Cash assistance recipients, deadline to update your information with UNHCR is extended.
Update your information here, or approach a Cash Enrolment Centre before 29 February 2024.  
If you face challenges to secure legal status, approach us or our partners.

During the public and winter holidays, the enrolment centres and the Cash helpline (0 800 10823) will be closed on 25 – 26 December 2023 and 1 and 8 January 2024. 

Due to the year-end budget closures, refugees currently enrolled on UNHCR’s cash programme will receive advance winter payments for January, February, and March 2024. The winter cash is 800 lei per household per month. The advance winter payments are scheduled to be processed within the current month.

Please, take care of your money. These are advanced payments; you won’t be receiving winter cash in 2024.

For those arriving to the country, and enrolling in UNHCR cash programme, will receive winter cash on a monthly basis till March 2024.

UNHCR’s cash assistance program in Moldova, benefiting vulnerable refugees from Ukraine, is having some changes in 2024.

Cash assistance recipients, deadline to update your information with UNHCR is extended!
Update your information here, or approach a Cash Enrolment Centre before 29 February 2024.  
If you face challenges to secure legal status, approach us or our partners.

Starting in January, legal status in Moldova is required for cash beneficiaries. To ensure a legal status will provide you with a secure stay, access to services, and re-entry flexibility.  

This is what you need to know about the changes:  

Current cash recipients: Cash assistance continues for existing recipients until January 2024. Ongoing support requires proof of legal status in Moldova. 

• If you have secured a legal status update your information here, or approach a Cash Enrolment Centre before 31 January 2024.  
• If you do not have a legal status in Moldova, we encourage you to do so as soon as possible.  

New Arrivals (After Jan 1, 2024):

• You can enroll in UNHCR’s cash assistance upon arrival. You will receive an initial two-month cash assistance following the program criteria. You will need to secure legal status to continue receiving cash assistance after 2 months.  
  Ukrainian nationals are allowed a 90-day stay in Moldova, during which they receive cash assistance. Following this period, they must formalize their status to sustain cash assistance. Non-compliance may lead to fines and difficulties in re-entering the country. 

Legal Status in Moldova includes temporary protection, refugee status, humanitarian protection, stateless status, or residence permit (either temporary or permanent). 

Persons with Moldovan citizenship (including those with dual nationality) will not be eligible for cash assistance.

You should know that another change is expected in the first half of 2024, to target cash assistance to the most vulnerable, this is due to the growing self-reliance of refugees and to ensure we support those who need it the most.  

For more information on UNHCR’s Cash Assistance please visit the Cash Assistance for refugees in Moldova page. 

Call for free 0 800 10823 for assistance or visit a Cash Enrolment Centre from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (Mon-Fri). 

All aid provided is free of charge. Stay informed through UNHCR public information campaigns. 

During the winter season, households enrolled in UNHCR’s cash program will receive additional assistance. The winter cash, 800 lei per household, will be loaded to your existing bank card in addition to your regular payment from November 2023 to March 2024. 

Beneficiaries enrolled in the Cash Programme by 31 October 2023 will begin to receive the winter cash starting in November, while those enrolled in the upcoming months will receive the winter cash the next month after their enrollment. No backdated assistance will be provided. 

 UNHCR has been made aware of a potential scam originating from this phone number : +373-7908-2557. This is NOT an official number. Please DO NOT transfer any money or provide any services to this number.

All emails from UNHCR will be sent from an official email address ending with “@unhcr.org” . UNHCR does not use email addresses ending with ‘@protonmail’, ‘@gmail’, or ‘@hotmail’.

 Please note that UNHCR and its partners HAVE NEVER and WILL NEVER request for payment for services or assistance provided.

All humanitarian assistance and services are provided free of charge.

Please make a REPORT if you or someone you know has been asked to pay or provide favours to someone in exchange for services. 

The new academic year in Moldova has already started. If you and your child have not yet decided on an educational institution, it is not too late to register. 
 

The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova has issued a new, simplified Instruction on the procedure to enroll Ukrainian children in Moldovan schools. More information can be found here: (Ukrainian) instructiune_ua.docx (live.com), and here (Russian) istructiune_ru.docx (live.com) 
 

It is very easy to enroll in a school in Moldova. To do this, you must apply for admission to the school, provide identity documents of the child and parents, medical record of the child (Ukrainian or Moldovan) and school documents, if any, to the local school. More information on the application form can be found here:  

• Preschool (Ukrainian): cerere-tip_invatamant_prescolar_ro_4_0_ukr.docx (live.com) 
• Preschool (Russian): cerere-tip_invatamant_prescolar_ro_4_0_rus.docx (live.com) 
• General Education (Ukrainian): _cerere-tip_invatamant_general_ro_1_0_ukr.docx (live.com) 
• General Education (Russian): _cerere-tip_invatamant_general_ro_1_0_rus.docx (live.com) 
   

If your child continues to study the Ukrainian program online, he or she can do it at a school. For more information, contact your local school.  

In case your local school is full, they will help you find a place in a nearby school. 

By the Decision of the Commission for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Moldova No. 80 of 4 September 2023, the procedure of documenting the residence for obtaining Temporary Protection has been simplified.   

You can download the sample declaration of residence approved from the official website of the General Inspectorate for Migration, fill it out with your information, and then submit it as proof of residence during the online pre-registration process.  To download the form, you need to go to the website igm.gov.md, go to the “Temporary Protection” section, and select “Required Documents“. 

 The Inspectorate General for Migration warns that you, as an applicant for temporary protection, may be held criminally liable for perjury under the provisions of Article 352 of the first part of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova. Don’t provide false information.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will undergo a global system upgrade from mid-August to the end of September.

During this period, the payments related to UNHCR’s cash program will experience temporary disruptions. Because of it, to minimize the inconvenience, the payments for beneficiaries with due dates between mid-August and the end of September will be processed in the next days.

This means you will receive the assistance in advance, we highly recommend that you handle it with care as you won’t receive money till the system is back in October. Make a budget and save for the upcoming months.

We thank you for your patience and we apologize for the situation.

Due to the temporary limitation of access implemented, the enrolment center in Chisinau will operate at a low capacity during the period from 1 – 2 June.