Fraudsters in Poland are reportedly offering to extend expiring Ukrainian passports as their expiration dates approach for military-age Ukrainian men.
After Ukraine revised its mobilization laws in the summer of 2024, consular services have since been restricted for Ukrainians abroad who are liable for military service but not registered with the military, requiring them to return home to renew their passports.
Russian state media RIA Novosti, citing a representative who works for an immigration company in Poland, said the fraudsters have taken advantage of the situation, though Kyiv Post cannot independently verify the authenticity of the reports.
The person said the issue primarily affects men of draft age who, having established their life in Poland, know they will be liable for conscription into the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) and be prevented from leaving Ukraine should they return.
“Recently, many Ukrainian citizens have been ‘stuck’ in Poland with expired passports, who cannot leave for their homeland to replace their passports, and the consulates will not replace their passports either. This primarily concerns men of draft age, who will not be allowed to leave the country after returning,” the person told RIA Novosti.
The fraudsters are reportedly taking advantage of the situation by claiming to have access to the Ukrainian embassy or consulate to acquire the necessary extension stamp and thereby resolve the renewal issue.
The cost of the “service” is said to be several hundred to more than a thousand euros.
“The fraudsters put a stamp in the individual’s passport which says that its validity has been extended. But I have seen these stamps, they are crude, obviously home-made and bear no relation to reality,” the person said.
They underlined the fact that if these fake stamps are found in an individual’s passport, it automatically becomes invalid, and the holder faces the probability of a criminal case for fraud and deportation.
“We come across such passports when the holder comes to us to, for example, obtain a temporary Polish residence or work permit. But this passport is immediately invalid since it contains illegal entries, which no authorized body will recognize,” the person said.
When the passport becomes invalid, the person would not be able to register officially even if all other paperworks are in place.
“Even if the person has the documents necessary to stay in Poland, if he has a job here, pays taxes, has a place of residence, and so on, his passport is invalid, and we cannot submit it to the Office for Foreigners,” the source said.
“This is simply fraud. A statement will have to then be filed with the prosecutor’s office with a request to initiate a criminal case against an act of fraud.”
Another possible dimension to the scam, intended perhaps to push Ukrainian military age men into the arms of the scammers, was a report in January that large numbers of Ukrainian men living in Poland began to receive fake military draft notices.
The document, in Polish, supposedly from Poland’s Office for Foreigners, said the recipient was subject to compulsory mobilization into the AFU, would be escorted to a recruitment center, and was threatened with legal action if they did not respond as directed.
The Polish authorities and Ukraine’s Embassy in Warsaw both denied the documents were real.
Despite the authorities’ denials, the letters caused consternation as they coincided with statements from the Polish government that it not only continued to support Ukraine but was also willing to assist Kyiv in bringing military-age men back to fight.
Although it said it would not forcefully deport Ukrainian conscripts, a number of politicians have suggested Warsaw remove social benefits for men of fighting age to encourage them to return to Ukraine.