassy’s announcement also cautioned those with “a claim to Ukrainian citizenship” that they might encounter issues while exiting Ukraine.

That would apply to hundreds, if not thousands of foreign citizens with Ukrainian heritage visiting the country since all of them would technically have a claim to Ukrainian citizenship.

Though officially, the Ukrainian side has yet to mention exit restrictions on those with claims to Ukrainian citizenship, it is a matter that warrants clarification.