Filling in a paper application on a clipboard

Decide which ID card procedure you need

The Ukrainian ID card is a national identity document. A first application after reaching fourteen is different from replacing an existing card. A change of personal details, expiry, damage or loss may require a different application category. Start by identifying your reason for applying. Then use the matching official service information rather than a generic passport checklist. Describe unusual circumstances to the centre before choosing an appointment category.

Check whether a CNAP can handle your case

A service centre needs authorisation and the relevant equipment to accept passport applications. Certain circumstances require direct contact with the State Migration Service, including cases involving special identity checks during a first application. A broad passport-services label does not establish eligibility for every procedure. Ask whether the specific branch handles your application type, whether its equipment is operating and where collection will take place. Confirm the actual passport counter address rather than assuming it is the main office.

Preparing a first application

Use the current Migration Service requirements to check birth, citizenship and other supporting documents. Family circumstances or documents issued abroad may require additional clarification. Do not assume that a photograph of an original will be accepted instead of the original document. Tell the provider about unreadable entries or inconsistent names in advance. If the first application is being made after adulthood, explicitly ask about identity verification and the appropriate application channel.

Preparing a replacement

The reason for replacement determines the supporting evidence. Documents showing a name change do not substitute for the requirements relating to a lost passport. Make a separate checklist for the relevant procedure. A first national ID card after reaching fourteen is issued without an administrative service fee; other procedures have their own payment rules. Confirm current charges and bank details before paying. A receipt from an earlier application may contain details that are no longer appropriate.

Read the application before signing

Check your surname, given names, date of birth and every other personal field. Ask the officer to explain unfamiliar entries. Discuss Latin spelling before signing if consistency with another document is important. Allow enough time to read rather than rushing because a queue is waiting. Keep the application reference and ask how readiness is checked. Confirm which documents you need for collection and whether that visit requires another booking.

Receiving and using the card

Check the official readiness status and collection hours before returning. Inspect the card when it is handed over and verify the personal information. If there is an error, ask the issuing authority about correction. When another organisation requests proof of residence, clarify the exact document required instead of assuming that possession of an ID card resolves every address-related requirement. Use CNAPMAP to find verified passport points, and contact a branch when service availability is unknown. The directory contact form can be used to report incorrect branch information.

Replacement at 18 or 20: check the card’s expiry

Under current Procedure No.302, an ID card is issued for four years below 18, for ten years from 18 until 65, and without an expiry period from age 65. Turning 18 or 20 is therefore not a universal reason to replace an otherwise current card. A four-year card issued at 17 does not expire simply because its holder turns 18. Check the printed expiry date and any other replacement ground.

For expiry, the Migration Service allows an exchange application during the month before the end date. Changes of details, loss and damage have their own rules. Check any applicable wartime provision separately rather than assuming every document is automatically extended.

The front and back of the Ukrainian ID card

The front shows the photograph, name, date of birth, nationality, expiry date, demographic-register record number and document number. The document number has nine digits and no letter series. The register number and individual tax number are different identifiers and must not be entered as the passport number.

The reverse contains the issue date, issuing-authority code, tax-number field, place of birth and machine-readable zone under the blank’s technical description. See the official Resolution No.302 description and the Migration Service explanation of the number. These explain the layout; they are not an editable replacement identity document. A residence address is not handwritten onto the plastic.

Photo requirements and the first card at 14

Biometric photographs are normally captured when documents are accepted. “Ukrainian passport photo size” first requires identifying the document: ID card, a child’s travel passport, a booklet passport or another action. There is no single paper-photo size for every case. The Migration Service permits a 10 × 15 cm photograph for a child’s travel passport below 12 in specified circumstances; check other scanning exceptions under the applicable procedure.

For a first ID, prepare birth and Ukrainian-citizenship evidence, parents’ documents or other appropriate evidence for the circumstances, plus tax-number and address information if available. Foreign birth documents may require proper translation and formalities. See the first ID at 14 life-situation guide.

In 2021, address certificates were issued under the former Rules No.207. From 14 March 2022 the current proof mechanism is a community-register extract under Procedure No.265. Do not fill in an obsolete certificate for a new request; use the residence-extract guide.

Can a lost Ukrainian ID card be replaced online?

Online appointment booking does not mean fully remote issue of a replacement ID card. Replacing a lost or stolen card requires identity verification and the prescribed application procedures. Contact DMS or an authorised centre confirmed to handle the service. DMS describes personal attendance; people unable to move independently have a separate procedure supported by medical evidence, rather than an ordinary online order.

Follow the lost ID replacement service, rather than using only the first-ID checklist for a 14-year-old. Theft requires the criminal-register evidence prescribed by the procedure; do not treat loss and theft as identical. Avoid sending scans to unknown intermediaries promising a passport without identity checks.

What size is a Ukrainian ID card?

The technical description in Resolution 302 specifies an ID-1 plastic card measuring 53.98 × 85.6 mm, with permitted deviations under DSTU ISO/IEC 7810:2008. These are the finished document’s dimensions. They do not specify a paper photograph for an exceptional application procedure, and they differ from a travel-passport booklet’s dimensions.

Booking a first Ukrainian ID card appointment at 14

After reaching 14, an applicant using a Migration Service office can open the official DMS appointment service and select an ID card, an available region, office and time. This books document submission; it does not provide fully remote ID issuance.

DMS warns that only some regions and offices are covered. Operating offices absent from its service use a walk-in queue. For a CNAP application, check that centre’s own official booking channel: the DMS service does not book every CNAP.

Official links