How to obtain an IDP certificate? This is a pressing issue for people in Ukraine who are forced to leave their homes and seek shelter. We have prepared updated step-by-step instructions on how to register as an IDP.
In this publication, we discuss:
- Who is eligible to receive an IDP certificate?
- What documents must be submitted to register?
- What types of support are available to internally displaced persons?
- Why is this certificate important for IDPs, the government, and humanitarian organizations?
We develop useful materials for affected individuals as part of the Support to the Capacity of Government Institutions and Local Communities to Strengthen Social Protection Systems in Ukraine project, implemented with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.
Eligibility for an IDP Certificate
If you are a citizen of Ukraine, a foreigner, or a stateless person who is legally residing in Ukraine and has the right to permanent residence in Ukraine, and you have been forced to leave or abandon your place of residence as a result of or in order to avoid the negative consequences of armed conflict, temporary occupation, widespread violence, human rights violations, and natural or man-made emergencies, you are an internally displaced person.
The fact of internal displacement is confirmed by a certificate of registration as an internally displaced person.
Please note! From August 1, 2023, the certificate will be issued to people who have moved from territories where hostilities are taking place or from territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, included in the list approved by the Ministry of Development, for which no date for the end/cessation (possibility) of hostilities or temporary occupation has been determined.
Other Eligibility Criteria:
- People whose homes have been destroyed or damaged (to the extent that they are uninhabitable) as a result of armed aggression by the Russian Federation, as confirmed by a relevant act of inspection of the technical condition of the dwelling (house, apartment);
- Minors who have received a Ukrainian passport, regardless of whether they are registered at a place of residence, if information about them is entered into the Unified Information Database on Internally Displaced Persons;
- Children born to IDPs;
- Students enrolled in vocational (vocational-technical), pre-higher, and higher education institutions who have moved from territories where hostilities are taking place or from territories temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, included in the list of the Ministry of Development, for which no date for the end of hostilities has been determined (cessation of hostilities) or temporary occupation by the Russian Federation, as well as persons whose residential premises have been destroyed or damaged (to the extent that they are uninhabitable) as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, or sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine;
- Students who have obtained a certain level of education and qualification and were registered as residents in dormitories, after deregistration, if they do not wish to return to their previous place of residence as a result of or in order to avoid the negative consequences of armed conflict, temporary occupation, widespread violence, human rights violations, and natural or man-made emergencies;
- Individuals who served (are serving) sentences in places of deprivation of liberty and had (have) a registered place of residence in the territory where the circumstances of armed conflict, temporary occupation, widespread violence, human rights violations, and natural or man-made emergencies after their release are entitled to receive an IDP certificate;
- Military personnel (except for conscripts and military personnel serving under conscription of officers) who served/are serving in the military and had a registered/declared place of residence in the territory where hostilities are taking place, or in the territory temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, which is included in the list approved by the Ministry of Development, for which the date of the end of hostilities (cessation of the possibility of hostilities) or temporary occupation by the Russian Federation has not been determined, or who actually resided in the specified territories, or in which, as a result of hostilities, terrorist acts, sabotage caused by the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, their residential premises have been destroyed or damaged (to the extent that they are uninhabitable).
Ways to Receive the Certificate
Online in the Diia mobile application
1) Make sure you have the latest version of the Diia app installed.
2) Open Diia, tap Services, then Services for IDPs.
3) Enter your current residential address.
4) Confirm your location using geolocation.
5) Tap Register without children if you do not have children or want to register without them.
6) To apply for financial assistance: tap I want to receive assistance and select the ePidtrymka card.
7) If you need additional assistance: specify what kind — medical, educational, and/or humanitarian — and leave your contact details.
8) Check that all the information in the application is correct and click Send.
Offline via the Administrative Services Center, social protection authorities, and executive bodies of village, settlement, or city councils:
Submit an application and present:
- A document proving your identity and confirming your Ukrainian citizenship;
- A document proving your identity and confirming your special status;
- Your child’s birth certificate (if necessary).
During martial law and in the absence of the above documents, one of the following documents must be presented in electronic form:
- E-passport;
- E-passport for travel abroad;
- E-document;
- Certificate of Submission of Documents for Obtaining a Ukrainian Passport.
Please note! This list is not exhaustive if you are submitting documents on behalf of minor children, incapacitated persons, or persons with limited legal capacity. The authorized body/person has the right to request documents confirming the applicant’s authority, etc.
If you resided and moved from a settlement that does not coincide with the address of your registered/declared place of residence or you do not have a registered/declared place of residence, you must provide evidence confirming the fact of residence in the administrative-territorial unit from which the internal displacement is taking place, on the date of the circumstances that caused the internal displacement.
This can be one of the following documents (photos or videos of supporting documents):
- A military ID card with information about military service;
- A work record with employment history;
- A document confirming ownership of movable or immovable property;
- A certificate of basic or complete secondary education;
- A document confirming vocational or higher education (academic degree);
- A certificate from the place of study;
- A decision of the raion, Kyiv or Sevastopol district state administration, or the executive body of the city or district council on the placement of a child in a children’s institution, foster family, family-type children’s home, or the appointment of guardianship or custody;
- Medical documents;
- Copies of documents containing information about the place of residence, or an extract from the register of the territorial community, or an e-passport/travel e-passport containing information about the declared/registered place of residence (including those issued/formed in the name of the parents (one of the parents) or other legal representatives) or information about education in the relevant territories;
- Photographs and video recordings, etc.
Support for IDPs
The certificate is required for:
- To receive assistance from the state and international organizations
- To ensure that the needs of IDPs are taken into account in local and regional budgets and in the formulation of local policies in various areas
- To enable authorities to respond to the needs of IDPs according to category (families with children, families/people in difficult circumstances, people with disabilities, etc.)
- The data on the number of IDPs is used to distribute and provide international humanitarian aid.
IDPs can receive the following types of support:
From the government:
- Governmental living allowance: UAH 2,000 per adult and UAH 3,000 per child and person with disabilities*;
- Free meals for IDP children attending preschool, general education, and vocational and technical educational institutions;
- Governmental targeted support for higher education in state and municipal educational institutions;
- Pension and social benefits under a simplified procedure;
- Free legal aid (defense, representation of interests in courts, other state bodies, local self-government bodies, before other persons, drafting of procedural documents).
From civil society organizations (is also provided to internally displaced persons who do not have an IDP certificate):
- International humanitarian assistance (certain categories of IDPs);
- Humanitarian, legal, counseling, and other types of assistance from governmental and non-governmental organizations;
*Certain issues regarding the payment of living allowance to internally displaced persons were approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 332 dated March 20, 2022.
Free Legal Aid System Contact Center: (0800) 213-103
Hotline of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights:
(0800) 50-17-20, (044) 299-74-08
UNHCR hotline for IDPs: (0800) 307-711 (Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.)
CF SSS hotline: (0800) 33-27-40
This publication was made with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” and do not in any way reflect the views of UNHCR.
The information is current as of December 22, 2025.