Apostilling is one of the legal regimes of the legal validity recognition of Ukrainian documents to be used abroad. Apostille came as an alternative and universal certification procedure for effectiveness confirmation of foreign documents.

In contrast to the consular legalization, the Apostille requires less time and an apostilized documents may be used in more than one country.

In order to make the documents about education valid abroad, they are required to undergo the procedure of consular legalization or apostilization, unless our countries are in an agreement abolishing or simplifying the document legalization procedure between the countries.

The Apostille certifies the authenticity of the signature of a person who signed the document and as well as the authenticity of the seal or the stamp complimenting the signature.

The Apostille is the stamp measuring at least 10×10 cm, affixed either to the document or on the separate special page, bound to the document.

Since October, 1^st, 2011 the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine has introduced the additional protection at Apostille affixing. Currently, in the right upper corner of the stamp the Apostille must contain the holographic image in size of 13×25 mm, which shows the Coat of Arms of Ukraine and the title of the Ministry.

In Ukraine the authority for affixing the Apostille is given to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine is authorized to affix the Apostille to the official documents, which relate to the sphere of education and science.

The state enterprise “Information – image centre” of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (http://apostille.in.ua) performs the function of the National information centre of academic mobility (The Regulation KMU from 31.08. 2011 №924). Particularly, the validation of authenticity of documents about education, issued by the educational establishments of Ukraine and other countries, is included to the power of the Centre. The result of the positive validation is stamping of “Apostille” by the Ministry of Education and Science on the educational documents; it certifies the lawfulness of their issuing to the competent authorities on issues of recognition in other countries.

The documents which require the Apostille of Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine

The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine affixes the Apostille to the documents confirming education or academic degrees, awarded by educational establishments, goverment bodies, enterprises, institutions and organisations. Such documents are high school certificates, diplomas and appendices to them, academic statements and certificates about refresher training, academic degree diplomas and the like. Such documents are required to meet the state specimens valid in Ukraine at the time of document issue. The Apostilles can be issued for original education confirming documents only. Copies will not be accepted for apostilization. In addition, a document will not be accepted for processing if:

• this document is intended for use in a country that has not joined the Hague Convention or is a Convention member which voted against Ukraine’s accession to the Convention in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention;
• the text of the document is illegible due to document mutilation;
• the document is written or signed in pencil or is a fax copy;
• the document contains unspecified corrections or text additions;
• the apostilization of the given document is not within the powers of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine;
• the document, specifically the archive statement, curriculum, academic statement does not have the signature of the principal or vice principal of the educational establishment and not certified with the official seal;
• the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has failed to obtain the specimens of the corresponding signatures, seals and/or stamps to be able to confirm the fact of issue of the education confirming document;
• the signature in the document differs from the specified position, surname, given name and patronymic of the head of the educational establishment or institution.

The list of countries which recognize the Apostille

For which countries the Apostille is good?

The Apostille is affixed to Ukrainian documents intended to be used in any country that signed the Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (the Hague Convention). See the list of signatory countries below:

For which countries the Apostille certification is not applicable?

1. If you are preparing documents for a country that is not a member of the Hague Convention and it is not on the list of signatory countries, you need to submit your documents for consular legalization. For this purpose, apply to the Apostille and Document Issue Arrangement Division of the Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine at 2 Velyka Zhytomyrska St, Kyiv, 01018, tel.: +380 44 238 16 69.

2. If you are preparing documents for a country that is a member of the Hague Convention but our countries have signed an agreement abolishing or simplifying the document legalization procedure, you do not need apostilization. If an institution in this foreign country still insists on your documents to be apostilized, the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine will not deny your Apostille application if you file it. Such countries include most former USSR countries and some other countries. In the list of signatory countries, such countries are marked with the star character (*). Your Ukrainian documents should be accepted in these countries without the Apostille certification or you may be asked to present the documents with notarized translations and the Apostille stamp affixed by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Please clarify this question with the foreign institution for which you are preparing the document package.