The Hague Convention of 1961 entered into force for Ukraine on December 22, 2003, which cancels the requirement for legalization of documents to be valid abroad.

Documents to be used abroad on the territory of the States Parties to the Hague Convention must contain the Apostille stamp placed by the competent authority on the territory of the state issuing the document.

The ratification of this agreement abolishes the requirement of consular legalization and introduces a procedure for simplified legalization – placement of the Apostille.

This procedure is called simplified, because, on the one hand, Apostille is placed quickly enough and, moreover, by only one authorized body, and on the other hand, after the Apostille stamp has been put on a document, the document becomes valid in the territory of all Member States of the Hague Convention as of October 5, 1961.

Procedure of Apostille placement in Ukraine:

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 61 on Granting the Authority to affix the Apostille under the Convention, which abolishes the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents dated January 18, 2003, the apostille is affixed by the following ministries:

- the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine - on official documents issued by educational institutions, public bodies, enterprises, institutions and organizations in the sphere of education and science;

These documents include certificates of secondary education, educational diplomas, certificates of academic degrees, certificates from educational institutions, curricula, etc.;

- by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine - on documents issued by the judicial bodies and courts, as well as on documents drawn up by the Ukrainian notaries.

These documents include certificates issued by the bodies of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages, extracts from the State Civil Register, documents certified by notaries, court decisions and references.

- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine - on all other types of documents.

The procedure for apostille placement on official documents drawn up on the territory of Ukraine and intended for use in other states is governed by the Regulations approved by the Decree No. 237/803/151/5 of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated December 5, 2003.

Apostille is not affixed on:

- documents issued by foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine;

- administrative documents directly related to commercial or customs formalities.

The deadlines for Apostille placement are different, it depends on many factors, such as which ministry should you submit the documents to, and how quickly you need the Apostille to be affixed.

In our translation agency, we can place the Apostille urgently.

Since all the ministries are located in Kyiv, you will not be able to affix the Apostille in Lviv. What should you do then? Go to Kyiv? Then you need to spend a few days for that, not to mention the cost of travel, accommodation, food, etc. But there is always a way out. You do not need to go to Kyiv to put the Apostille on documents, all you should do is come to us in Lviv and we will do everything for you. To do this, please contact us in any way convenient for you.