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I'm going to Ukraine and I'm told by online sources regarding my citizenship in connection to visiting to Ukraine that I am entitled to stay visa-free 90 days "within a 180 day period". Does this mean I must get out of Ukraine and back in many times as long as total days of being in Ukraine are not more than 90?

Also does it means I can just stay 3 months (90 days) consecutive if I want?

neubert
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SeaMist
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  • What is your citizenship? Do you have a visa already? If so which? –  Dec 01 '16 at 08:40
  • i updated the question, i know for sure im visa free but must stay 90 days in a 180 day period – SeaMist Dec 01 '16 at 08:45
  • The 90/180 rule for Ukraine is a mirror of the rule that governs Schengen visitors. It means you can put your Ukraine itinerary into the Schengen day count calculator and determine your compliance beforehand. See http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/border-crossing/schengen_calculator_en.html Ukraine is trying very hard to join Western Europe and uses it for a model. – Gayot Fow Dec 01 '16 at 09:00
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    @Tom Do you think that "stay 90 days within a 180 day period" would mean different things depending on the asker's citizenship and/or visa? I don't. The question is solely about the meaning of that phrase. The asker's circumstances are irrelevant. – David Richerby Dec 01 '16 at 09:23
  • And be sure to visit the Swallow's Nest. Sure it's touristy, but also awesome... – Gayot Fow Dec 01 '16 at 10:11
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    @GayotFow it's impossible to reach Crimea from Ukraine any longer, unless OP is a Ukrainian citizen. – JonathanReez Dec 01 '16 at 12:43
  • @JonathanReez my bad, but there are carve outs for journalists, mercy missions, charity, and my premises, visiting ancestral graves and living relatives. – Gayot Fow Dec 01 '16 at 13:07
  • @SeaMist you have two great answers, I have up voted both. Are you in a position to check one of them as 'accepted'? Doing so will make them happy about the time they took to research and compose the answer. – Gayot Fow Dec 01 '16 at 13:55
  • @davidricherby - standard Ukraine visas come in both single and multiple entry versions, so without any knowledge of the OPs citizenship and possible visa my question was valid. –  Dec 01 '16 at 14:36

2 Answers2

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According to Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

From 9 September 2015 and on Ukraine's Border Guard Service officers shall be subtracting 180 days from the actual date a foreigner is entering/leaving Ukraine to see whether the 90-day limit has been exceeded.

For instance, if a foreigner enters Ukraine on 9 September Border Guard Service officers shall take away 180 days from that date and check whether the foreigner has overstayed the allowed number of days (90). The same procedure shall be carried out upon all departures.

Which means the 90/180 rule works in exactly the same way as it currently does in the Schengen area.

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JonathanReez
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It means that you can stay visa-free for up to 90 days. However, if you make more than one trip, you can't spend more than 90 out of any consecutive 180 days within Ukraine. So, for example, you couldn't visit Ukraine for 80 days, leave for ten days, and then return for another 11 days because, during the 101 days I just mentioned, you would have been inside Ukraine for 91 days.

Gayot's comment about the rule being the same as Schengen means that a "day" is counted if you spend any part of it at all in Ukraine. So, if you arrive in Ukraine at 2350 on Monday and leave at 0010 on Wednesday, you've spent three days in Ukraine (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday).

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David Richerby
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