Ukrainian consulates issued nearly 200,000 passports abroad in 2025 – consul general

One of the most popular consular services for Ukrainians abroad is the issuance of international passports, with 196,000 such documents processed in 2025.

Svitlana Krysa, Consul General of Ukraine in Gdansk, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Passport-related matters remain the most common. Last year, Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad issued 196,000 Ukrainian passports. About 17,000 were issued in Poland, which is roughly 10% of the total," the consul general said.

She added that consular registration is no longer as popular as it was a few years ago.

According to her, the second most popular service is the retrieval of documents from Ukraine.

"We now have consuls who act as civil status registrars and can use a special system provided by the Ministry of Justice. This means people no longer need to wait for requested documents to arrive from Ukraine – they can obtain the necessary extract directly at a foreign diplomatic mission. For example, last year Ukrainian consulates issued over 100,000 birth certificate extracts," Krysa said.

Another widely used service, she noted, is the registration of newborn children as Ukrainian citizens.

"Last year, Ukrainian consulates worldwide issued about 33,000 certificates confirming children's registration as Ukrainian citizens, including around 10,000 in Poland. The actual number is higher, as not all parents register their children as Ukrainian citizens," Krysa added.

She also stressed that a new Ukrainian citizenship law came into force on January 16 this year. Under the new rules, certificates confirming citizenship registration will only be issued if one of the parents is a foreign national.

"This means significantly fewer such certificates will be issued going forward," she said.

As Ukrinform previously reported, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified the most problematic aspects of consular services for Ukrainians abroad based on public feedback and outlined steps to improve them.

Since late March, Ukrainians in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States have been able to receive international passports processed by diplomatic missions through VFS Global service centers.