What Is an Apostille? What Is It For? Obtaining an Apostille During Martial Law
What an apostille is, where it is obtained in Ukraine, and what documents you need. Hague Convention requirements explained.
The Hague Convention, signed by a number of countries, requires that official documents submitted to state authorities and representations bear an apostille. An apostille is a form of official certification confirming the validity of documents — namely the authenticity of the signature of the authorised person and the authenticity of the seal of the issuing authority.
Some countries require a double apostille, for example Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark and others. In that case, the legality and authenticity of the notarial certification are also confirmed. The receiving authority will then have no questions or doubts as to the document’s legality and validity.
An apostille is affixed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (MinJust), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES). It appears as a stamp with an electronic digital seal and signature on the document, or on a separate sheet attached to it (see images).
An apostille is affixed only in the country that issued the document. Thus, an apostille cannot be affixed in Ukraine to documents issued in Germany, France, Poland, etc.
To obtain an apostille you must provide the original document or a notarised copy. Please note that we provide document notarisation services. For apostillisation of education documents, a consent form for personal data processing must also be completed; the applicant must provide passport details.
The apostille process takes a certain period, which our managers will specify. Unfortunately, delays may currently occur due to circumstances beyond our control, including the martial law situation in Ukraine and interruptions in the work of ministries during air-raid alerts. We therefore recommend that you ensure timely or, better, early submission of documents to avoid complications when submitting them to the relevant authorities.
For the list of documents subject to and not subject to apostillisation, see the official website of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:
https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/z1151-03#Text
If you have any questions, please contact our managers, who will be glad to provide detailed information.
— Planeta Translation Bureau / Translation Agency «Planeta»