It is proposed to automatically grant 90 days of deferment from mobilization to military conscripts who have lived abroad for an extended period and return to Ukraine. This transitional period may affect the return of Ukrainians from abroad, which has not yet become widespread. This is reported by the Judicial and Legal Newspaper.
Who will be able to receive 90 days of deferment after returning to Ukraine
A draft law No. 16034 has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada, proposing to amend Article 23 of the law on mobilization. For now, this is only a legislative initiative, so the 90-day deferment is not yet in effect.
It is proposed to grant it to military conscripts who were outside Ukraine as of February 24, 2022, or who left legally thereafter and continuously remained abroad until the day of return.
A separate category includes individuals who have continuously lived in temporarily occupied territories since the beginning of their occupation and then left for territory controlled by Ukraine. This applies to territories occupied since 2014.
The deferment will be valid for 90 calendar days from the moment of entry or arrival from the occupied territory and will be granted only once. During this period, a person can only be mobilized with their consent.
How the deferment will be automatically processed without TCC
The draft law stipulates that there is no need to submit an application or personally visit the TCC. Data should be automatically transferred to the Unified State Register of Conscripts, Military Personnel, and Reservists from state information systems.
If the necessary information is not available in the registers, the military conscript will be able to contact the TCC with documents. A similar mechanism is already used for other categories: about 90% of deferments are extended online without re-submitting certificates.
The authors chose a period of three months so that a person after a long absence could restore documents, find housing, resolve family and medical issues, arrange work, and organize military registration data.
Why a 90-day deferment is proposed to be implemented in 2026
According to Eurostat, as of May 31, 2026, temporary protection in the EU was granted to 4.38 million people who left Ukraine. Adult men made up 26.8% of this group. The Center for Economic Strategy estimated the total number of Ukrainian refugees abroad at approximately 5.6 million.
Surveys have shown that 43% of Ukrainians abroad intended to return, while 36% did not plan or rather did not plan to do so. Mobilization was cited as a barrier to return by 29% of respondents, and among men and youth under 35 years old, this figure reached 45%.
The authors of the draft law believe that 90 days will provide people with a predictable time to settle after returning but will not exempt them from military duty afterward. The deferment will not be automatically extended and will not hinder voluntary enlistment.
It is worth noting that since November, Ukraine has already changed the procedure for issuing deferments: key channels have become Reserve+ and CNAP, and part of the procedures has been transitioned to an automated format.