How to Register as a Candidate Guardian or Custodian for a Child in Ukraine
Apply online through Diia or through your local Children's Affairs Service to become a candidate guardian or custodian for an orphan or child deprived of parental care.
UA Ukraine
Family ~ 11 min read
10 FAQ
Updated 2026-09-16
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An adult with full civil capacity who meets Ukraine's legal requirements can apply to become a candidate guardian or custodian for an orphan or child deprived of parental care. Guardianship applies to children under 14; custodianship applies from age 14 to 18. Apply online through Diia with an electronic signature or in person to the Children's Affairs Service at your place of residence. The service is free. The Children's Affairs Service checks the documents and living conditions, and candidates normally complete mandatory training. After the training certificate and recommendations are received, the service registers the person in the register of potential guardians and custodians and prepares the decision on whether the person may take a child into guardianship or custodianship.
What you need
- An application to be registered as a potential guardian or custodian.
- A copy of a passport or other identity document.
- A copy of the taxpayer card showing the RNOKPP, or the document confirming lawful refusal of an RNOKPP for religious reasons.
- A copy of a document containing the unique record number in the Unified State Demographic Register, if available.
- Evidence of income: a salary certificate for the previous six months, information from the State Register of Individual Taxpayers on income paid and taxes withheld, or a certificate concerning the property and income declaration submitted for the previous calendar year.
- A copy of the marriage certificate or an extract from the State Register of Civil Status Acts if married.
- A medical conclusion on health in the form required by the current child-protection procedure; where spouses are involved, the required health evidence is provided for each spouse.
- A criminal-record extract for each spouse where applicable.
- A document proving ownership or the right to use the dwelling where the child would live.
- If a married person applies alone to take a child under guardianship or custodianship, the notarized written consent of the other spouse.
- For an online Diia application, documents that cannot be obtained automatically from state registers must be uploaded, and their originals must later be shown during the inspection of living conditions.
Eligibility
A candidate guardian or custodian must be an adult with full civil capacity and must consent to performing the role. Under Article 244 of the Family Code, the authority considers the person's personal qualities, ability to raise the child, attitude toward the child and the child's own wishes. Persons covered by the exclusions in Article 212 of the Family Code cannot be appointed. Guardianship is for a child under 14, while custodianship is for a child aged 14 to 18. This family-care form is primarily used for children who have the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care. Relatives and people with whom the child has family ties have priority in appropriate cases, but a person who is not a relative may also complete the candidate process.
How to do it
- Decide whether guardianship or custodianship is the appropriate family-care form. Guardianship is for a child under 14; custodianship is for a child aged 14 to 18.
- Prepare the required identity, taxpayer, income, marriage, health, criminal-record, housing and spouse-consent documents that apply to your circumstances.
- Apply either online through Diia or in person to the Children's Affairs Service at your place of residence. For Diia, authorize with an electronic signature, complete the form, upload documents that cannot be retrieved from registers, sign electronically and submit.
- The Children's Affairs Service checks the submitted information and inspects your living conditions. Diia states that this stage is carried out within 5 working days.
- After the home inspection, if training is required, the Children's Affairs Service issues a referral to the regional social-services system within 3 working days.
- Complete the training course for future guardians and custodians. The training prepares candidates to care for and raise children who cannot be brought up by their biological parents. A person who has family or kinship relations with the specific child, including a godparent, may be exempt from this training under the current official procedure.
- After successful training, obtain the training certificate and recommendations. Diia states that the certificate is issued within 10 working days after training ends. The current official family-care platform states that the training certificate is valid for 24 months.
- After the Children's Affairs Service receives the certificate and recommendations, it records you in the register of potential guardians, custodians, foster parents and family-type home parents. Diia states that registration and preparation of the decision on your ability to take a child into guardianship or custodianship take place within 5 working days.
Guardian or custodian: which status applies?
Ukraine distinguishes the two roles according to the child's age. Guardianship applies to children under 14, while custodianship applies to children from 14 to 18.
Both are family forms of care used for children who are orphans or deprived of parental care. Unlike adoption, guardianship or custodianship does not terminate the child's existing legal status as an orphan or child deprived of parental care. The child retains the state guarantees associated with that status.
If your intention is adoption rather than guardianship, the candidate process is different. Helpydo separately explains how to register as a prospective adoptive parent.
Who is eligible to become a candidate?
Article 244 of the Family Code states that a guardian or custodian of a child may be an adult with full civil capacity who consents to the appointment.
When deciding on appointment, the guardianship and custodianship authority considers the person's personal qualities, ability to raise the child, attitude toward the child and the child's wishes. The Family Code also excludes the categories of people specified in Article 212, including people whose legal capacity is limited or who have been declared legally incapable, people deprived of parental rights where those rights have not been restored, and other categories specified by that article.
Relatives are not the only people who can become guardians or custodians. Official Ministry guidance confirms that other suitable people can also qualify after completing the required candidate procedure and training. Relatives of the child and people in whose family the child already lives have preferential consideration where appropriate.
What documents do you need?
For the standard candidate-registration route, current Diia guidance lists the following core documents:
- passport or another identity document;
- RNOKPP taxpayer card, or evidence of lawful refusal of the number for religious reasons;
- document containing the unique demographic-register record number, if available;
- salary information for the previous six months, tax-register income information, or evidence concerning the property and income declaration for the previous calendar year;
- marriage certificate or civil-status register extract if married;
- the required health conclusion;
- criminal-record extract;
- evidence of ownership or lawful use of the dwelling;
- notarized written consent of the other spouse where a married person applies to take a child under guardianship or custodianship.
Where the applicant is married, the current rules require the applicable health and criminal-record documents for each spouse. The standard documents are generally valid for one year from issuance unless legislation provides another validity period.
If you do not yet have an RNOKPP, see the separate Helpydo procedure on getting a Ukrainian taxpayer identification number.
How does the online Diia application work?
The national Diia portal provides an online service specifically for registration as a candidate guardian or custodian. The service is free.
- Open the candidate-registration service and authorize using an electronic signature.
- Enter the requested information about your marriage and spouse, actual residence address and the children you wish to take under guardianship or custodianship where applicable.
- Wait while available information is checked against state registers. Diia currently estimates this automated check at about 15 minutes.
- Continue the form and enter information about family members who live with you.
- Where required information is not available from the connected registers, upload photographs or scans of the supporting documents.
- Sign the completed application electronically and submit it.
The official family-care platform specifically advises preparing documents that may not be available through registers, including the health conclusion, income evidence, proof of the right to use housing and the other spouse's consent. You must later show the originals to the Children's Affairs Service during the inspection of your living conditions.
How do you register in person?
You can instead apply directly to the Children's Affairs Service at your place of residence. The application to be entered in the register of potential guardians or custodians is completed in the presence of a service employee, together with the required supporting documents.
This route remains useful when records cannot be retrieved electronically, when you need guidance about your particular family circumstances or when you prefer not to use the Diia online application.
What does the Children's Affairs Service check at your home?
After receiving a complete document package and confirming that the basic requirements are met, Children's Affairs Service specialists visit the candidate's residence. The purpose is to determine whether the home is in suitable condition and has sufficient space for a child.
The official family-care platform confirms that the dwelling can be owned, rented or otherwise lawfully used; ownership is not a universal requirement for an ordinary guardian or custodian candidate.
During the visit, specialists may interview the candidate about the reasons for wanting to care for a child and readiness to develop parenting skills. They may also speak with other household members. The service then prepares an inspection report and transfers the relevant candidate information for the training stage.
Do candidates have to complete training?
As a general rule, yes. Diia states that people wishing to take an orphan or child deprived of parental care into guardianship or custodianship must complete a training course on raising children who are orphans or deprived of parental care.
Regional social-services structures organize the training with specialists such as psychologists, educators and medical professionals. The training addresses children's needs, care and upbringing, the child's best interests and the candidate's parenting competencies.
After the home inspection, Diia states that the referral for training is issued within 3 working days. The training certificate is issued within 10 working days after completion, and the current official family-care platform states that the certificate is valid for 24 months.
When can the training stage be skipped?
The current official family-care guidance states that a person who has family or kinship relations with the particular orphan or child deprived of parental care whom they intend to take into guardianship or custodianship may skip the training stage. This includes the child's godparents.
This exception is tied to the relationship with a specific child. A non-relative seeking general candidate status should expect to complete the training process.
Is there a shorter document route during martial law?
Yes. During a state of emergency or martial law, current official guidance provides a reduced document set for a person who has family or kinship relations with a specific orphan or child deprived of parental care, including godparents, and wants to take that child under guardianship or custodianship.
The person applies to the Children's Affairs Service at their place of residence or the child's location and provides:
- a copy of the Ukrainian citizen's passport;
- documents confirming the family or kinship relationship with the child;
- certificates from a narcologist and psychiatrist confirming that the person is not registered with those services;
- a criminal-record extract.
If the criminal-record extract cannot be obtained, Diia states that the candidate may submit the prescribed declaration that they have not been held criminally liable for the offences referenced by Article 212 of the Family Code. After the state of emergency or martial law ends, the criminal-record certificate must be provided to the Children's Affairs Service within one month.
What happens after you complete the training?
After successful training, the regional social-services centre provides a certificate and recommendations and sends copies to the Children's Affairs Service. Candidates can also provide their copies proactively.
Once the service receives the training results, it enters the candidate in the register of potential guardians, custodians, foster parents and family-type home parents. Diia states that within five working days after receiving the training certificate, the service registers the candidate and prepares a decision concerning the person's ability to take a child into guardianship or custodianship.
Candidate registration does not itself appoint you as a child's guardian or custodian. It qualifies you to continue to the child-and-family matching and appointment stages.
What happens after you become a registered candidate?
If you are not already applying in relation to a specific child, the next stage is matching between the family and a child who needs guardianship or custodianship. You can ask the Children's Affairs Service where you are registered for information about children who may be placed in this form of care. If there is no suitable child locally, the regional service or State Service for Children can provide information within their respective scope.
The process includes contact with the child. Where the child has reached an age and level of development at which they can express their opinion, the child's wishes are taken into account.
Once a particular placement is proposed and the required contact and consent steps have been completed, the Children's Affairs Service prepares its conclusion for the guardianship and custodianship authority.
Does candidate registration make you the child's legal guardian?
No. Becoming a registered candidate and being appointed for a particular child are separate legal stages.
For a specific placement, the Children's Affairs Service prepares the relevant acts and a conclusion on whether establishing guardianship or custodianship and appointing that person serves the child's interests. The guardianship and custodianship authority then issues the decision establishing guardianship for a young child or custodianship for a minor and appointing the guardian or custodian. In cases provided by law, a court can establish guardianship or custodianship.
The competent guardianship and custodianship bodies include district state administrations, district administrations in Kyiv and Sevastopol, and the executive bodies of city, district-in-city, settlement and village councils.
Is guardianship the same as adoption?
No. Guardianship and custodianship preserve the child's status as an orphan or child deprived of parental care and the associated state guarantees. Adoption creates a different permanent legal parent-child relationship.
If guardianship or custodianship is eventually established and you need to claim the state benefit available for an eligible child in your care, use the separate Helpydo guide on applying for state support for a child under guardianship or custodianship.
Frequently asked questions
Can I apply to become a guardian or custodian online in Ukraine?
Yes. Diia provides an online candidate-registration service. Authorize with an electronic signature, complete the form, upload documents not available from state registers, sign the application electronically and submit it.
What is the difference between a guardian and a custodian of a child in Ukraine?
Guardianship is established for a child under 14. Custodianship applies to a child aged 14 to 18.
How much does registration as a candidate guardian cost?
The official Diia candidate-registration service is free.
Do I have to own a home to become a guardian?
Not for ordinary guardianship candidate registration. Official guidance states that the home may be owned, rented or otherwise lawfully used. You must provide evidence of your right to the dwelling and pass the living-condition inspection.
Do future guardians have to complete training?
As a general rule, candidates complete training on caring for and raising orphans and children deprived of parental care. Current official guidance provides an exception for a person with family or kinship relations to the specific child they intend to take into guardianship or custodianship, including godparents.
How long is the guardian training certificate valid?
The current official Ukraine for Every Child platform states that the certificate confirming successful completion of candidate training is valid for 24 months.
How quickly does the Children's Affairs Service inspect my application and home?
Diia states that the Children's Affairs Service checks the submitted documents and conducts the living-condition inspection within 5 working days.
How soon am I registered after completing guardian training?
Diia states that within 5 working days after receiving the training certificate, the Children's Affairs Service registers the person in the register of potential guardians and custodians and prepares the decision on their ability to take a child into care.
Does becoming a registered candidate automatically make me a guardian?
No. Candidate registration allows you to proceed with matching and placement. Guardianship or custodianship over a specific child is established separately by the competent guardianship and custodianship authority or, in cases provided by law, by a court.
Can someone who is not related to the child become a guardian?
Yes. Ukrainian law does not restrict guardianship to relatives. An eligible adult with full civil capacity may become a guardian or custodian, although relatives and people in whose family the child lives have preferential consideration in appropriate cases.
Official sources
Diia — Guardianship or custodianship over a child: candidate registrationUkraine for Every Child — Guardian and custodian candidate preparationUkraine for Every Child — Guardianship and custodianship overviewMinistry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine — Guardianship and custodianshipVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine — Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 866 on child protection and guardianship authoritiesVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine — Family Code of UkraineVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine — Civil Code of UkraineVerkhovna Rada of Ukraine — Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1261 on medical examinations for family-care candidatesRelated procedures
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