Suspension of consular services for men of military age abroad: MFA provides explanation
Kyiv • UNN
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has temporarily suspended acceptance of new applications for consular services from Ukrainian men aged 18-60 temporarily residing abroad due to the new law on military service and mobilization, which will come into force on May 18, 2024.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has provided clarifications regarding temporary restrictions on the acceptance of new applications for the provision of consular services to men of military age abroad, UNN reports.
Thus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains that this decision is related to the new law on certain issues of military service, mobilization and military registration, which will come into force on May 18, 2024.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced a temporary suspension of acceptance of new applications for consular actions from the category of Ukrainian citizens, men aged 18-60, temporarily staying abroad (except for applications for issuance of identity cards for returning to Ukraine), as of April 23.
"We emphasize that the decision to suspend the process of providing consular services to the category of Ukrainian citizens defined by law is a temporary step due to the need to resolve issues related to military registration of citizens of mobilization age who are abroad and to resolve technical issues that have arisen in the course of implementing the norms and provisions of the law in cooperation with other relevant state authorities," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.
It is also reported that all applications submitted by Ukrainian citizens to consular offices by April 23 will be considered and processed by consular offices in full.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that only new applications from the category of citizens specified in the new law will not be accepted temporarily, as the time for reviewing such applications may exceed the time remaining before the law comes into force.
The Ministry also announced that after the Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Certain Issues of Military Service, Mobilization and Military Registration" enters into force on May 18, 2024, the process of accepting and reviewing applications for consular actions will continue, taking into account the new requirements arising from the provisions of the law.
It is clarified that after updating the military registration data in the TCC, a male citizen of Ukraine aged 18 to 60 with valid military registration documents will have full access to consular services in accordance with the law.
"The mechanism for updating and verifying military registration data for men aged 18-60 who are temporarily abroad is currently being determined among the available options and agreed upon by the relevant state bodies. As soon as this interagency work is completed, diplomatic missions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will publish additional detailed explanations," the MFA informs.
In addition, it is noted that the restrictions do not apply when the actual recipient of services is not the applicant himself, but his minor child or ward.
It is emphasized that the temporary restrictions do not apply to the provision of consular assistance in case of emergencies with Ukrainian citizens abroad.
"They only apply to the submission of applications for certain consular services by a certain category of citizens within a certain period. If any citizen of Ukraine gets into an emergency situation abroad (road accidents, detention, natural disasters, etc.), the consular service will provide the necessary consular assistance in full within the law," the Foreign Ministry said.