Method

How we check information

Varta detects changes on official websites automatically, quotes them verbatim and checks each quote against the saved copy of the page. Explanations in our own words — country guides and overviews of major decisions — are written separately and always link to the official source. Varta’s system uses no artificial intelligence or language models.

Where the information comes from

We read the pages of government authorities in the countries where Ukrainians live, and the texts of EU law. Where a government has no dedicated page for Ukrainians, we also read pages of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and of a few non-governmental organisations. We report a rule change only when an official government source confirms it.

How we notice changes

Our crawler opens public pages on a schedule — every six hours, daily or weekly, depending on the source — and compares the text with the previous saved copy. It never fills in forms or enters personal accounts.

Every new version of a page is saved as a copy with the time it was checked. If a source is temporarily unavailable, we invent nothing: we show only what is already confirmed, with its check date, or nothing at all. For webmasters: our crawler

Verbatim quotes

We quote the source verbatim, in the original language, with a link to the page and the check date. Before anything is published, the software verifies that the quote appears word for word in the saved copy of the page. In automatic updates our text next to it is only a short template: what changed and where to read it.

Our explanations and guides

Not everything on the site is a quote. Country guides, overviews of major decisions (such as the EU decision on protection until 4 March 2028) and corrected news are written in our own words, to make them easier to read. Separate rules apply to them:

• In corrected news every statement carries the number of a verbatim quote from an official source in the original language. Before anything is saved, the software checks the quotes against the live source page again; whatever does not match is not published.
• Guide sections carry verbatim quotes from official pages with the date they were retrieved, and at every check the software looks for the guide’s dates and figures in the sources.
• An explanation is general information, not a conclusion about your situation. Before any step your status depends on, open the primary source through the link.

What happens to a change: three steps

1. A familiar change. If the change has a form the software already recognises (for example, a new end date of protection) and every check passes, the news is published automatically.
2. A new official condition. If the form is unfamiliar but a national official source has changed a provision about protection or Ukrainians, we publish an “Official update”: the full verbatim quote, the link and the check time, with no interpretation. No more than three a day for one country.
3. Everything else. Changes to menus or counters, repeats and old entries are closed automatically, and the reason is recorded.

At no step does a change wait for someone to review it by hand: the same rules decide what is published for every country.

What we do not do

• Varta’s system uses no artificial intelligence or language models, neither to find changes nor to check quotes nor to publish.
• We give no personal legal verdicts. Varta shows general information and official sources; the authority in your country makes the decision.
• We do not sell help with filing applications and we are not an intermediary.
• We do not publish a change that an official source does not confirm.

Spotted a mistake?

Write to us through the contact form — the message reaches the service owner straight away. Our content disclaimer is on the Disclaimer page.