Certificate of a displaced person

WHAT IS AN IDP CERTIFICATE AND WHO CAN RECEIVE A DISPLACED PERSON STATUS

Certificate of an internally displaced person (IDP certificate) - a document confirming the fact of forced relocation of a person from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea or the zone of ATO, and since 24.02.2022 also from territories where active hostilities are being conducted in connection with open military aggression of Russia against Ukraine. The displaced person certificate is not a change in a person's residence permit and, according to the law, it can be obtained only by persons who moved from the relevant territory in 2014 (or later) due to the anti-terrorist operation, occupation, and hostilities. Thus, the IDP certificate is a record of the fact of movement of persons (primarily citizens of Ukraine) on the territory of Ukraine during military operations, as well as a record of a person's location in a specific administrative-territorial unit and at a specific address.

So, who could receive a certificate of a displaced person before February 24, 2022:
- citizens of Ukraine, registered in Crimea or the ATO area before 2014 and until today
- foreigners with a residence permit in Ukraine and registered in Crimea or the ATO zone before 2014 and until today
- persons who are not registered in the ATO zone or Crimea, but were in the relevant territory in April-May of 2014 and have documentary proof of such fact.

Who can get an IDP certificate today:

• all citizens of Ukraine and foreigners who have a registered place of residence in the territories where active hostilities are taking place, or persons who lived in such territories without registration, but have documentary proof of their residence there.

The list of territories whose inhabitants can receive the status of a displaced person is currently large and dynamically changing. Today these are: Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kherson regions. The list of specific settlements of these regions was approved by the order of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.

WHO NEEDS TO RECEIVE AN ISP CERTIFICATE

The IDP's certificate is not a change in a person's residence permit, it is not a "temporary registration" or anything like that. The certificate of the IDP confirms the very fact of the transfer of a person from the occupied Crimea and the zones of ATO in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, zones of active hostilities to the territory controlled by Ukraine. Also, the displaced person's certificate records the place (address) where the person moved to, which makes it possible to keep records of IDP and assign them address-based relocation benefits. As for the question of whether it is necessary to obtain an IDP certificate. It is up to these persons. However, we can single out some typical situations in which an IDP certificate is required as a mandatory document:

• Opening of accounts in Ukrainian banks (according to the new regulations of the NBU, the IDP's certificate confirms the status of a "resident" of Ukraine in relation to bank transactions)
• Placement of children in schools and preschool institutions (currently, admission to secondary and preschool education institutions takes place at the place of registration or according to the certificate of the IDP)
• Participation in state programs "Affordable housing"
• Re-registration of Individual entrepreneurs on the controlled territory
• Obtaining loans
• Registration of pensions for immigrants
• Receiving address assistance for resettlement
• Military registration when changing the place of registration (for men)
• Recently - receiving aid from the UN, UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations

What to do if the authorities don't issue an IDP certificate

Situations often arise when the social security authorities, which are authorized to issue an IDP certificate, do not do this. Most often, such cases occur when a person does not meet all the criteria of an IDP, that is, he/she cannot confirm the fact of his/her residence in the territory of Crimea or the ATO zone in 2014. In the event that you do not have any supporting documents, you can ask to be issued a certificate of any type, which states that you are not a forced IDP. In the same way, you can refuse to receive an IDP's certificate if you own a house in the controlled territory. Although you can appeal this refusal in an administrative or judicial procedure, since th`e availability of housing is an obstacle to receiving targeted assistance, it does not in any way affect the right of a person to receive the status of an internally displaced person.

CERTIFICATE OF THE IDP AND ASSISTANCE TO DISPLACED PERSONS

You can apply to the social protection authorities of the population to write an application for receiving monetary assistance from the state for resettlement immediately upon registration of the certificate of IDP or after receiving it. The size of such monetary assistance is currently UAH2000 (UAH3000 for children and the disabled persons). It is impossible to receive financial assistance if a person moves abroad.