APOSTILLE AND LEGALIZATION

   All more often in private conversations, newspapers, TV programs and especially in Internet you hear «document legalization» and «apostille». Now you have come to deal with these terms as well.
We are happy to help you, first, by explaining meaning of these terms, and second, by providing quality services and consulting on the matters we could not cover on our site.

     So, the documents issued and having legal power within territory of one state may be used in the territory of another state only if certified correspondingly. Currently there are 2 ways of such certification - consular legalization of documents>> and apostille. You yourself may not choose either of these ways, since this is determined by international legal acts, and you are to obey them.
     Way 1 - Consular legalization - confirms the documents' correspondence to the legislation of their state of origin and is a certification of authenticity of the officer's signature, his status and, when necessary, seal of a competent state authority on documents and acts for them to be used in a foreign state.
     Foreign documents for use in the territory of Ukraine may be legalized in the territory of the issuing state or in Ukraine. In the first case the document is first certified in the Ministry of foreign affairs or other competent state body in the territory of which the document has been issued, then it is legalized in the consular institution of Ukraine in this state. In the second case the foreign document is first certified at a diplomatical embassy or consular institution of the state in the territory of which the document has been issued, and then it is legalized in Department of consular service of Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine. In both cases the document's translation in Ukrainian certified by a notary may be requested if necessary.
     As you see, the legalization is an effort- and money-consuming process. However it is not perfect - such multilateral and complicated procedure makes a document valid only for the state, the consular service of which has legalized it.

                           The countries that require consular legalization of documents
Germany, Denmark, Jordan, Canada, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, UAE, Sirya etc.
     In order to simplify the process of admission of foreign documents in 1961 in Hague (Netherlands) a Convention has been signed that replaced legalization of foreign official documents (Hague Convention).
     According to the Hague Convention the documents executed by competent authorities of a state for use within territory of another state receive a special stamp - apostille. This is Way 2. The stamp may be placed on the document itself or on a separate sheet attached to the document. The apostille 'certifies the authenticity of signature, the quality in which the signing person acted and, in proper cases, authenticity of seal or stamp that certifies the document' (article 5). The signature, seal or stamp placed on the apostille by competent authorities require no further certification or legalization, and the document with the apostille may be used in any country participating in Hague Convention.
     However, legalization and apostille are not necessary, if there is an international treaty that cancels or simplifies these procedures. So, bilateral treaties on mutual legal redress and Convention on legal redress and legal relations in civil, family and criminal law from January 22, 1993 declare that the documents that are executed or certified on the territory of one of the Parties by an organization or specifically competent authority within area of their competence and a settled form and bear an official seal require no certification (legalization) on the territory of another of the Parties. Such documents require only translation certified by a notary.
     The Parties of the Convention are: Republic of Belarus, Republic of Uzbekistan, Republic of Kazachstan, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Armenia, Ukraine, Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Turkmenistan, Republic of Azerbayjan, Georgia.
                                     Authorities competent to stamp an apostille on a document:
?Ministry of justice of Ukraine
?Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine
?Ministry of education and science of Ukraine

Prices

Legalization and apostille in Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,Ministry of education

Name of service	Execution time	Issuing authority	Price of 1 document
Legalization of a document*	5 working days	(MoJ + MoFA)	200 UAH
Double legalization of documents*	10-12 working days	(MoJ + MoFA)	400 UAH
Legalization of a document for legal entities*	5 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	450 UAH
Double legalization of documents for legal entities*	12 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	750 UAH
Urgent legalization*	в течение 1-2 дней	(MoJ + MoFA)	300 UAH
Double urgent legalization*	2-4 working days	(MoJ + MoFA)	550 UAH
Urgent legalization of documents for legal entities*	в течение 1-2 дней	(MoJ + MoFA)	750 UAH
Double urgent legalization of documents for legal entities*	2-4 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	950 UAH
*For legalization of documents in MoFA the customer is required a power of attorney certified by a notary: for legal persons for the name of our employee, for legal entities - a power of attorney certified by the seal of the enterprise and a forward letter for the concerned Ministry. The text of the power of attorney is sent on demand.
Apostille	2-5 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	200 UAH
Apostille	2 working days - 2 months	( Ministry of education)	350-600 UAH
Double apostille	4-10 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	400 UAH
Apostille on documents of a legal entity	5 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	350 UAH
Double apostille on documents of a legal entity	10 working days	(MoJ, MoFA)	700 UAH
Certification of medical certificates	1-2 working days	(Ministry of health)	100 UAH
Legalization of documents of Civil registry offices of Kyiv city or Kyivska region	1 working day	in Kyiv city or Kyivska region Department of justice	210 UAH
Legalization of documents of Civil registry offices of Kyiv city or Kyivska region	2 working days	in Kyiv city or Kyivska region Department of justice	150 UAH

Legalization of documents in Embassies (Consular sections)

Name of service	Execution time	Consular fee	Price of processing a set of documents (1 document and more)
Legalization of documents in the embassy of Spain	7-15 working days	25 USD for 1 page of translation	450 UAH
Legalization of documents in the embassy of Italy	1-3 working days	81 UAH for 1 document from a Civil Registry Office 162 UAH for 1 document (other certificates and documents)	450 UAH
Execution of Dichiarazione di valore in the embassy of Italy	about 1-2 months	324 UAH for 1 set of documents (for example a diploma and an abstract to it etc)	550 UAH
Legalization of documents in the embassy of Germany	1-3 working days	from 20 to 40 EUR for 1 document	450 UAH
Legalization of documents in embassies of other countries	depending on the embassy	depending on the embassy	450 UAH

 

Examples of calculation of translation value (and relevant services):
We will consider the most frequent situations.

Situation 1 – You need to translate a Certificate of birth in English with notary certification.
Calculation: 30 UAH (translation) + 120 UAH (notary certification) = 150 UAH

Situation 2 – You need to translate and legalize a Certificate on the absence of criminal offenses in Spanish. Calculation: 200 UAH (apostille in MoFA) + 50 UAH (translation) + 25 USD (consular fee) + 450 UAH (price for our services on presentation of your documents (number of documents does not matter) to the consular section of the Embassy of Spain in Ukraine) = (250 UAH + 25 $) * number of documents) + 450 UAH