Consular Legalization of Documents

Apostille or consular legalization — how to tell

It depends entirely on the destination country. If it is a Hague Convention member, an apostille is enough (one simplified certificate). If it is NOT a member, consular legalization is required (the full multi-stage chain). There is also a third regime: with a number of countries Ukraine has legal-assistance treaties (Poland, Czechia, Georgia, Moldova, the Baltic states and others), where neither apostille nor legalization is needed — only a notarized translation. Note that Canada acceded to the Hague Convention, and since 11 January 2024 Canadian documents take an apostille, not consular legalization — many websites still wrongly keep Canada on legalization lists. Before you order, we will check for free which regime your country actually requires.

Stages of consular legalization

The classic chain in Ukraine has four stages: 1) certification at the Ministry of Justice (for civil-registry, notarial, court and archival documents); 2) certification at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA); 3) a notarized translation into the destination language; 4) legalization at that country's consulate (embassy). The order and the first authority depend on the document type: educational documents start through the relevant ministry, civil-registry documents through the Ministry of Justice. The consulate sets its own requirements, fees and timelines, so the final stage and its duration are determined by the consulate, not by us — we prepare the package so it passes cleanly, but we cannot guarantee a third party's timelines.

Which countries require legalization

Consular legalization is required for states outside the Hague Convention. Among the most common destinations: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and others. China is no longer on this list: for mainland China an apostille — not consular legalization — applies since 7 November 2023 (Hong Kong and Macau were always apostille). Canada is also off the list — since 11 January 2024 it uses an apostille. If your country is a Hague member, legalization is not needed: we arrange an apostille instead. Send us the country and document type and we will tell you exactly which route applies right now.

Documents we legalize and how remote service works

We legalize diplomas and supplements, school certificates, civil-registry certificates (birth, marriage, divorce), certificates and references, powers of attorney, corporate and commercial documents, court and notarial documents. We work remotely across Ukraine: you send scans for assessment, issue a notarized power of attorney to our representative, hand over the originals — and we pass through every authority in Kyiv on your behalf. The finished legalized package comes back to you by Nova Poshta. Please note: a laminated or Soviet-era (pre-1991) civil-registry certificate cannot be legalized — a re-issued certificate is needed first, and we handle that for you too.

How we work

1. 1Request and route checkYou send scans of the documents and tell us the destination country. We check for free whether legalization is actually required (rather than an apostille) and build an exact route with prices and timelines.
2. 2Power of attorney and originalsYou issue a notarized power of attorney to our representative and hand over the originals — in person in Kyiv or by Nova Poshta from any city in Ukraine.
3. 3We walk the authorities for youWe certify the document at the Ministry of Justice and the MFA, produce the notarized translation, and submit the package to the destination country's consulate per its requirements.
4. 4Receiving the resultWe collect the legalized document and return it to you by Nova Poshta or in person in Kyiv. We stay in touch at every stage.

Prices

• Ministry of Justice certification per document; state duty separate, timeline depends on document typefrom UAH 200
• MFA certification per document; the MFA charges roughly double for expedited servicefrom UAH 1200
• Notarized translation into the destination language; depends on language and volumefrom UAH 250 / page
• Consular fee set by the consulate; we pay it and handle the submissionper country tariff
• Expedited handling where faster submission is possible; not available at every stagefrom UAH 500

Prices are indicative ("from") and shown as market benchmarks; state duties and consular fees are set by the authorities and change over time. We confirm the exact cost after assessing the document and the destination country.

FAQ

Related articles

• Legalization for China and the UAE
• Consular legalization for Egypt