Verified digital pathways through migration and public-service procedures

THE PROBLEM

Official information exists — but people still cannot turn it into action

Migrants, refugees and displaced people often face information that is distributed across national portals, regional authorities, municipalities, forms, legal acts and frequently changing instructions. Even where official information is publicly available, a person may still not know:

• which procedure applies to their situation;
• whether they meet the eligibility criteria;
• which national or regional authority is competent;
• which documents and payments are required;
• which deadline is critical;
• what rights they have while waiting;
• what happens if the application is refused;
• which information is current and which is outdated.

Language barriers, digital exclusion, disability, stress and inconsistent local implementation make this problem especially serious for vulnerable groups. Frontline organisations repeatedly spend time explaining the same procedures, while policy makers receive limited structured evidence about where people become blocked.

THE SOLUTION

A verified procedural navigation layer

DryRights converts official rules and institutional information into reusable digital routes. A route connects the user's situation with the applicable procedure, responsible authority, documents, fees, deadlines, actions, rights while waiting, renewal rules, refusal and appeal.

1. User situation
2. applicable pathway
3. eligibility
4. competent authority
5. documents
6. fees
7. deadlines
8. submission steps
9. waiting period
10. renewal, refusal or appeal

Users answer a limited set of questions and receive a route adapted to their situation. The system preserves the official source, verification date, editorial status and change history behind each important statement.

Key principles:

• official sources first;
• minimal personal data;
• no mandatory account for basic route checks;
• multilingual and plain-language presentation;
• regional authority and payment details where procedures are decentralised;
• visible verification dates and source provenance;
• accessibility as a product requirement;
• human editorial responsibility for published legal content.

LIVE PILOT

Poland: from PESEL UKR and CUKR eligibility to the correct voivodeship authority

The current pilot focuses on residence procedures in Poland and demonstrates how the same national rule can require different regional institutions, addresses and payment accounts.

Implemented pilot elements:

• a dedicated CUKR route for eligible holders of PESEL UKR;
• a separate temporary residence route for work, study, family and business grounds;
• personalised questions and route filtering;
• the critical CUKR deadline of 4 March 2027;
• the distinction between the 30-day UKR absence rule and the six-month CUKR absence rule;
• registry-data readiness checks for passport details, fingerprints and signature;
• a child-specific CUKR branch;
• all 16 Polish voivodeships;
• competent regional authorities;
• verified contact details;
• regional payment accounts with source links and review dates;
• steps, documents, fees, waiting-period rights, renewal and appeal information.

Important note: The pilot is an informational navigation tool. It does not replace individual legal advice or an authority's formal decision.

FIT WITH EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Proposed fit with Expected Outcomes 1 and 2

The topic requires each proposal to contribute either to Expected Outcomes 1 and 2 combined, or to Expected Outcomes 3 and 4 combined.

Based on the current product and Poland pilot, DryRights' strongest proposed fit is with Expected Outcomes 1 and 2. The platform can support evidence-based implementation of migration governance and legal pathways by converting fragmented official rules into structured, multilingual and testable user journeys; comparing national and regional implementation; documenting recurring administrative barriers; and generating minimised, aggregated evidence about whether people can identify the correct procedure, authority, documents, deadline and next action.

The final outcome pair, research questions and methodology must be agreed by the coordinator and consortium. DryRights does not independently provide asylum-policy research, public-health research or health-data infrastructure.

This mapping shows where DryRights contributes, not where DryRights alone satisfies an outcome.

TRANSFO-08 SCOPE MAPPING

How the current demonstrator maps to the detailed scope of TRANSFO-08

The current Poland demonstrator is not presented as complete coverage of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum or of the full research topic. It demonstrates a reusable procedural-navigation and research-instrument layer: structured routes, competent-authority resolution, source provenance, multilingual interaction, user-journey testing and minimised evidence about where people become blocked. A consortium would select the relevant Pact, resettlement or legal-pathway procedures and provide the specialist research, legal validation, target-country access, ethics and independent evaluation required by the call.

The official topic requires proposals to contribute either to Expected Outcomes 1 and 2 combined, or to Expected Outcomes 3 and 4 combined. DryRights' proposed role is limited to a technology, procedural-modelling and pilot contribution. The final outcome pair, intervention logic and research questions remain the responsibility of the coordinator and consortium.

Current limitations

DryRights does not currently provide asylum-status determination, age-assessment expertise, resettlement-policy research, partner-country field networks, independent impact evaluation or public-health data infrastructure. These capabilities must be supplied by qualified consortium partners. DryRights' present evidence is a working technology demonstrator and procedural-route methodology, not proof that the full topic can be delivered by DryRights alone.

Current maturity: a live public demonstrator with implemented Poland routes and regional authority resolution. A formal TRL, person-month allocation, budget envelope and target-country commitment will be agreed only after the consortium defines the work-package scope, validation responsibilities and pilot plan.

Read the official Horizon Europe 2026–2027 Cluster 2 work programme ↗

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

From a public information service to a consortium research instrument

In a Horizon Europe project, DryRights would not be limited to publishing information. The Navigator can operate as a configurable intervention and research instrument.

The consortium can define selected procedures, countries, target groups and success indicators. DryRights can then provide standardised route representations, multilingual interfaces, provenance and versioning, moderated and unmoderated journey tests, and minimised event data showing where participants stop, which concepts remain unclear and whether they can identify an actionable next step.

Research design, recruitment, informed consent where required, ethics, safeguarding, statistical analysis and policy interpretation must be led jointly with qualified consortium partners.

These are proposed, not committed, research questions, pending a valid evaluation design agreed with the consortium.

CONSORTIUM CONTRIBUTION

A concrete technology and implementation workstream

Subject to consortium design, eligibility and the final consortium agreement, DryRights can contribute as a technology provider, task participant, pilot implementation partner or leader of a focused digital-navigation workstream.

• 1. Route methodology

  Develop and maintain a shared standard for converting migration, integration and public-service procedures into structured, verifiable routes.

• 2. Technology platform

  Deliver the web-based route engine, multilingual interface, regional authority resolution, deadline logic, source provenance and change-history functions.

• 3. Content production workflow

  Work with national legal experts and public authorities to convert official sources into reviewable, versioned and publishable route content.

• 4. Accessibility and plain language

  Implement accessible interaction patterns and work with specialist partners on Easy Language, Plain Language, multilingual terminology and usability for people under stress.

• 5. Co-design and user testing

  Support participatory workshops and usability testing with migrants, refugees, displaced Ukrainians, frontline workers and people with disabilities.

• 6. Pilot implementation

  Configure and operate country-specific pilots, beginning with Poland and extending to additional countries selected by the consortium.

• 7. Monitoring and evaluation data

  Collect minimised and aggregated evidence about route completion, time to identify the correct procedure, points of abandonment, accessibility barriers and transitions to official actions.

• 8. Transferability

  Produce templates, data structures, governance rules and implementation guidance that allow routes to be adapted across countries and organisations.

Illustrative work package structure

Disclaimer: The structure below is a proposal for discussion and must be aligned with the coordinator's intervention logic, expected outcomes and budget.

WP numbering uses "?" until a coordinator assigns formal numbers.

PARTNERSHIP NEEDS

DryRights provides the navigation layer; the consortium provides the multidisciplinary environment

A credible pilot requires technology, legal expertise, trusted access to users, independent evaluation and institutional engagement. We are therefore looking for partners able to contribute:

Consortium coordinator

An organisation with Horizon Europe coordination and lump-sum project management capacity.

Migration and asylum research lead

A university or research institute able to lead the topic methodology and EU Pact/legal-pathways analysis.

National legal validation partners

Qualified experts for each pilot jurisdiction who can validate the route content and regional implementation differences.

Public authorities and municipalities

Authorities able to support institutional mapping, pilot access and policy learning, including small and medium-sized towns where relevant.

Migrant- and refugee-led organisations

Partners able to shape the research questions, recruit participants responsibly and ensure that lived experience influences the intervention.

Independent evaluation partner

A team capable of comparative, quantitative and qualitative evaluation without relying only on product analytics.

Accessibility and plain-language specialists

Partners able to test the main journey with disabled users and users with different levels of digital and legal literacy.

Ethics and data-governance partner

A partner responsible for research ethics, data protection, minimisation, safeguarding, retention and access controls.

Optional health-data/public-health lead

Required if the consortium chooses Expected Outcomes 3 and 4.

Specific questions for a coordinator:

1. Which expected outcomes is the proposal targeting?
2. Which countries and user groups are included?
3. Which work package could host the digital navigation component?
4. Would DryRights participate as a beneficiary, affiliated entity, subcontractor or another eligible role?
5. Which legal entity, PIC and partner documents are required?
6. What internal deadline applies to the partner profile and budget?
7. Which person-month range and budget envelope are available?
8. How will background IP and project results be addressed in the consortium agreement?

CURRENT READINESS

What is already available

• a live public web prototype;
• a working Poland navigator;
• CUKR and temporary residence routes;
• 16-voivodeship authority and payment resolution;
• personalised route filtering;
• structured route and institution data models;
• official-source links and verification dates;
• editorial status and change-history concepts;
• Ukrainian and English site architecture;
• cookie-free public route use without a mandatory account;
• a privacy-by-design approach based on data minimisation;
• an accessibility roadmap targeting WCAG 2.2 AA for the main user journey;
• a proposed pilot evaluation framework.

What remains for a consortium pilot:

• jointly selected pilot procedures and countries;
• national expert validation;
• consortium-approved ethics and data-governance plan;
• accessibility testing with target users;
• recruitment and safeguarding arrangements;
• independent evaluation design;
• project-specific localisation and integrations.

EXPECTED IMPACT

From information access to measurable procedural capability

DryRights is designed to measure more than page views. A pilot can examine whether users:

• identify the correct procedure more accurately;
• identify the competent authority faster;
• understand the next action;
• recognise critical deadlines;
• prepare a more complete document package;
• avoid unnecessary or incorrect institutional contacts;
• move from information to an official action;
• experience fewer accessibility and language barriers.

Illustrative — to be agreed with the consortium.

Privacy, accessibility and editorial accountability

Privacy: Basic route checks should remain possible without an account. The platform is designed to minimise personal data, avoid collecting unnecessary identity information and prioritise aggregated pilot evidence.

Accessibility: Accessibility is treated as a product requirement. The current roadmap targets WCAG 2.2 AA for the primary navigation and route-completion journey, with specialist review and testing still required before any formal conformance claim.

Editorial accountability: Automated tools may assist with monitoring and data preparation, but publication of legal and procedural content requires an identifiable human editorial process, source review and visible verification status.

Safety: DryRights does not make formal eligibility decisions, submit applications on behalf of users or replace qualified legal advice. High-risk and uncertain situations must direct users to an authority, legal-aid service or qualified professional.

FOUNDER

Ukrainian veteran-founded and independently developed

DryRights was founded and is led by Maliborskiy Vitaliy, a Ukrainian war veteran with an officially recognised disability. The initiative is currently operated through a Ukrainian sole proprietor officially recognised as a veteran entrepreneurship entity.

The project combines first-hand understanding of administrative complexity with independent product development, structured legal-information modelling and a practical focus on actions that users can complete.

Legal participant: Sole Proprietor Maliborskiy Vitaliy, Ukraine · Participant Identification Code (PIC): 862808017

Legal participation note: The final Horizon Europe participation structure — including beneficiary status, legal entity and any consortium role — must be confirmed with the coordinator and the applicable programme rules.

Background intellectual property

The DryRights name, domain, pre-existing software, route methodology, data model, editorial standard, existing content and documentation constitute background assets developed before any future consortium project. Their use in a project must be governed by the grant agreement, consortium agreement and a written background-IP schedule.

Project-specific results, access rights, licensing, maintenance responsibilities and post-project exploitation should be agreed transparently before implementation.

DryRights is open to defining project-specific access rights, interfaces, documentation, maintenance responsibilities and exploitation routes in a consortium agreement. No public page or expression of interest transfers ownership of background assets or predetermines the ownership of future project results.

CONTACT

Discuss a consortium role

If DryRights may fit your proposal, please contact the founder with the call reference, proposed role, target countries, expected contribution and your internal partner deadline.

Maliborskiy Vitaliy
Founder and Product Lead, DryRights Navigator
partnerships@dryrights.com

Response note: Please do not send sensitive personal data or confidential consortium documents by ordinary email before an appropriate secure channel and confidentiality arrangement have been agreed.

DryRights is currently in active development and pilot preparation. Published routes are informational tools based on official sources and do not constitute individual legal advice.

This page is an expression of interest in consortium participation. It does not imply endorsement, selection or funding by the European Commission. The proposed role, outcome alignment, work package position, budget and legal participation model remain subject to agreement with a coordinator and consortium and to the applicable Horizon Europe rules.