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Useful information for citizens of Ukraine

Information on temporary refuge, as well as employment and current humanitarian aid.

Frequently asked questions and answers for citizens of Ukraine with temporary refuge status

Current information

UNICEF and IOM Support for persons with severe disability

For more detailed information and frequently asked questions about coming to the territory of Slovakia, please visit: https://ua.gov.sk/General information

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic also publishes information for citizens who are in Ukraine and for people coming from Ukraine: https://www.mzv.sk/ukrajina

Temporary refuge

Who is eligible to apply?

Citizens of Ukraine and persons who had international or equivalent national protection in Ukraine and their following family members (as long as the family resided in Ukraine before 24 February 2022) can apply for temporary refuge:

• spouse
• a minor child of the person or his or her spouse
• parent of a minor child (only in the case of a child who is a citizen of Ukraine)
• another close relative who has lived in the same household with a citizen of Ukraine or a person granted protection and has been wholly or partially dependent on his or her relative.

A foreigner who is not a citizen of Ukraine, is a permanent resident in the territory of Ukraine and is unable to return to his or her country or region under safe and stable conditions may also apply for temporary refuge.

In the meantime, temporary refuge will be provided until 4 March 2023.

Pass for foreigners

Citizens of Ukraine who have been granted temporary refuge will be issued with a card by the competent departments of the Border and Aliens Police Office of the Presidium of the Police Force. In accordance with the Asylum Act, they are issued a document of tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic designated temporary refuge.

Employment

An employer may employ a third-country national within the meaning of Section 23a(1)(k) of the Employment Services Act who has been granted temporary refuge. In the case of employment of this third-country national, neither a certificate of the possibility of filling a vacancy corresponding to a highly qualified job, nor a certificate of the possibility of filling a vacancy, nor an employment permit is required.

Employment can be in the form of an employment relationship (i.e. based on an employment contract) or in the form of an agreement for work performed outside the employment relationship.

Pursuant to the Employment Services Act, the employer is obliged to provide the relevant labour office according to the place of work on a prescribed form - the information card - with employment data, no later than seven working days from the date of commencement of employment and no later than seven working days from the date of termination of employment. The employer shall attach to the information card a copy of the employment relationship and a copy of the document of tolerated stay in the territory of the Slovak Republic designated "REFUGEE", from 30 March 2022 with a new designation "TEPORARY REFUGE".

A third-country national employed within the meaning of Section 23a(1)(k) of the Employment Services Act may also be temporarily assigned to perform work for a user employer.

USEFUL INFORMATION FOR UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ON EMPLOYMENT

Workplaces of labour, social affairs and family offices

Subsidies for children

A child of a refugee, asylum seeker or other foreigner legally residing in the territory of the Slovak Republic, who attends a kindergarten or primary school and meets the conditions for granting a subsidy (participates in the educational process in the kindergarten or primary school, receives meals and belongs to one of the eligible groups of children), may also be granted a subsidy for meals.

1.This subsidy may be granted to children from households receiving material need assistance or children attending a kindergarten or primary school if at least 50% of the children in the kindergarten or primary school are children from households receiving material need assistance.

2. A subsidy for meals may be granted too if the child attends primary school or the last year of kindergarten on the grounds that the child's legal representative cannot claim the so-called tax bonus for the child pursuant  of Act No. 595/2003 Coll. on Income Tax, as amended. The child's legal representative proves this fact by the statutory declaration (UA-SK),

3. A meal subsidy can also be provided to a child who attends kindergarten or primary school, if this child is from a household whose income is no more than the minimum subsistence amount one month before the application for the meal subsidy is submitted. In such a case, the child's legal representative shall submit the income assessment form (UA-SK) to the authority in the territorial district in which the household resides in the territory of the Slovak Republic.

It is necessary to ask about the granting of a subsidy for meals when enrolling a child in kindergarten or primary school, and the school's founder or the authority will guide the parent on how to proceed. The founder, or the authority, also has the above forms - the statutory declaration and the income assessment form - available for the parent to use to arrange the meal subsidy.

Children from Ukraine integrated into schools in accordance with the Subsidies Act may also be granted subsidies for school supplies from September 2022 onwards, subject to the conditions of the Subsidies Act.

State social benefits

Ukrainian citizens with temporary refuge status are not entitled to state social benefits such as child allowance, parental allowance, maintenance allowance, funeral allowance or childbirth allowance. These state social benefits are subject to temporary or permanent residence.

Ukrainian citizens may be entitled, for example, to parental allowance or child allowance if the child's parent is gainfully employed in the Slovak Republic and has a temporary residence there. 

Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 93/2022 effective from 30 March 2022 defines a person with special protection (Ukrainian citizens) as a natural person:

1. to whom temporary refuge is provided
2. who is an applicant for asylum or subsidiary protection
3. who has acquired temporary residence.

According to the above-mentioned Resolution, Ukrainian citizens with the status of a person with special protection may claim:

- childcare allowance for a child up to three years of age or up to six years of age of a child with a long-term adverse health condition (both the claimant and the child must be a person with special protection) and the claimant is gainfully employed.

• allowances by which the state supports substitute care for the child:

 Application for childcare allowance

Unaccompanied minors

In the case of unaccompanied minors, in other words, children who are not citizens of the Slovak Republic and are staying in Slovakia without a parent or other adult accompanying them to whom they could be entrusted to the care of, the Slovak Republic is governed by the legislation in force (both Slovak and European legislation).

If the Department of Labour becomes aware of such a child, the authority for social and legal protection of children and social guardianship, in whose district the child is located, is obliged to immediately submit a petition to the court for the issuance of an urgent measure, to ensure that the child's basic living needs are satisfied and that he/she is admitted to a centre for children and families. The process is very fast.

The Central Office for Labour, Social Affairs and Family communicates directly with offices and institutions, among other things coordinating the filling of vacancies in centres for children and families. In the current situation, the Central Office has prepared centres for children and families for unaccompanied minors to take care of them. Their capacities have been expanded.

The Central Office for Labour further sets tasks for labour offices in this matter, manages vacant capacities, manages transfers of children, and resolves problematic situations.

USEFUL INFORMATION FOR UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ON UNACCOMPANIED MINORS

Humanitarian aid

The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic cooperates closely with the Archdiocesan Charity Košice, which has already announced a nationwide collection to help people in Ukraine. In addition to humanitarian aid for people fleeing before the war, the charity is ready to provide especially families with children with accommodation in its facilities, which are located in the east of Slovakia. 

The Department of Labour remains supportive and shall provide them with a supply of disinfectants if needed, as well as other protective equipment such as drapes, protective clothes, and tests.

Link to the call: Charity announces a collection: Let's help the people of Ukraine!

Through the Who Will Help Ukraine initiative you can donate any amount, 100 percent of the money collected will go to humanitarian aid for Ukraine or to help Ukrainians who will seek safety in our territory.

Information on current collections is also published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic: https://www.mzv.sk/ukrajina

Accommodation

Ukrainians arriving in Slovakia can find information about accommodation options on the website pomocpreukrajinu.sk. This is a complete offer of public, private and hotel accommodation with contacts and the number of available beds.

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