This is not abstract news for Ukrainians. The Ministry of Interior structure includes the alien police (cudzinecká polícia), which issues and renews residence permits, as well as district offices and the migration department. If you have just submitted documents for temporary shelter (dočasné útočisko) or are waiting for a decision on residence (pobyt), be prepared that the answer may be delayed.
What is being updated
This concerns the central system for managing and keeping records of documents and cases (systém na správu a evidenciu dokumentov a spisov). This is essentially an electronic "house" where all the ministry's internal files are kept. As the Ministry of Interior's press service reports, the system will be moved to a new version and migrated to a more modern technological environment.
The goal of the upgrade is simple: to increase security, stability, and reliability. This means a one-time painful, but useful, upgrade. In the future, the system should work faster and more securely.
How it will work in practice
Electronic submissions can still be made during the technical break; forms on the portal will work. But there is a catch: their registration and further processing will, in some cases, only begin after August 2. In effect, your application will be "stuck" in the queue until the work is completed.
This mainly affects services that require working with electronic documents and cases:
- processing applications and requests to Ministry of Interior structures;
- registering new electronic submissions;
- processing official appeals that require access to internal files.
The ministry assures that it has taken organizational and technical measures to minimize the impact on citizens and has apologized in advance for any possible inconvenience.
What you should do
If you have an urgent matter (submitting documents, a request, an appeal to the alien police), there are two sensible options.
First: submit everything by 5:00 PM on July 29, while the system is working normally. Second: if the matter is not urgent, simply wait until August 3 and only then expect a response.
Important: a delay in registering your appeal due to the ministry's technical work is not your fault and is not a reason to panic about deadlines. However, if you have an official deadline approaching, such as the deadline for submitting documents, it is best to submit them in advance, not on the last day of the break. As RTVS reminds us, similar short-term restrictions on the Ministry of Interior's information systems have already occurred this year, and the ministry warns about them in advance.
So: nothing critical is breaking. But if you planned to "sort out your documents" this week, it's better to do it before Wednesday evening or postpone expecting a response until early August.
