Anyone got experience with getting an employee out of Ukraine?

UberTiger

UberTiger

UberTiger

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We currently have a contractor based in Ukraine.

At the moment though it seems Ukrainian national and dual-national males aged 18 to 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.

We'd like to hire him full time and bring him to England ASAP.

I've done a little research so far and it seems there is a sponsorship scheme, but I'm not sure if that's a viable or recognised path in this situation.

I'd love to hear from anyone that may have any experience or success with this. Thanks
 
I guess the issue is that the sponsopship scheme is on the UK side, it doesn't help them actually get out of Ukraine. I know of some people who have housed Ukranians escaping the war, but it's generally been women/elderly/children. Unsure of any men involved.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure what actually even happens at the moment if you show up at the airport. Surely people must be travelling back and forth for business, or is it literal total lockdown?

If so, how do Ukrainians involved with international businesses keep business alive and make meetings if they can't travel?

It's difficult to find out what the best and most swift legal route for this may be.

Our chap has no children, and no disabilities that I'm aware of, but he also hasn't been conscripted or has any reason to believe he will be imminently. He's just in limbo working remotely and we could really do with him over here to work with the rest of the team locally.
 
We're over 2 years in and nothing has changed for him. So yes, really.

If you've got nothing of value to add with respect to my original question then please refrain from contributing.
 
UberTiger said:
We're over 2 years in and nothing has changed for him. So yes, really.

If you've got nothing of value to add with respect to my original question then please refrain from contributing.
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dlocker's reply might have been a bit terse but current news is the situation is rapidly changing manpower wise in Ukraine and they are now starting to dip into demographics they currently have left untouched so that not imminently might quickly not be the case given current news.
 
I appreciate that. The fact remains, this is a long term team member, who is incredibly valuable to a UK based company (and family of team members and peers that go back for over a decade) and I'm trying to evaluate what options we may have to ensure this remains the case.
 
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It's a pretty corner case scenario and I'd bet no-one on here has gone through this to advise on what is legally possible.

In reality I suspect there's absolutely zero you can do from the UK side, and it will be on him to look at legal possibilities of leaving the country. But as mentioned above, if they're starting to enlist any remaining able-bodied people, and he doesn't have any children or disabilities then he likely fits the criteria for enlisting.

It's a real **** scenario all round really.

If he's so far skated under the radar for 2 years without being called up, is there any reason for him not to continue doing this? - as soon as he starts looking at leaving then he may be noticed. Or is he worried that time is approaching and he's looking at getting out as soon as possible.
 
Semple said:
is there any reason for him not to continue doing this?
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We do actually need him over here to work with the team locally. Things are ramping up (company wise) and we need him in the same space as the rest of us so we can better communicate and keep up momentum.

He didn't even live there before the war, for the best part of a decade. He visited family after it began, now he's stuck according to publicly accessible docs and info pages. But now he wants to leave now as we need him local, and he wants to be with us, so we're in this conundrum.
 
UberTiger said:
He didn't even live there before the war, for the best part of a decade. He visited family after it began
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Which means he's not even eligible for the sponsorship scheme, as applicants need to have lived there prior to 1st Feb 2022. It wasn't intended for people like him anyway.

If your company are looking to recruit from abroad then shouldn't they be asking their immigration lawyers about visa stuff? From the sounds of it they would need to sponsor him for a work visa, like everyone else. No special treatment just because he's Ukrainian. Whether that would allow him to leave Ukraine... Well that's something he should be finding out, not you.
 
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Don't take my word for it but seems it is pretty much a hard nope if between 18 and 60 and liable for military service currently, the only exceptions is if they are working for a company (with international presence) which provides a critical benefit to Ukraine either militarily or economically.
 
Maybe a longshot, but there's a software company called Querix in Southampton that has English and Ukrainian offices, so maybe if you contacted them, they might be able to give you some advice. I don't know if any of the Ukrainians are working in the UK though.
 
UberTiger said:
We do actually need him over here to work with the team locally. Things are ramping up (company wise) and we need him in the same space as the rest of us so we can better communicate and keep up momentum.
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I'm fairly sure this is currently low on Ukraine's list of excuses at the moment, I am not an expert of employment law (esp international employment law) but I really don't think your companies needs is something the Ukraine will take into account should they need to call him up.

Someone else mentioned if he's gone under the radar this far then maybe raising this is not in his best interests, what's the law round him going across the border to another country to fly from there, guess he couldn't get across?
 
UberTiger said:
We're over 2 years in and nothing has changed for him. So yes, really.
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How old is he? They're (bizarrely) not mobilising 18-25 years olds and haven't since the start of the invasion.

UberTiger said:
I appreciate that. The fact remains, this is a long term team member, who is incredibly valuable to a UK based company (and family of team members and peers that go back for over a decade) and I'm trying to evaluate what options we may have to ensure this remains the case.
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Is this UK company valuable to Ukraine though - if not then I don't see why they'd make an exception - essentially what's the justification for him leaving?

He's already employed by you in Ukraine (so bringing money into the country) and might be liable to mobilisation in future - so they'd be losing a taxpayer and a potential soldier.

AFAIK, in addition to the other reasons mentioned, students might also be an exception.
 
I went through these options in 2022 as I had a team of 3 full time contractors in Ukraine.

I’m sorry to say that you can’t do much. One of them ended up paying a good few thousand to a ‘local official’ to get out of the country and made his way over, one made it to Germany I believe and the other didn’t know the right people who could line up a ‘local official’.

In the end, my business suffered partly as a result of skilled staff shortages so had to close up shop but it’s an awful situation for the skilled workers there.
 
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