Citizens of India received the most work permits in Ukraine over the nine months of 2026. Against the backdrop of a shortage of skilled workers, the government is preparing to simplify procedures for attracting foreigners, including partial digitization through Diya. This has been reported by Insider UA with reference to Forbes Ukraine.
Work permits in Ukraine: leading countries for the nine months of 2026
According to the provided data, the most work permits were issued to citizens of three countries:
-
India: 1784 permits.
-
Uzbekistan: 987 permits.
-
Turkey: 869 permits.
In total, this is 3640 permits. Almost half of this figure, approximately 49%, is accounted for by citizens of India. At the same time, this share is only among the three named countries, not among all foreigners who have been allowed to work in Ukraine.
The number of permits does not equal the number of people who actually arrived in the country and started working. Documents can also be оформлені for foreigners who are already in Ukraine. Therefore, these figures should not be interpreted as statistics of labor migrants' arrivals.
India, Uzbekistan, and Turkey have previously been among the countries whose citizens most frequently received work permits. New data shows that these directions remain important for Ukrainian employers.
Employment of foreigners: what changes the government is preparing
The government initiative aims to simplify the attraction of specialists needed by the Ukrainian economy. This involves identifying deficit professions and partially transitioning procedures to an electronic format through Diya.
A separate project, published by the Ministry of Economy on October 22, provides for a single mechanism for confirming the qualifications of foreigners and stateless persons whose needs can be met through immigration. It also specifies document verification and information exchange between government agencies.
Currently, it is about the project, not about a launched service or ongoing simplification. According to Forbes Ukraine, proposals for the document have already been collected. It then needs to be approved by interested parties and reviewed by the Cabinet.
For employers, digitization may reduce the number of paper procedures. However, the changes in оформленні do not guarantee the closure of vacancies: foreign specialists' decisions will be influenced by salary, working conditions, housing, and security situation.
Statistics on employment of foreigners in Ukraine also require the separation of permits, visas, and residence permits. To evaluate the results of future changes, it will be important to know not only the number of issued documents but also how many workers actually started working.