Temporary Protection Directive Ukraine

The Temporary Protection Directive entitles you to reception and health care. And education for minor children. As well as the possibility to work in the Netherlands. If you are covered by the directive, you may stay in the Netherlands until 4 March 2023. You will be covered by the directive in the Netherlands if one of the following situations applies to you.

Are you covered by the directive? Then you need to go to your local town hall to register in the Personal Records Database (in Dutch: Basisregistratie Personen or BRP). Registration means that you pass on your personal data and (temporary) address to the local council (gemeente). How you register depends on your local council. For more information about this, please contact the council where you want to register.

The local council must know who you are and where you come from. That is why it needs a number of documents from you to be able to register you. These documents are:

• A passport or other proof of identity.
• A Ukrainian residence permit that was valid on 23 February 2022 (if you are not Ukrainian).

The local council will check whether you have the correct documents. Do they have doubts about your documents? Then the local council will contact the IND. It may be that additional research will be done, to know for sure who you are and where you come from. You then cannot yet register at the town hall. Not even if your family members do have Ukrainian nationality.

You will soon be able to obtain a proof from the IND that you may live and work in the Netherlands. At this moment, it is not yet possible to collect this proof of residency. How and when you will be able to obtain this proof, will be explained on this webpage soon.

It is not a problem if you do not have this proof of residency yet. You are allowed to stay and work in the Netherlands when you are registered with the local council. However, it is important that you collect the proof as soon as possible. Read in advance what you can expect at the pick-up location: 

• On the agreed date, go to the IND location. Do you have children who also come under the directive? Then they must come with you. Bring your documents with you.
• At the IND you will complete an application form. The IND uses the application form to register you correctly in our system. If you have children aged under 15, they will also be on your application form.
• If you are 12 years and older, you will fill in an antecedents certificate. On this form you will state whether you have ever committed a crime or criminal offence. You will also sign this certificate. This is how the IND checks that you are not a danger to the public order.
• You will receive a sticker in your passport or on a separate piece of paper. Or card. At the same time, you will be given a leaflet in your own language with more information about the sticker.

Sticker or card

Whether you receive a sticker or card depends on your situation. Do you have a passport? Then we usually place a sticker in your passport. But there may be a reason not to place the sticker in your passport, but on a separate paper. If you do not have a valid passport, then you will receive a card instead of a sticker. The IND will then first take a passport photo of you at the IND location. You will receive a letter stating when you can pick up the card.

Making an appointment to collect the proof of residency

In the course of June 2022 you can make an appointment online to collect your proof of residency. At this moment, a system is being developed in which you can schedule an appointment. When this appointment planner is ready, you will read about it on this page. Collecting the proof of residency will be possible by appointment only.

Until the appointment planner is ready, the IND invites people in a few municipalities to collect proof of residency in advance. If this applies to your municipality, you will receive an invitation letter from the IND. This letter states when and where you can collect the proof.

Your application for residency under the directive officially starts when you register at your town hall. Then you still need to sign the application form at the IND. This can be done from early June 2022 at a location near you. This form is called an M35H and is an official asylum application. You can only fill out this form at the location where you will soon be collecting your proof of residency by appointment.

No regular asylum application

Because you come under the Temporary Protection Directive, you have different rights to the regular asylum application. For example, you are allowed to work. Since you come under the directive, you cannot submit the regular asylum application. You cannot register in Ter Apel.

Applying for residency under the directive is free of charge.

As long as the Temporary Protection Directive applies to you, the IND will not decide on your application. Because we do not take a decision, you will also not receive a residence permit. During the application process, a sticker or card is proof of your residency. You are allowed to live and work in the Netherlands with your proof of residency. As soon as you can collect this proof from the IND, you will read it on this page.

Validity of proof of residency

The sticker or the card is valid for 1 year, from 4 March 2022 until 4 March 2023.  Your sticker or card is only valid in the Netherlands. Have you applied to a different European Union country for protection? Then your protection in the Netherlands will stop. 

Travelling as a Ukrainian

Do you have Ukrainian nationality? Then you can travel within the European Union. You can also travel to and from Ukraine. You will need a valid biometric passport with a proof of residency. With this you prove abroad that you have protection in the Netherlands until 4 March 2023. How long you can be in another EU country with this proof is different for each country. There is no general rule for this. Check this first with the country you want to travel to. Sometimes you receive a card as a proof of residency. You will not be able to travel with this, the card is not a travel document. It is not yet possible to collect a proof of residency.

You can also travel to EU countries if you are still in your visa-exempt term. You are allowed to be in the European Union up to 90 days within a period of 180 days. You can then, for example, seek protection in another EU country. Has your visa-exempt term expired and do you not have a proof of residency yet? Then travelling is at your own risk. The IND will not give you a visa to travel back to the Netherlands (return visa, in Dutch terugkeervisum or TKV). You cannot make an appointment for a return visa at an IND desk. Travelling outside the EU is also at your own risk. You will not get a return visa for this either. This also applies when you receive your proof of residency.

Travelling as a non-Ukrainian

If you do not have Ukrainian nationality, travelling within and outside the EU is at your own risk. The IND will not give you a return visa. You cannot make an appointment for a return visa at an IND desk. This also applies when you receive your proof of residency.

Working in the Netherlands

Everyone who comes under the Temporary Protection Directive can work in the Netherlands without a work permit (in Dutch: tewerkstellingsvergunning or twv). This means that an employer does not have to request a work permit for you. And that you can easily look for a job, if you want to. The work permit exemption applies to all work in employment. You will need an employment contract with an employer. You must also meet the following requirements:

• You come under the Temporary Protection Directive. We advise you to register at the local council if you come under the directive. 
• You need a proof of residency showing that you are allowed to be in the Netherlands. You will receive a sticker or card as proof. It is not yet possible to collect this proof at the IND. That is why a proof of residency is not required until 1 September 2022. Until that day, you can show that you are allowed to be in the Netherlands in the following way:
  • Are you Ukrainian? Proof of your nationality is sufficient. For example, a passport, or a statement from the Ukranian embassy.
  • Are you not Ukrainian? Then you need a Ukranian residence permit or recognition as a refugee that was valid on 23 February 2022.

The requirements for the exemption also apply if want to work as a volunteer. The organisation where you want to work must then request a volunteer declaration from the UWV. You may also work as a trainee, when you, your employer and your school have signed a trainee contract. A twv is required if you want to work as a self-employed person.

Starting on 1 April 2022, employers must notify the Employee Insurance Agency (in Dutch: UWV)  that they are employing someone.

• Coming to the Netherlands and reception
• Flexible handling of residence permits Ukrainians
• Temporarily no decisions on asylum applications Ukrainians

Rules and regulations

• ​Council Directive 2001/55/EC (Temporary Protection Directive)
• Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022

Questions?

Our website contains all the latest information known to us. We will update our website immediately as soon as there is more news. Our employees at the IND desks and on our phone lines do not have more information than you can read here. Would you rather speak to someone in person? Then call the IND and do not go to an IND desk. Please call 088 043 0430 (standard charges apply) and press 0. From abroad please call +31 88 043 0430.

Responsible organisation

Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst

Questions?​

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