What consular services Ukrainian men will not be able to obtain abroad after the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The day before, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine instructed consular offices abroad to suspend consular actions regarding men of conscription age.

What consular actions are being referred to, and what rights are being restricted for Ukrainian men?

The list of matters handled by consulates is defined in the Consular Charter of Ukraine. It states that a consul is obliged to take measures to ensure that legal entities and citizens of Ukraine fully enjoy all rights granted to them by the legislation of the host country and international treaties, of which Ukraine and the host country are parties.

The issuance of foreign passports, extension of their validity, and making changes to them are crucial tasks. However, consular services extend beyond these.

For instance, consulates execute assignments from investigative or judicial authorities, contract and dissolve marriages, establish paternity (if the parents reside within the consular district and at least one is a citizen of Ukraine), handle custody and guardianship matters and register civil status acts. Consulates may also safeguard money, valuables, papers and documents belonging to Ukrainian citizens. In case Ukrainian citizens are detained or subjected to other measures restricting their freedom, the consulate must ensure that their rights and interests are not infringed upon.

Consulates also perform notarial acts (the full list is available in the order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on the procedure for notarial acts). Specifically:

• Certify contracts, wills and powers of attorney.
• Issue certificates of inheritance rights.
• Issue certificates of ownership rights to part of the common property in marriage.
• Authenticate copies, photocopies of documents and extracts from them.
• Authenticate the authenticity of signatures on documents.
• Authenticate the authenticity of electronic signatures on electronic documents.
• Authenticate translations from one language to another.
• Establish the fact that an individual is alive.
• Certify the fact of an individual’s presence in a specific place.
• Verify the identity of photographs.
• Record the time of document submission.
• Issue duplicates of documents.

Recall that recently, the Ukrainian consulate in London imposed restrictions on the issuance of passports.