Assistance in obtaining IDP status for a man with a disability.

Prior to the escalation of the military conflict, Serhii lived in Pivdenne, Kharkiv region, but was not registered there. When active hostilities began in the city, Serhii left his home and moved to Kharkiv.

He has a group 3 disability and now needs IDP payments to live. However, when he applied for IDP status at the Department of Social Protection, he was denied and told that “since he has no registration at his previous place of residence, it is not known where he came from in Kharkiv.” To solve the problem with his status, he turned to the lawyers of Caritas Kharkiv.

“The specialists of the Social Security Department did not take into account that according to the Procedure for registration and issuance of a certificate of IDP registration, in the absence of a mark of registration of residence in the territory from which the internal displacement is carried out, the applicant may provide other evidence confirming the fact of residence in this territory at the time of the circumstances that caused the internal displacement. Such documents may include medical records,” explains lawyer Iryna Kozachenko.

Iryna helped Serhiy send inquiries to the medical institution at his previous place of residence. The medical institution provided information confirming that Serhiy did indeed live in Pivdenne, and that he had undergone a medical and social examination at the institution, which determined his disability group.

In addition, Iryna and Serhii called the hotline of the Department of the Department of Social Services in Kharkiv. Kharkiv, and clarified that in the absence of registration of the place of previous residence, a person can confirm the fact of previous residence with other documents.

As a result, Serhii applied to the Department of Social Protection of the Population again to obtain IDP status. In December 2023, he received a certificate of registration as an internally displaced person.

Caritas Kharkiv provides free legal aid to the war-affected population of the Kharkiv region in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) thanks to the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.