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Укр / Eng
08.11.21

Lyudmyla is a resident of the Stanychno-Luhanskyi district in the Luhansk region. In 2014, due to the lack of passport forms, she received a temporary identity card of a citizen of Ukraine.

Через обставини непереборної сили - негромадянка. Історія Людмили
Photo – RFE/RL

Due to the escalation of hostilities, Lyudmyla lost her documents and was left without a passport. The archive building of the district migration service, where all the data was located, was almost destroyed. Lyudmyla tried to renew at least her birth certificate, but due to the lack of documents, it was impossible.

Woman continued to live near where the modern “contact line” now is. She could not leave her village without identity documents. All because there were checkpoints on the outskirts, through which one can pass only with the proper documents.

In 2018, the district migration service resumed its work. Lyudmyla immediately applied for a passport. However, the service’s file archive was destroyed during the hostilities. Because of this, and because of the woman’s lack of documents, Lyudmyla didn’t receive a passport. To establish her Ukrainian citizenship, she was left with the only option – to go to court.

Our colleagues from the Severodonetsk R2P office helped the woman to overcome all legal issues. Lawyer Serhii Mikhailov started to work with Lyudmyla’s case. He first helped the woman obtain a birth certificate. Then he started collecting information from the school and from the village council, where Lyudmyla lived with her parents. All this information is required to confirm her Ukrainian citizenship.

However, a new problem arose. There were discrepancies in the documents collected by the lawyer on Lyudmyla’s date of birth. Thanks to persistent cooperation with the government agencies, the problem has been resolved and appropriate changes have been made. This managed to confirm the citizenship of Ukraine in a pre-trial procedure. All the necessary documents were submitted to the State Migration Service of Ukraine, and finally, Lyudmyla received her long-awaited passport!

We sincerely congratulate Lyudmyla! As she said herself, at the moment when you hold your passport in your hands, you understand that you are a part of society, that you are a citizen of Ukraine!

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