Gulf and Malaysian corridors are well-documented. Bangladeshi workers and their families know the names of the scams, the typical fee ranges, and the warning signs. Ukraine is different: most workers and most village-level brokers have limited exposure to how the Ukrainian system actually works. That gap is exactly what fraudulent agents exploit. The scams below are not new in structure — they are adapted versions of classic migration fraud, re-fitted for a destination that most Bangladeshi workers cannot independently verify.
Scam 1: The "Pre-Approved Work Permit"
Agents advertise "pre-approved" or "batch" work permits for Ukraine — sometimes describing them as government-to-government quotas, employer-sponsored batches, or slots reserved through a BAIRA-affiliated arrangement. The pitch is that a Ukrainian employer or a Ukrainian agency has already secured approval for a group of Bangladeshi workers, and you are paying to join that approved batch.
This category of permit does not exist under Ukrainian law. Ukrainian work permits are issued by the State Employment Service (Державна служба зайнятості, DSZ) on an individual basis, for a specific foreign national, employed by a specific Ukrainian legal entity, in a specific job category. There is no pre-approval mechanism, no batch permit, and no quota-based allocation. The DSZ issues a permit after a mandatory labour market test and document review — a process that takes a minimum of 30 working days from complete application submission. Any document issued faster than that was not issued by the DSZ.
- Ask the agent for the specific permit number (серія та номер дозволу на працевлаштування) printed on the document they are showing you.
- Go directly to the DSZ public verification portal at dcz.gov.ua and enter the permit number. If it does not appear, the document is either forged or refers to a permit issued to someone else.
- Confirm that your full name and passport number appear on the permit — not a placeholder or a previous holder's data.
- If the agent refuses to provide a permit number before payment, stop the conversation.
Scam 2: The Ghost Employer
The employer in this scam exists — it has a real EDRPOU (Ukrainian company registration number), a real address in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (ЄДР), and a real-looking employment contract. What it does not have is any actual business activity, any actual employees, or any actual intention to employ you.
Ghost employers are typically one of two types. The first is a dormant shell company — a company that was legally registered but never operated, or ceased operations years ago. The EDRPOU check returns a clean result because the company registration is legitimate; it simply has no economic substance. The second type is a company that is genuinely controlled by the agent or by the agent's Ukrainian partner, registered specifically to issue invitation letters and employment contracts in exchange for kickbacks, with no intention of ever providing a real job.
The worker arrives in Ukraine. There is no job site. There is no accommodation. The phone number on the contract goes unanswered. By this point, the Bangladeshi agency has typically stopped responding, and the worker is stranded with legal status that expires in days.
- Run the EDRPOU number at usr.minjust.gov.ua — check the date of registration, current status, and registered director's name. A company registered less than 12 months ago with no financial disclosure is a red flag.
- Search the company name on Google Maps and Google Street View. Does the registered address correspond to an actual business premises?
- Call the company directly using a phone number you find independently — not the number the agent gave you. Use Ukrainian directory services or the company's own website.
- Request a video call with the HR manager or director named in the employment contract. A real employer will agree. A ghost employer will stall.
- Before making any payment, use our Employer Verification service — we run multi-source registry checks and direct contact verification.
Scam 3: "Guaranteed Visa" Offers
Any agent, agency, or platform that offers a "guaranteed" Ukrainian visa or a "guaranteed" work permit approval is making a fraudulent claim. Full stop.
The Ukrainian Type D employment visa (D-01) is issued by the Embassy of Ukraine in Dhaka under the sovereign discretion of the Ukrainian government. The Embassy has the right to refuse any application for any reason, including without providing a detailed explanation. No third party — not a Bangladeshi recruiting agency, not a Ukrainian law firm, and not an online platform — has any authority to guarantee the outcome of a sovereign visa decision.
The same applies to work permit approvals at the DSZ. The DSZ may refuse a permit application if the employer's documents are incomplete, if the labour market test finds qualified local candidates, or if the DSZ identifies discrepancies in the application. No one can guarantee they will not.
Agents who offer guarantees are either ignorant of how the system works — in which case they cannot competently handle your file — or they are lying, in which case the "guarantee" is a sales tactic with no legal or financial backing. In either case, the guarantee is worthless.
- Any written or verbal guarantee of visa or permit approval is a red flag. The more emphatic the guarantee, the larger the red flag.
- Ask the agent: "What happens if the Embassy refuses my visa application?" If the answer is "that won't happen" rather than a clear refund and escalation policy, you are speaking to a fraudulent operator.
- Kyiv Pathway does not guarantee visa outcomes. We explain exactly what we can and cannot control. See our no-guaranteed-visas policy.
Scam 4: Fake Embassy Appointment Slots
This scam targets workers who have already completed most of their preparation and are ready to submit their D-visa application. The agent charges BDT 20,000–50,000 to "book" a Ukrainian Embassy appointment slot in Dhaka, claiming that appointment slots are scarce, that priority slots cost extra, or that they have a special relationship with VFS Global that can secure faster scheduling.
There are several variants. In the most straightforward, the agent collects the fee and provides a fake appointment confirmation — a document that looks like a VFS Global booking confirmation but contains a reference number that has never been registered in the VFS system. The worker shows up at the Ukrainian Embassy or VFS Global with this document and is turned away. The agent is then unreachable.
In a subtler variant, the agent does book a real appointment but charges a large premium above the actual VFS service fee — presenting the inflated cost as a legitimate "priority" or "express" charge. While this is not always outright fraud, it is an undisclosed markup that the worker would not pay if they booked directly.
- All Ukrainian Embassy visa appointments in Bangladesh are processed through VFS Global. The VFS Global booking portal for Ukraine is publicly accessible — you can book directly without an agent.
- After any appointment is booked, verify the appointment reference number directly on the VFS Global tracking portal. If the reference does not appear, you have a fraudulent document.
- There are no "priority slots" for Ukrainian Embassy appointments that are available to agents but not to the public. Any claim of exclusive access to appointment slots is false.
- The VFS Global service fee is a fixed, published amount. Any amount above that fee charged by an intermediary for "booking" the appointment is an unexplained markup.
Scam 5: The BAIRA Broker Chain
This is the most structurally complex scam on this list, and the hardest to recover from. A BAIRA-licensed recruiting agency in Dhaka or Chittagong markets Ukrainian work permits to Bangladeshi workers. The agency appears legitimate: it has a BAIRA licence, an office, brochures, and in many cases a convincing track record in other corridors (Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore). The agency collects fees.
The BAIRA-licensed agency does not actually process Ukrainian work permits itself. It cannot: Ukraine has no bilateral Manpower Cooperation Agreement with Bangladesh, so the formal BMET-BAIRA system that governs legal migration to MCA countries does not apply. The agency therefore passes the file — and a portion of the fee — to an unlicensed partner: either an informal Ukrainian-connected agent in Dhaka, or a contact in Ukraine who claims to handle the employer-side paperwork.
By the time the fraud is discovered, the fees have passed through multiple hands. The licensed BAIRA agency claims it acted in good faith and that its partner was at fault. The unlicensed intermediary is unregistered and untraceable. The Ukrainian contact has the money and no formal presence in Bangladesh. Recovery across this chain is nearly impossible without formal legal action, which most workers cannot afford to pursue.
For a detailed breakdown of how this fee chain works and what each layer earns, see our BAIRA broker scam economics investigation.
- Verify any BAIRA agent's licence directly at baira.org.bd. A licence is necessary but not sufficient — it tells you the agency is registered, not that it can legally process Ukrainian placements.
- Ask the BAIRA-licensed agency directly: "Does Ukraine have a bilateral Manpower Cooperation Agreement with Bangladesh?" The correct answer is no. If they claim otherwise, they are misinformed or lying.
- Demand direct contact with the Ukrainian employer — not through the agent. Call the employer independently using a number you verified yourself.
- Refuse to pay through a chain of intermediaries. A legitimate service provider will have a transparent, documented fee structure with a named legal entity receiving payment.
- See our full BAIRA broker scam dossier for documented case patterns.
What to Do If You Have Already Been Scammed
If you have paid fees to an agent for Ukrainian migration services and the process has stalled, documents cannot be verified, or the agent has become unresponsive, take these steps immediately:
Document everything
Collect every receipt, bank transfer record, WhatsApp/SMS conversation, document, and contract you have received. Screenshot everything. Store copies in multiple locations. Do not delete any communication with the agent, even if it feels embarrassing.
Report to BMET
The Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training has an Anti-Trafficking and Fraud cell with authority to investigate and sanction BAIRA-licensed agencies. File a written complaint including all documented evidence. BMET can suspend or revoke a BAIRA licence.
Report to Bangladesh Police — Economic Crimes Unit
If you believe criminal fraud was committed — particularly if documents were forged — file a complaint with the Bangladesh Police Economic Crimes Unit. Bring all documentation. Request a case reference number.
Contact the Ukrainian Embassy in Dhaka directly
If you have received documents purporting to be official Ukrainian government documents — a work permit, an invitation letter, a visa approval — contact the Ukrainian Embassy in Dhaka to verify their authenticity. The Embassy can confirm whether a document is genuine.
Consult a qualified lawyer
A Bangladesh-licensed lawyer with experience in labour migration cases can advise on civil recovery options and criminal complaint strategy. Legal consultation costs money, but it is the only reliable path to formal recovery. Do not rely on the original agent's assurances that they will "fix" the situation.
If you are in the early stages of exploring Ukraine as a work destination, the cheapest protection you can buy is a verified eligibility assessment before engaging any agent. Know what the process actually requires before anyone asks you to pay for it.