Project reference · Work and residence permits, local hires and an HR review
Permits for the managers from abroad, then the team they needed.
An agricultural company in Ukraine had brought in senior managers from abroad. Each of them needed a work permit, a work visa and a residence permit, and nobody in the company had been through the procedure. We ran it from the first document to the renewal a year later. Alongside, we found the in-house lawyer and the finance specialist the new team lacked, and reviewed how the company’s own management roles were set up.
3 foreign managers taken through work and residence permits
Permits
5–9 weeks we quoted for the whole procedure, depending on the authorities
Timeline
14 management roles reviewed in interviews and described on paper
HR review
2 local hires: an in-house lawyer and a finance specialist
Recruitment
The shape of it
The route to a residence permit
Five steps for each manager, a committee that sits on fixed dates, and a renewal that starts before the year is up.
The brief
What the client actually needed
The company’s new chief executive and finance director had come from abroad, and a farm director was to follow. They were already running the business; the paperwork had not caught up. Our first contract with the company was for recruitment, and we wrote hourly consulting into it so that the permit work could start at once.
Before starting we sent a written offer: every step from the first document to the residence permit, the papers needed from each manager and from the company, the official costs, our hours, and how long it would take. Five weeks if the authorities were quick, nine if they were not. The client accepted within a week.
We also drafted the papers the company itself had to file, so that its part was to sign and stamp.
Why it matters
A foreign manager is not legal until every paper is
A foreign manager in Ukraine needs a work permit before he may work, a work visa to enter on that basis, and a registered address and a residence permit to stay. The employer applies, and a committee at the employment centre decides on fixed dates. One missing paper means waiting for the next sitting. A stay that runs past the visa-free limit means a fine at the border and the risk of being turned back next time. None of that should land on the desk of the people who are meant to be running the company.
The hard parts
Where it gets difficult
A diploma stuck in the post
Two files were complete; the third waited for a diploma sent by post. We put the complete file to the committee and withdrew the incomplete one before it could be refused, then filed it together with the third manager’s at the next sitting.
Costs that moved mid-way
Some official fees rose between our offer and the medical checks. Every change went into a cost sheet the client approved before we paid, with official costs and our own hours on separate lines.
Renewals before the deadline
Permits run for a year. We tracked the dates and filed the renewals in time: a day later would have meant urgency fees, and missing the last day would have meant new visas.
Candidates who would not wait
The first candidates for the in-house lawyer role took other offers while the decision was still open. From then on we reported every step with its date, and drafted the job offer ourselves to shorten the last one. The role was filled.
Interviews about one’s own job
For the HR review we agreed the questionnaire, the scoring card and how the review would be explained to staff with management first. Fourteen heads of department and branch managers were interviewed; most job descriptions no longer matched the work actually done.
What we did
Contract, permits, hires, review, renewals
- First weeks — Contract. A recruitment contract with hourly consulting written in, so permit work could start at once.
- First months — Permits. Offer, documents, employment centre, medical checks, work visas, address registration and residence permits for three managers.
- Alongside — Hire. An in-house lawyer and a finance specialist recruited; shortlists for a chief accountant.
- Months later — Review. Fourteen management roles interviewed and described, a summary for the managers, and a workshop on the company’s goals and values.
- The next two years — Renew and follow up. Permit renewals on time, shortlists for chief and tax accountant roles, and a new permit offer when one was needed.
The managers kept working while the papers moved. The company signed, stamped and decided; we did the rest.
How we work
We do not show you another company’s name
The client and its managers are not named here, and they will not be named in a meeting either. We are glad to talk this project through in detail. What we will not do is discuss the last client that way with you, or you with the next one.
Next step
Bringing managers in from abroad, or hiring the team around them?
Tell us who is coming, from which country, and when they need to start. We will send you the steps, the documents, the costs and the timeline in writing before anything starts.