Why does Diya issue an error when ordering a criminal record statement and what to do if the data is not found in the Ministry of Internal Affairs register

The digitization of government services in Ukraine has significantly simplified life for citizens. Obtaining various certificates and extracts with just a few clicks via the “Diya” app or portal has become an everyday reality. The most popular request in the area of personal documents remains the electronic certificate of no criminal record.

It is required for visa applications, employment, document restoration, and submission to foreign institutions. However, the automated system does not always work flawlessly. Thousands of Ukrainians face an unpleasant situation every month: instead of the finished document, a notification such as “Data not found” or “Request processing error” appears on their smartphone screen, or the system simply “freezes” in an endless processing loop.

In this article, experts from the Enwolt law firm will explain in detail why errors occur when ordering a criminal record extract online, what underlying causes are behind them, and how to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Top 5 reasons why Diya returns an error or cannot find the extract

When you submit a request through Diya, the app does not generate the document itself—it simply sends an electronic request to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Information and Analytical System (IAS MIA). If a discrepancy occurs at any stage of the automatic data retrieval process, the system returns an error.

Here are the main reasons why the automated system fails:

1. The presence of people with the same name (exact match of full name and date of birth)

This is the most common problem for people with common surnames and first names. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs database contains a “duplicate” of you who has a criminal record or is under investigation, Dii’s artificial intelligence cannot independently distinguish between the two. The request is automatically blocked and sent for manual verification by Ministry of Internal Affairs staff, which can take weeks.

2. Changes to personal information (last name, first name, or middle name)

If you recently got married, divorced, or changed your last name for other reasons, government registries may not have had time to sync. Women face this issue particularly often when the data in passport demographic databases has been updated, but in the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ archival records, information about past offenses—or the lack thereof—is still linked to their maiden name.

3. Technical errors and outdated Ministry of Internal Affairs archives

A significant portion of criminal and administrative cases from previous years (especially those prior to the 2010s) are stored in regional paper or outdated digital archives. If you have ever been involved in a court case that ended in an acquittal, dismissal due to the statute of limitations, or decriminalization of the offense, the automated system only sees the “marker” of the court case but does not see the final decision. The program plays it safe and returns an error.

4. Errors in transliteration or when filling out the application

An incorrectly placed apostrophe in a surname, replacing the letter “е” with “є” or “и” with “і” during manual data entry or BankID reading—even the smallest technical error results in a “Data not found” status.

5. Simple server overload

During periods of mass document submission (for example, during new waves of mobilization, university admissions, or the opening of seasonal visas for travel abroad), the servers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Diya simply cannot handle millions of requests per second, causing the system to return an internal server error.

What should you do if Diya “freezes” or returns a rejection?

If the automated service was unable to help, you have several options:

1. Resubmit your request via the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) web portal. Sometimes submitting your request directly through the MIA’s official e-services website using an electronic signature (ES) works more reliably than the Diya mobile app.
2. Wait for manual verification. If your request has been forwarded for manual processing by an MIA operator, the wait time can range from the standard 10 minutes to 30 calendar days. If you need the document urgently, this option is not suitable.
3. Seek professional legal assistance. When the government system experiences a prolonged outage, the issue can only be resolved within the legal framework through official requests from attorneys and partners directly to the Department of Informatization of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Quick problem resolution with the Enwolt team

If Diya has blocked your request, you are abroad without access to Ukrainian digital signatures, or you simply don’t have time to wait a month for a response — Enwolt’s lawyers will take care of this issue for you.

Our office is located in the very center of Kyiv, which allows us to quickly interact with the central archives and departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We manually verify the reasons for rejection, help correct discrepancies in the registries, and obtain an official paper-based full criminal record check with a wet seal in just a few days.

You can learn more about the terms for expedited and guaranteed document delivery on the service page—Certificate of No Criminal Record in Ukraine.

Additionally, if you are ordering a certificate for use with foreign institutions, please note that an electronic file will not suffice—you will need a paper original bearing an “Apostille” stamp and a certified translation. You can learn about our full range of services for international legalization and turnkey document preparation on the ENWOLT website homepage.

Don’t let technical glitches in the registries ruin your plans. Entrust the paperwork to the professionals at the ENWOLT Legal Association!