Formed a company for US citizen in Ukraine

At the beginning of 2017 a citizen of the USA contacted our law firm in Kiev since he needed services of lawyer in Ukraine. While having a fully functional business back in the United States he decided to move to Ukraine which would allow him to save significant amount of money (cost of living in Ukraine is much cheaper comparing to many other European countries). At the same time level of education, healthcare as well as quality of life in general is very decent. Another major reason of his moving to Ukraine was that it could ensure high mobility which was important since a great deal of his business interests was in European Union countries.

Besides himself, the Client planned to bring his children here as well. That’s why he was interested in getting a legal status, which would allow him to:

• do business in Ukraine;
• stay in Ukraine for unlimited time (as a citizen of the USA by default he could stay in Ukraine not longer than 90 days within 180 days period);
• acquire right to live in Ukraine not only for himself, but also for other members of his family.

As usual our legal services began with a consultation during which our immigration attorneys found the best option for doing business and living in Ukraine. It was decided to register a company which would subsequently serve as a ground for temporary residence permit obtainment.

Upon developing the plan on how to legalize staying of the Client in Ukraine, lawyers representing corporate law practice started the process of legal entity registration. This entity would not only give an opportunity to do business in local jurisdiction and internationally but also serve as an employer for our foreign client. Subsequently the employment would become a legal ground for Ukrainian residency obtainment.

It should be noted that as of the beginning of limited liability company registration (arguably this is the best organizational form for doing business in Ukraine) our Client was already abroad and all legal actions were performed based on a power of attorney.

The first step in the process of company formation was obtainment of ITIN (individual taxpayer identification number) certificate from the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine. We managed to do it in 3 days. At the same time lawyers of our firm drafted charter (articles of incorporation), minutes (protocol) of the general meeting and other corporate documents of the LLC. The documents were prepared with consideration of the company’s specialization which was supposed to be development and licensing of software in Ukraine. As soon as we got ITIN certificate for the Client, we started the incorporation procedure and as of the next day the company was officially included in the official state register of enterprises and organizations of Ukraine.

As the result of prompt and professional work the first stage of legalization of our client’s stay in Ukraine was successfully completed within just one week.