Inaction is challenged just as a refusal is: the documents were filed, the deadline passed, there is no decision. In the claim we ask the court to declare the inaction unlawful and to order the service to decide within a specific period.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
Entry bans: periods and grounds<\/h2>\n An entry ban is imposed by the State Border Guard Service, the migration service or the security service, and the period depends on the ground: three, five or ten years (Art. 13 of the Law \u201cOn the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons\u201d). People often learn of the decision at the border<\/strong>, when they are turned back.<\/p>\nWhat we do:<\/strong><\/p>\nestablish the authority, the ground and the period<\/strong> of the ban through a lawyer\u2019s enquiry, because the refusal of entry itself usually does not state the ground;<\/span><\/li>assess the lawfulness<\/strong> of the decision and the procedure by which it was taken;<\/span><\/li>challenge it<\/strong> in the administrative court;<\/span><\/li>argue that the measure is disproportionate<\/strong> where the person has family, children, a business or a home in Ukraine.<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\nThe proportionality argument rests on the right to respect for private and family life (Art. 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms), and the administrative courts take it into account where a ban separates spouses or parents from children.<\/p>\n
Two other mechanisms operate separately from an entry ban.<\/p>\n
Forced return<\/strong> is decided by the migration service, the border authority or the security service, and such a decision sets a period of up to 30 days for voluntary departure (Art. 26 of the Law).<\/p><\/div><\/div>Forced expulsion<\/strong> is applied only by order of an administrative court on the application of those authorities (Art. 30), so in such a case the defence is built in court rather than in correspondence with a department.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\nTaking a child abroad<\/h2>\n Under martial law a simplified rule applies: a child under 16 travels accompanied by one parent without the other\u2019s notarised consent \u2014 as set out in the Rules for Crossing the State Border by Citizens of Ukraine (Cabinet Resolution No. 57).<\/p>\n
Court permission is needed in other situations: the child is 16 to 18 and travelling alone or with a third party, a permanent move is planned, there is a dispute over where the child should live, or the border guards refuse because the other parent has objected.<\/p>\n
The court grants permission where it is in the child\u2019s interests: medical treatment, education, a holiday, or living with the parent the child lives with. What has to be proved is the purpose of the trip, its length, the guarantees of return or the justification for the move, and the other parent\u2019s position and involvement in the child\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
When you do not need a lawyer<\/h2>\n Where the ground is clear, the documents are complete and the migration service is working to time, people file the application themselves through an administrative services centre or a local office.<\/p>\n
An immigration lawyer is needed when:<\/p>\n
the service has refused<\/strong> or has been silent beyond the statutory period;<\/span><\/li>entry to Ukraine is banned<\/strong>;<\/span><\/li>a decision on forced return or expulsion<\/strong> has been taken, or the period of stay has been shortened;<\/span><\/li>documents have been lost<\/strong> or left in occupied territory;<\/span><\/li>court permission to take a child abroad<\/strong> is needed;<\/span><\/li>the matter concerns citizenship<\/strong>: the documentary requirements are highest here, and a refusal closes the question for years;<\/span><\/li>you are a foreign national<\/strong> and do not know the Ukrainian procedures and deadlines.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>A case from our practice<\/h2><\/div> In 2025 a citizen of Azerbaijan came to us \u2014 married to a Ukrainian and father of a two-year-old \u2014 who, after a trip home, was not let back in because of a three-year entry ban. The refusal gave no reason, so we sent lawyer\u2019s enquiries and established that the ban had been imposed over an overstay several years earlier. In the claim we argued that the measure was disproportionate: the marriage, the small child, the rented home and the taxes paid in Ukraine. The first-instance court set the ban aside, and once the judgment came into force he returned to his family. About eight months passed from the first consultation to his entry; the outlay was the court fee and our fee for comprehensive handling of an administrative case (details changed).<\/p><\/div>\n
How we work<\/h2>\nWe analyse the ground<\/strong>: whether you are in fact entitled to what you are asking for.<\/li>We assemble the file<\/strong> so that there is no pretext for refusal.<\/li>We send lawyer\u2019s enquiries<\/strong> to establish the real reason for the ban or the refusal.<\/li>We challenge<\/strong> the migration service\u2019s decisions and inaction in the administrative court.<\/li>We defend against expulsion<\/strong>, including by applying to suspend enforcement of the decision.<\/li>We see it through to the result<\/strong>: the document in hand, not the application filed.<\/li><\/ol>\nCost of services<\/h2>\nConsultation on immigration matters<\/span>from<\/i>1,500 UAH<\/b><\/div>Legal opinion: analysis of the grounds and strategy<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>Preparing and filing the package with the migration service<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>Preparation of the claim and procedural documents<\/span>from<\/i>5,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>Participation in one court hearing<\/span>from<\/i>3,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>Court representation<\/span>from<\/i>10,000 UAH<\/b><\/div>Comprehensive handling of an administrative case<\/span>from<\/i>30,000 UAH<\/b><\/div><\/div>\n The court fee for an individual\u2019s non-monetary administrative claim in 2026 is 0.4 of the subsistence minimum for working-age people, that is 1,331.20 UAH; through the Electronic Court the rate is multiplied by 0.8, giving 1,064.96 UAH. A company pays 3,328 UAH for the same claim. If you win, the costs are recovered from the respondent.<\/p>\n