Work permit for foreign Gig specialists

Once again, we remind you that after the end of martial law, foreigners working in Ukraine under gig contracts must obtain a permit to use the labor of foreigners and stateless persons in Ukraine.

For complete understanding, let’s recall the history of the question.

In the profile Law of Ukraine “On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine” which regulates the issue of the operation of the network and gig contracts, paragraph 18) Transitional and final provisions provide for the introduction of Art. 42 of the Law of Ukraine “On Employment of the Population”, paragraph 2 of the following content: “A resident of Diya City can receive work (services) performed (provided) by foreigners and stateless persons under gig contracts, without obtaining a permit. A resident of Diya City may voluntarily obtain a permit for a gig specialist in accordance with the procedure established by this Law. In the case of a voluntary application for a permit for a gig specialist, a resident of Diya City has the rights and obligations of an employer provided for in this section.

This provision was valid until 15.10.2022. It was from this date that large-scale changes to the Law of Ukraine “On Employment of the Population” entered into force, which significantly changed the conditions for obtaining permits for the employment of foreigners and the above-mentioned provision of the law disappeared, and the gig contract became only one of the grounds for obtaining a permit for the employment of foreigners labor of foreigners.

And although in Art. 1 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons” still states that a permit to employ foreigners and stateless persons is a document voluntarily obtained by a resident of Diya City to conclude a gig contract with a foreigner or stateless person, but this provision does not provided a clear opportunity not to obtain permission to conclude gig contracts with foreigners, but only introduced additional legal uncertainty into this issue.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to eliminate this uncertainty by the opposite way. Thus, on January 24, 2023, the Resolution of the CMU No. 68 “On approval of the technical description, sample form, application forms for obtaining, making changes and extending the validity period of the permit for employment of foreigners and stateless persons in Ukraine” entered into force, in paragraph 2 of which it is stated that during martial law, Diya City residents can receive work (services) performed (provided) by gig specialists from among foreigners and stateless persons under gig contracts, without obtaining a permit to use the labor of foreigners and stateless persons in Ukraine . With this, the Government confirmed that, as a general rule, Diya City residents must obtain permits for the employment of foreigners working under gig contracts, but during martial law, there is an exception to this rule and a permit may not be obtained.