What a Genuine Ukrainian Invitation Letter Must Contain
A Ukrainian invitation letter (письмо-запрошення) issued by a company for employment or business purposes must contain specific elements to be legally valid for visa support. Letters missing any of the following are either incomplete or fabricated.
| Company full legal name | The exact name as it appears in the Unified State Register (ЄДР), not a trading name or abbreviation |
|---|---|
| EDRPOU number | 8-digit company registration number, verifiable at opendatabot.ua or youcontrol.com.ua |
| Registered legal address | Must match the company's registered address in ЄДР — not a coworking address or PO box unless registered there |
| Director name and title | Full name and position of the person signing — must match the authorised signatory in ЄДР |
| Purpose of visit | Specific purpose: employment, business meeting, training — not vague phrases like 'professional activities' |
| Intended period | Specific dates or duration; must align with the visa category applied for |
| Financial guarantee clause | For employment letters: statement that the company undertakes to cover repatriation costs in the event of a medical emergency or early termination |
| Company letterhead and seal | Official letterhead with registered address; wet seal (печатка) is standard for Ukrainian business documents |
How to Verify Each Element
Step 1: Verify the EDRPOU
Go to opendatabot.ua (English-language interface available) or data.gov.ua and search for the EDRPOU number on the letter. Confirm that:
- The EDRPOU exists and corresponds to a legal entity (not an individual entrepreneur, unless that is what you expect)
- The company name in the registry exactly matches the name on the letter
- The company status is 'active' — not 'in liquidation', 'suspended' or 'terminated'
- The registration date is reasonable — a company registered one week before your letter was issued is a significant red flag
Step 2: Verify the Address
Cross-reference the address on the letter with the registered address in ЄДР. Then search the address in Google Maps. A genuine operating company will have a physical location that corresponds to the nature of its business. A company claiming to be a fintech firm registered at a residential apartment building in an industrial suburb is unlikely to be genuine.
Step 3: Verify the Director
The ЄДР extract shows the authorised signatory (керівник) of the company. If the letter is signed by 'Director Olena Kovalenko' but the ЄДР shows the director as 'Ihor Petrenko', the letter is either fraudulent or the director has changed and the letter is outdated. Both are disqualifying.
Common Forgery Patterns
Wrong EDRPOU Format
Ukrainian EDRPOUs are exactly 8 digits. Some forged letters show 9 or 10 digit numbers — a formatting error that is impossible on a genuine document because the EDRPOU system cannot generate numbers outside the 8-digit format.
Letters with 7, 9 or 10-digit 'EDRPOU' numbers are forgeries. No exceptions.
Fake Addresses
Forged letters often list addresses that look plausible but do not exist in Ukrainian address databases — invented street numbers, non-existent districts, or correct street names with incorrect building numbers.
Verify every address component: city, street name, building number, and apartment/office number against Ukrainian postal databases or Google Maps.
Missing Legal Clauses
Genuine invitation letters for work purposes contain legally required language about the employer's obligations. Forged letters — often produced from templates circulating among Bangladeshi agent networks — omit these clauses because the forger does not know Ukrainian immigration law.
The absence of a financial guarantee clause in an employment invitation letter is a near-certain indicator of forgery or incompetence.
Our Document Review service checks invitation letters against all these criteria — EDRPOU verification, address check, director verification, and legal clause review — before you submit a visa application.