Following the opening of Ukrainian border the Ukrainian Government introduced a mobile application designed to track your location during self-isolation in Ukraine. Please read this article: See our article Traveling to Ukraine during quarantine to find out more about self-isolation and if you will be required to self-isolate upon arriving in Ukraine. 

Act at Home (Дій Вдома) is the mobile application designed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation to control your self-isolation and make sure that you respect the rules and regulations. You can find this application on Apple Store and Play Market.

The objective of this application is for the public authorities to maintain permanent contact with a person who has to undergo a compulsory self-isolation during the quarantine period. While crossing the border you will be offered two options:

1. Placement to specially designated observation or isolation centers.
2. 14-day self-isolation at your place of residence in Ukraine under the condition that you agree to terms and conditions of the Act at Home application, download and use it.

The second option is more advantageous, as not only can you choose to be self-isolated at your home in Ukraine, but also any other accommodation of your choice. This allows you not to be exposed to other potential COVID-19 carriers, and also live separately from your family and loved ones in order not to expose them to potential infection. 

Unfortunately, this technology does not always function as planned. Numerous bugs and shortcomings were reported by our foreign customers. 

The Act at Home app allows you to share with relevant authorities the following personal information:

1. Your geographical location and your self-isolation location. 
2. Photos serving to prove that you are located at the declared self-isolation location. 

It also enables you to use emergency calls to the Ministry of Health hotline and you can take advantage of the information describing developing COVID-19 symptomes.

If you choose self-isolation at home with the Act at Home application you will be requested to confirm this decision at the point of border control. You will need to declare your phone number and the address of your self-isolation location. Once this is done, you will need to show your smartphone to the Border Control inspector to prove that you installed and prepared the application for use. Unfortunately, as of the day this article is written, the Act at Home app can be installed only with the help of Ukrainian sim card. Taking this into account, you need to be prepared for crossing the border with the necessary accommodation arrangements made and a local sim card. Otherwise you might be rejected for self-isolation and have no choice but to be placed in an observation center or denied entry to Ukraine.

The easiest way to find the Act at Home app is to go to Apple Store or Google Play Market. Alternatively, you can find a QR-code in the passport control areas in Ukraine, scanning which will take you directly to the respective application market depending on your device operation system. The application’s interface language is Ukrainian, it does not have English version. Make sure you have someone to help you with the Ukrainian if needed. 

Once the application is downloaded and installed, you will need to undergo a standard authentication procedure. An sms with a code will be sent to your Ukrainian phone number and then you can complete the registration by entering that code in the application. You will also need to allow push-notifications to stay informed. You will need to fill out your self-isolation address. Please keep in mind that it should be the address where you want to self-isolate for 14 days, but not your current location, which is the airport. Upon your arrival to the self-isolation accommodation you will need to send a photo with geolocation activated from that location using the application.

Only after your authorization with the Act at Home app will you be regarded as a person who is  allowed to be controlled with the help of this application and legally able to undergo self-isolation at your place of residence.

Generally, after your authorization the application will ask you to confirm that you have already arrived at the place of your self-isolation. It is imperative that you follow the instructions of the application. At this point you will be asked to take a selfie of yourself and send it through the application to the authorities. Please make sure you are taking a good quality photo with your face clearly visible and well-lit. This is paramount for the software to work properly.

The application is equipped with a countdown of your self-isolation period. This period starts when you send your first photo. Afterwards you will be required to send more photos regularly to ensure that you comply with the self-isolation. The general rule is that you have to send a phone within 15 minutes of the application’s request. The application will then check your identity against the first photo and your geolocation which has to be the same as you declared. It is important to note that the application does not collect any personal data when you are not sending photos. It will not bother you at night. Once your self-isolation is over, the application will inform you by sending a push-notification. You will see the EXIT button in the application become active and you will be able to deactivate your application and delete it, if necessary.

We advise against ignoring requests to send your photo, sending a photo of a different person, sending your photo from a different location, deleting the application or having your phone switched off. In this case the application will inform you that your verification has failed. It will send you up to five other requests. If you fail all of these requests the application will automatically inform Ukrainian police that you have violated the rules of self-isolation.

Some foreigners under self-isolation reported that this app has numerous bugs. Namely, one individual was not penalized as long as his photos were uploaded to the app within one hour. On certain occasions the app did not recognize his photo and he had to retake it. Nonetheless, he was able to finish his self-isolation successfully.

In most of the cases the police will call you before coming to your home. Should the police confirm that you violated your self-isolation, you will be held liable. The standard penalty for violating self-isolation is a fine varying from UAH 17000 up to UAH 34000 (approximately USD 630-1260). This is if the police regard your violation of self-isolation as a minor misdemeanor. Conversely, the police might consider your violation as a crime, in this case not only can you be fined from UAH 17000 up to UAH 51 000 (approximately USD 630 – 1890), but you can be arrested and imprisoned for up to three years. If your actions cause death of other people or other grave outcomes the infraction will be punished by imprisonment from five to eight years.

The unexpected pandemic of COVID-19 is an unprecedented challenge not only for foreigners traveling to Ukraine, but also for the Ukrainian authorities. Developing a mobile application to manage potential carriers of COVID-19 takes time and resources. For this reason neither the application nor the regulations in place are perfect. 
If you have any questions after having read this article, you want us to look into your situation, or you plan a trip to Ukraine, please feel free to reach out to us at info@immigrateua.com or call at +380931953955 for clarifications. We are always here for you to help with professional legal assistance.

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