Work Permit vs. Visa in Ukraine — What Each Document Does

The Sequence: What Comes First, Second, Third

The legal sequence for employment-based immigration to Ukraine is fixed. Steps cannot be reversed or skipped. Each document depends on the previous one existing:

What the Documents Look Like Physically

Understanding the physical appearance of each document helps identify forgeries:

Work permit (дозвіл на застосування праці):

A paper A5 security form (210 × 148 mm) with a watermark, a green and blue guilloche background and the coat of arms of Ukraine (Cabinet Resolution No. 68 of 24.01.2023, annex 1). It carries a two-letter series and six-digit number, a 35 × 45 mm photo of the worker, the issuing authority, the worker's name, nationality, passport and date of birth, the position, the employer and its EDRPOU code, the date of issue, the permit number, the expiry date and the official's signature. If the document you have been shown is a low-resolution scan without a photo or security background, treat it as suspect.

Type D visa sticker:

A visa sticker affixed inside your passport — typically in the standard Schengen-format biometric visa sticker, containing your name, nationality, visa type (D), validity dates, number of authorised entries, and the Ukrainian Embassy's machine-readable zone. It is issued only physically — it does not exist as a PDF or digital file. If an agent shows you a "Type D visa" as a digital document or scan before you have submitted any application, it is fabricated.

TRP card (посвідка на тимчасове проживання):

A credit-card format biometric document similar in size and format to a European national ID card. Contains your photograph, biometric chip, name, nationality, permit number, ground (e.g., "employment"), validity dates, and DMSU seal. Issued in Ukraine only — it cannot be sent to Bangladesh. You receive it by collecting it at the DMSU office where you applied.

What Each Document Does NOT Authorise

Understanding the limits prevents illegal status situations that result in deportation and entry bans:

• A work permit does not let you enter Ukraine. You still need a Type D visa issued by the embassy.
• A Type D visa does not let you work. You still need a valid work permit in your name for your specific employer.
• A TRP does not replace the work permit. Both must be valid simultaneously while you are employed.
• A Type C tourist or business visa does not permit employment under any circumstances. Working on a C-visa is an administrative offence (Code of Administrative Offences, Art. 203) and can lead to forced return with a 3-year entry ban (Law No. 3773-VI, Arts. 13, 26).
• A work permit for one employer does not permit you to work for a different employer. Each employment relationship requires its own work permit application by that employer.
• A work permit does not expire on the same date as your TRP — they have separate validity periods and must each be renewed independently. Coordinate both with your employer: the work permit extension is filed 20 to 50 calendar days before the permit expires (Law No. 5067-VI, Art. 42-6), and TRP exchange documents can be filed up to the TRP's last day (Resolution No. 322, para. 19).

Working on a Tourist Visa: Legal Consequences

Working in Ukraine without a valid work permit on any visa type — including a C-type tourist visa — is a serious immigration offence under Ukrainian law. Bangladeshi workers who enter on tourist visas (sometimes sold by Dhaka agents as a cheaper fast route) and begin working without a DSZ work permit face the following consequences when discovered:

• Fine: 30–50 tax-free minimum incomes (UAH 510–850) under Art. 203 of the Code of Administrative Offences, which covers work without a required permit.
• Forced return and entry ban: The migration service, the SBU or the border guard can decide on forced return, which may carry a 3-year entry ban (Law No. 3773-VI, Art. 26, parts 1–2). The decision can be challenged in court; if it is not complied with, a further 10-year ban applies.
• Record: The administrative decision stays on file and is considered in later visa, TRP and immigration-permit applications.
• Financial loss: All fees paid to the agent who placed the worker in this illegal situation are non-recoverable. The worker bears the cost of flight home, ban period without income, and the legal costs of any appeal.

No employer can offer "protection" against these consequences once a labour inspection occurs. The employer faces a fine of 20 minimum wages per worker employed without a permit, and 10 minimum wages per worker employed on terms other than the permit or by another employer (Law No. 5067-VI, Art. 53, part 5); these fines do not reduce the immigration penalty imposed on the worker.

Fraud That Exploits This Confusion

Dhaka-based agents frequently sell "work visa" packages that conflate multiple documents into a single opaque product. Common fraud patterns exploiting the permit/visa confusion:

• Agent sells a "work visa" that is actually a Type C tourist visa — legal entry, illegal to work on, deportation risk within weeks of beginning employment.
• Agent shows a document labelled "work permit" that is actually an invitation letter from a ghost company — visually plausible but entirely unverifiable.
• Agent collects fees for a "work permit application" when only the employer can legally submit to DSZ — the agent has no mechanism to actually perform this service.
• Agent presents a forged DSZ document bearing a fabricated permit number — the number either does not exist in the DSZ database or belongs to a different worker's permit.
• Agent shows a “permit” dated before any employer application, or one the issuing employment centre cannot confirm — signalling that it is not a real DSZ permit.

The employment centre publishes its permit decisions on its website (Law No. 5067-VI, Art. 42-7, part 3), and a permit can be confirmed by contacting the regional centre with the permit number and employer EDRPOU. If an agent refuses to provide the verifiable permit number before full payment, the document they are offering is almost certainly not genuine.