How to go through the procedure of consular legalization?

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of people wishing to go abroad for the purpose of study, residence or employment. If you are interested in this topic or if you have long dreamed of working in another country, then this article will be useful to you.

For clarity, we decided to compare the procedure for preparing documents for submission to the embassy on our own or with the help of a specialized translation agency.

If the country you are planning to go to has signed the Hague Convention, the procedure for preparing documents is simple. You apostil documents, translate them if necessary, and you can safely get a visa. If you are traveling to a country that has not acceded to the Hague Convention, for example China, Canada, and Asian countries, then your path to preparing documents is difficult and thorny and you will have to face consular legalization.

So, you decided to start the procedure of consular legalization yourself.

1. Package of documents.

First of all, you should ask the host country what documents you need to prepare in your home country in order to get a visa without hindrance. Such a list is provided by the university (or agent), the employer or it can be found on the embassy's website.

2. Dates.

Decide on the timing. You should not take premature steps and buy tickets in advance without having to complete a full package of documents for departure. If the terms are still limited, this is the first call to contact a specialized translation agency. And if your registration period coincided with the summer or winter, the hours-long lines at the ministries and embassies will shock you.

3. Costs.

The embassies of most foreign countries in Ukraine, as well as the ministries, unfortunately, are in Kiev, so if you live outside the capital, a trip will be absolutely necessary.

Let's calculate the costs you incur:

  • round-trip cost from 350 UAH (depending on the region)
  • accommodation in the capital from 200 UAH per night
  • meals from 150 UAH per day
  • transportation around the city from 30 UAH per day other expenses.

The period of legalization of documents takes at least two weeks (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Embassy), so you should be ready to take a vacation. By comparing the costs of travel and accommodation in Kiev with the prices of legalization services for documents of a translation agency, you can understand all the advantages of ordering such a service in a specialized organization.

So, to summarize.

Self-processing of documents for legalization is acceptable if you live in Kiev and you have enough free time to queue or you constantly visit Kiev on business trips and the company pays for travel and stay in the capital. In all other cases, the face of the benefits of cooperation with a translation agency.

We offer to use the services of our translation agency on the issue of legalization of documents. Our prices are much lower than in other translation agencies, because we work without intermediaries. With a complete list of prices and services, you can visit the Prices section. Documents for legalization you can transfer in any convenient way (in person at the office, by courier, delivery by New mail).