For people who help others
This page is not for someone with a problem right now. It is for you — the person standing beside them when the problem arrives.
We do not meet someone on the day their father dies, or the day a school asks for a birth certificate, or the day a voice on the phone offers to "speed up the review". You do. So the most useful thing we can do is hand you a ready sheet to pass on.
A parish — priest, sisters, parish council
When this comes up in your work
- someone in the family has died in Ukraine
- an elderly parishioner receives a Ukrainian pension
- someone is going to the consulate and does not know what to take
- someone needs a document from Ukraine and does not know where to start
The one thing worth knowing
If you learn of a death in Ukraine, tell the family one thing: the application accepting the inheritance must reach a notary within SIX MONTHS of the death — not of the day they found out. Everything else comes afterwards and has no deadline. People lose inheritances because they wait until the paperwork is complete.
What to keep ready
A school — Saturday, Sunday, or the local one our children attend
When this comes up in your work
- enrolling a child needs a Ukrainian birth certificate
- parents ask how to keep Ukrainian alive at home
- a parent needs a Ukrainian diploma recognised in order to work
- the child’s documents spell the surname differently from the parents’
The one thing worth knowing
The commonest hidden problem at enrolment is not the document but the spelling of the name. If the certificate and the passport spell the surname differently, the office may refuse the bundle — and it is repaired with a document, not an explanation. Worth telling parents in advance rather than on the day.
What to keep ready
A credit union, bank or accountant — anywhere money is the subject
When this comes up in your work
- someone sends money home and loses on the exchange rate
- someone is about to sell a flat in Ukraine
- a client describes a "service" that sounds like a scam
- someone does not know which country they are tax resident in
The one thing worth knowing
One rule catches most scams aimed at Ukrainians abroad: in real support programmes money flows FROM the sponsor, never TO them. A fee "to process", "to expedite" or "for a slot" is the tell, not the service. And separately: accounts, cards and SIM cards are never for rent, at any price, to anyone.
What to keep ready
A community organisation, volunteer or coordinator
When this comes up in your work
- someone has just arrived and does not know where to start
- someone’s protection status is expiring
- someone is looking for their community in a new city
- the same question has come up ten times this week
The one thing worth knowing
If one question keeps coming back, write and tell us. We will turn it into an answer with a source and a date, and next time you hand over a page that can be cited rather than your own memory. Corrections and recurring questions are the most valuable mail we get.
What to keep ready
Permission — already given
- Print as many as you need. No need to ask, nothing to pay, attribution optional.
- Hand them out, send them, paste them into a messenger. The sheets were built for exactly that — many carry a "copy as text" button.
- Reprint in a bulletin or newsletter. Ready-made descriptions and the logo are on the "link to us" page.
- Tell us when something is wrong. You will see the error before we do, because you see the live cases.
What we do not do
We do not give legal advice, run cases, or recommend particular lawyers or intermediaries. We explain the procedure and link the body that publishes it. When the honest answer is "this needs a lawyer", we say so — and we would suggest you do too.