On April 23, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine banned all diplomatic missions from performing consular actions abroad in relation to men of military age. This is stated in a letter signed by the First Deputy Minister Andriy Sybiga and published in the Dzerkalo Tyzhnia.

The letter states that starting from April 24, it will only be possible to draw up documents for returning to Ukraine.

"Taking into account paragraphs 6 and 16 of the first part of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law", in connection with the ongoing large-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in order to prevent citizens of Ukraine from avoiding the obligation to settle the issue of military registration by territorial centers of recruitment and social support and the availability of military registration documents, I instruct that from 23. 04.2024 to temporarily suspend consular actions on applications of male citizens of Ukraine aged 18 to 60," the letter says.

The only exceptions are actions related to the issuance of identity cards for returning to Ukraine.

This order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is valid "until additional clarifications are received on the procedure for applying the provisions of the Law of Ukraine on mobilization," which was published on April 17 and will come into force in May.

In other words, it is now impossible to obtain a passport for men abroad, and after the new law on strengthening mobilization comes into force, it will be possible only upon presentation of a military ID.