New eligibility requirements and a revised immigration quota allocation for IT specialists have come into effect in Ukraine. In particular, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine has introduced changes to its earlier decree on quota allocations for 2020. The most notable changes introduced by the revised quota include:
- extension of the immigration quota for more than 10 additional IT practice areas;
- introduction of new eligibility requirements concerning the relevant amount of ?? experience, which has been reduced to 3 years instead of the previous 5-7 years. Other criteria, such as education, certificates and the salary/income threshold of ? USD 24,000 per year have become ancillary;
- introduction of a much broader and non-exhaustive list of documents confirming the relevant IT experience; and
- increase of the immigration quota for IT developers by an additional 1,000 places, by reducing the number of IT security specialists and analysts.
The above changes are expected to bring greater clarity to the quota application process in Ukraine and therefore reduce the number of pending cases. In addition, the Ukrainian government aims to further enhance the relocation conditions for foreign IT specialists and has instructed the State Migration Service of Ukraine to reduce the processing time for applications for a permanent residence permit within the quota to a maximum of 3-4 months.
This is an important step forward in creating and enabling work environment for foreign IT specialists who are considering Ukraine for relocation for various reasons. On the IT companies' side, they may also benefit from the quota by engaging their IT specialist in Ukraine for up to 10 years without the need to obtain a work permit.
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