Ukraine e-residency in 2026: where the programme actually stands

The short answer

• New applications are suspended. The official uResidency portal carries the notice: “Acceptance of new applications is temporarily suspended. We are preparing a new format for you.” The most recent news item on the portal is dated 26 September 2025 and is headed “We are creating an updated uResidency format”. Checked on 5 November 2026.
• Four countries, not the world. The portal states that at this stage the programme is open to citizens of Pakistan, Thailand, India and Slovenia who have reached the age of 18.
• The tax is 5 per cent, withheld by your bank. Under the Tax Code, as amended by Law No. 2654-IX of 6 October 2022, an e-resident is a single tax payer of the third group. The bank where the account is held is the tax agent and remits the tax itself.
• The ceiling is 1,167 minimum wages per year. Above it the rate becomes 15 per cent. The minimum wage from 1 January 2026 is 8,647 hryvnia, so the 2026 ceiling is 10,091,049 hryvnia of income.
• It gives you nothing at the border. The portal is explicit: the status gives no benefit for staying in Ukraine, crossing the border, obtaining a residence permit, acquiring citizenship or refugee status.
• The state service itself is free. The bank charges its own account fees separately.

Where the programme stands right now

uResidency launched to citizens of the first four countries in September 2024. In September 2025 the portal announced that an updated format was being prepared, and the application form was closed. That notice is still on the front page.

Nothing has been repealed. Law No. 2654-IX is in force, the Tax Code provisions on e-residents are in force, and the “E-resident” information system exists. What is paused is the intake of new applications, which is an administrative decision, not a change in the law.

If you already hold the status, note that it runs for twelve months from the issue of your electronic signature and that renewal requires another visit to a Ukrainian consulate.

Who can be an e-resident, and who is barred

The Tax Code defines an e-resident as a foreigner who has reached eighteen, is not a tax resident of Ukraine, has obtained qualified electronic trust services and is entered in the “E-resident” information system.

Expressly excluded

• Citizens of Ukraine.
• Foreigners who hold the right to permanent residence in Ukraine, or who are Ukrainian tax residents.
• Stateless persons.
• Persons who receive income from a source in Ukraine for goods, works or services, other than passive income.
• Citizens or residents of states that are not on the approved list, which is set by the ministry responsible for digital policy in agreement with the financial monitoring authority.

Two practical consequences people miss. If you are already registered as a private entrepreneur in Ukraine, you are a Ukrainian tax resident and the status is closed to you. If you are the ultimate beneficiary of a Ukrainian company and your centre of vital interests is in Ukraine, the same applies.

The tax deal, in plain figures

This is the part of the design that is genuinely good. You do not calculate anything, you do not file anything, and the money arrives net of tax. It is also why the bank account is not optional: without it there is no tax agent and no mechanism.

What e-residency does not give you

The state portal answers this in one line, and it is worth quoting because the misunderstanding is expensive: the status “does not provide benefits for staying on the territory of Ukraine or crossing the border, obtaining a residence permit, acquiring citizenship, recognition as a refugee or a person in need of additional protection”.

It is a digital presence, not a migration status. If what you actually want is to live in Ukraine, e-residency is the wrong instrument and always was.

Other limits worth knowing before you plan a business around it

• No employees. The portal states that at this stage an e-resident may not employ other people. The Tax Code wording is that e-residents do not use the labour of hired persons who are citizens or residents of Ukraine.
• No Ukrainian clients for services. A contract under which you supply services and earn income sourced in Ukraine is not permissible. You may receive services in Ukraine.
• Sole trader only. The business form is the Ukrainian private entrepreneur, with the liability that goes with it. You own all of it and you answer for all of it.
• Third group restrictions apply. Gambling and betting, currency exchange, excise goods, precious metals, stones and minerals, financial intermediation and enterprise management, postal and telephony services, and trade in art and antiques are all out, as they are for any third group payer. Licensed activities are out too.
• A consulate visit is unavoidable. Physical identification at a Ukrainian consulate in your country of residence is mandatory. You do not have to come to Ukraine, but you do have to appear in person somewhere.

If you are not from those four countries

This is most people who find this page, so here is the honest comparison. Nothing substitutes for e-residency exactly, because nothing else gives a non-resident a 5 per cent regime with the bank doing the paperwork. What does exist is a set of ordinary routes that are open today.

The trade is straightforward. A Ukrainian company pays Ukrainian company taxes and needs real accounting, but it has no country list, no income ceiling, no ban on Ukrainian clients and no ban on employing people. For most businesses that is the better instrument anyway.

What it costs

The state charges nothing for e-resident status itself. Bank account fees, notarial fees, translations and state registration fees are paid separately and are not part of our fee.

How we work on this

1. We check whether you are eligible at all. Nationality, tax residence, whether you already have Ukrainian registrations, and where your income comes from. Three of the five exclusions catch people who assumed they were fine.
2. We tell you plainly if the answer is no. With the programme closed to new applications, for most people today it is. We would rather say that in the first email than bill you for a queue.
3. We price the alternative against your facts. A Ukrainian company, a tax number, or a residence route, with the real cost of each and what it obliges you to do afterwards.
4. We do the filing. Registration, the tax number, the bank, and the correspondence with the authorities, under a power of attorney where that saves you a trip.

Common questions

UA-Residency is the practice of Taras Guk, a licensed Ukrainian attorney in Kyiv (certificate KV No. 000685). E-resident status is granted by the Ukrainian state through the uResidency system; we do not grant it and we cannot influence when applications reopen. Tax rates, the minimum wage and the list of eligible states are set by Ukrainian law and may change without notice. See also our pages on company registration in Ukraine, the Ukrainian tax number and our services.

Sources: Law of Ukraine No. 2654-IX of 6 October 2022, in force from 1 April 2023; the Tax Code of Ukraine; the State Tax Service of Ukraine; the official uResidency portal at e-resident.diia.gov.ua, checked on 5 November 2026.

Last updated: 5 November 2026