Applications based on territorial origin come apart on the paper chain, not the law. You need a documented path from the ancestor to you, and every join has to be evidenced by a document — the family story is not evidence. Pick the shape of your family and tick what you already have.
Who in your family was born in Ukraine — or permanently resided there before 24 August 1991?
The law lets the link run through you, a parent, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, a full or half sibling, a son or daughter, or a grandchild. These are the commonest chain shapes.
Pick the relationship and the chain appears below.
Your chain, in order
This is the anchor of the whole case. It has to show the PLACE, not only the date, and the event must predate 24 August 1991.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the parent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
The last document in the chain — the one that ties everything above to the person you are today.
Where to get it:With you, or in the country where you live.
What is missing
Your chain, in order
This is the anchor of the whole case. It has to show the PLACE, not only the date, and the event must predate 24 August 1991.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the grandparent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the parent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
The last document in the chain — the one that ties everything above to the person you are today.
Where to get it:With you, or in the country where you live.
What is missing
Your chain, in order
This is the anchor of the whole case. It has to show the PLACE, not only the date, and the event must predate 24 August 1991.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the great-grandparent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the grandparent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is the join: it must name the parent as a parent. Without it the link is broken, however obvious the family story.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Needed only if the surname or given name changed at this link. If the next document calls the person something else, this is what proves they are the same person.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
The last document in the chain — the one that ties everything above to the person you are today.
Where to get it:With you, or in the country where you live.
What is missing
Your chain, in order
The anchor document. It must show a place of birth on territory that became Ukraine, and an event before 24 August 1991.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
The relationship is proved by a COMMON PARENT: both certificates must name the same person. For a half-sibling one shared parent is enough, but the document has to show it.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
This is where it usually breaks: the shared mother appears under her maiden name on one certificate and her married name on the other. The marriage certificate is what joins them.
Where to get it:Start with the registry: if the record is still in the register, they issue the document. If it has been transferred at the end of its retention period, they will send you to the regional state archive. From abroad both routes run through a consulate or a representative on a power of attorney.
Ties the chain to the person you are today.
Where to get it:With you, or in the country where you live.
What is missing
The three things that break a chain most often
How the name is spelled. The surname in a great-grandmother’s certificate, in your mother’s passport and in your own document are often spelled three different ways. That is joined by a document, not by an explanation — check the name chain with the separate tool below.
The place, not the date. The anchor document has to show the PLACE of birth or residence. A certificate where the place is illegible, or given only as a region, often has to be backed up with an archival certificate.
Territory you cannot reach. If the record was held in temporarily occupied territory the ordinary route does not work and the answer is case by case. Start with the regional archive the locality belonged to, and with our archives guide.
What this tool does NOT do
It does not tell you whether you are entitled to citizenship, and it cannot. That is decided by the State Migration Service and the diplomatic mission, on the law and on your documents. This is a list of papers and who issues them, nothing more.
