Hi. The situation is the following.
I am Ukrainian that got a job offer from a Japanese company in early 2021 but due to covid restrictions could enter only 3 weeks ago. I was in India when Russia invaded Ukraine, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to go at all. So now I am in Tokyo.
Before that I lived in Kyiv, but my parents are from Crimea and they still live there. As does my 17 year old brother. Now we can all clearly see that there is no future in Crimea. Especially for a boy nearing the draft age.
Japan now has really simplified a lot concerning immigration of Ukrainian nationals. The thing is my brother doesn’t have neither Ukrainian passport, nor ID. Only a birth certificate. It’s my fault too that I didn’t push him to come visit me in Kyiv and get an ID when he turned 14. Now he only has russian internal passport and is waiting for an international passport, but it’s hard to say if they even issue it now.
I’ve already asked Ukrainian authorities – it’s possible to issue Ukrainian (international) passport abroad, but you need to have an ID, but it’s impossible to issue ID abroad. You have to be in Ukraine and in case of Crimea – a presence of a relative is also required. So I guess the only hope is for him to get a russian international passport.
The next question is visa. What options are there? He hasn’t yet finished high school (1 more year to go). I guess I can invite him but as far as I know for 3 months max and for entering let’s say a language school he will still need a high school certificate.
As far as I know for Ukrainians are now given 90 days (Temporary visit) but are allowed to extend the stay for 1 more year (Designated activities). Japan also gives some tuition to evacuees but only for those who don’t have relatives residing here. Anyway I can’t really see how my brother can be seen as a Ukrainian by Japanese government without having Ukrainian passport.
I would really appreciate any advice.
8 comments
Oof. Honestly, this is *well* beyond our pay grade.
There are a lot of potential issues here, ranging from visa issues to the passport issue at the center of your problem. Honestly, the best we would be able to do is guess. And probably guess ***wrong***, given how rapidly things are changing.
You’re going to need to consult an immigration attorney. They will be able to guide you through the process. It’s going to cost, but not as much as you might fear.
Your first step should be figuring out how to get your brother a Ukrainian passport. Contact a lawyer in Ukraine to see what is possible for your brothers situation. He may have to cross into Ukraine at another land border like Hungary (if it’s even possible for him to enter Ukraine at all).
Like the other poster said, we won’t be able to give you any specific advise for your situation, but it’s always best to start with a lawyer in your own country and go from there.
If your brother can get here, he can automatically get a 1 year designated activities visa that allows work. But it sounds like getting here is the hard part.
https://www.isa.go.jp/en/support/fresc/ukraine_support.html
With an Ukrainian visa.. It’s probably posible to get refugee status. I mean, I’ve seen people from South America in better conditions getting it…
Problem is getting the Ukrainian passport I’m guessing..
Have you tried the support desk offered by Tokyo council for Ukrainian refugees?
https://tabunka.tokyo-tsunagari.or.jp/info/2022/03/post-86.html
They speak Japanese, English, Ukrainian and Russian. (It says you must book in advance if you want to speak in Ukrainian.) Tell them everything you explained here and ask what options may be available. Japanese government has been accepting Ukrainians without passport so there should be a way… I really hope there is.
Wishing all the best to you and your family…!
If you can get him to the southern Kurils – another Russian occupied territory, and then have him hop a boat to Hokkaido -obviousy not a legal route, he can try to claim assylum in Japan. One Russian guy actually swam to Hokkaido last year, but he was not Ukrainian and I believe he was sent back to Russia.
If he can get essentially a 15 month visa, do it today and don’t ask any questions. The world is going to be radically different in 1 year, so much so that it’s not worth worrying about. I’ve personally dealt with Japanese immigration with those sorts of emergency visa problems and they were very accommodating.
ID: What’s physically stopping him from traveling into Ukr and getting a bus to A big city that still has functional civil authority? I hear Kherson still has Ukr civil works going, I also hear odessa still has civilians traveling, let alone Lviv or Kiev. The Ruskies are not going to eat him. Slavic teenagers have been traveling through war zones for far far less than essentially golden tickets to paradise.
Time: as rus begins to increasingly civ infrastructure, gas might become unavailable. Hitchhiking, or a fast but stressful bus ride might become unavailable in less than weeks. Otherwise, bike to Dnipro, swim across, …. hitchhike with fishermen to odessa coast and bike into thr city… thousands of options.
If the Trannistria front opens, there will not be any possibility of getting an ID. NATO may then join, and Crimea will be very very unsafe.
Poland: call Poland / Romania etc and ask if refugees “already in their country” could get assistance for ID etc. if that’s available. Then Rambo across to border. The average teenager has the body to walk two weeks without food in wartime conditions. Easily enough to make it to a border or a UKR major city. A bike makes this trivial.
prognosis: he’s a 17 year old boy in his prime sitting on a pounder keg that might explode before June. Get on a bus to Lviv, Odessa, or go Rambo for that ID. Then transit to Romania, Poland, get on the plane to Tokyo. Once in Tokyo you have 15+ months to find a solution and those months will not involve bullets. Just get him on the plane and you will find a way.
It looks like he could enter Belarus with a Russian internal passport. Assuming Belarusians don’t stop him from crossing the border, he could then re-enter Ukraine at the northern part, or he could continue on to Poland, as they don’t require a passport for Ukrainians entertaining by land.
Alternatively, are any of the ferries still running from Georgia? It looks like Ukrferry is not, but Navbulgar could be. That would be to Odesa, which looks safe-ish.
Presumably he could then make his way toward Lviv to get a passport issued.