Documents for the Czech Republic: Apostille and Sworn (Soudní) Translation into Czech

Working in the Czech Republic: criminal record, diploma, proof of qualifications

For employment and a work permit in the Czech Republic you most often need: a criminal-record certificate, a diploma or school certificate, and sometimes proof of experience or qualifications. The exact list depends on the permit type (zaměstnanecká karta, modrá karta and so on) and the employer's requirements, so it is worth agreeing the final list in advance — we help with this for free.

The criminal-record certificate is issued by Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the apostille on it is placed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; for a diploma or school certificate the apostille is placed by the Ministry of Education and Science. Etalon receives your scans online, agrees the list, submits documents for apostille in Kyiv on your behalf, and then produces the sworn translation into Czech.

For submission to a Czech employer, the labour office or the foreign police, you almost always need a soudní překlad — a sworn translation bound to the document with the court translator's stamp. We will honestly tell you where a notarised translation is enough and where a sworn one is required, so you do not pay for anything unnecessary.

Residence permit (pobyt) and family reunification

With the Ukrainian community in the Czech Republic growing, the most common request is residence legalisation — a temporary or permanent pobyt and family reunification. Depending on the grounds, you may need birth and marriage certificates, a criminal-record certificate, documents about work or study, and proof of family ties.

Some of these documents must be apostilled in Ukraine and then translated into Czech. We submit the apostille on your behalf to the relevant Kyiv ministry: the Ministry of Justice for civil and notarial documents (including civil-registry certificates), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for criminal-record certificates, and the Ministry of Education and Science for educational ones. We then produce the sworn translation into Czech for submission.

We do not arrange the residence permit itself and do not file applications with Czech bodies — that is done by you or your representative in the Czech Republic, and the decision is made by the authority (the foreign police / the Czech Ministry of the Interior). Etalon is responsible for the Ukrainian side: the apostille and a correct sworn translation tailored to the destination authority's requirements.

Study and diploma nostrification in the Czech Republic

For admission to a Czech university and for recognition of your education (nostrifikace) you usually need a school certificate or a diploma with its supplement, an apostille on the educational documents, and a sworn translation into Czech. The apostille on certificates, diplomas and supplements is placed by Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science — a separate procedure with longer timelines, which we handle for you in Kyiv.

Nostrification in the Czech Republic is a separate process on the Czech side: school certificates are recognised by the regional education authority (krajský úřad), while university diplomas are mostly recognised by the Czech university itself. The translation requirements should be confirmed with the specific body — it is almost always a soudní překlad. Etalon will produce the required level of sworn translation with its own translators.

Important: the apostille and sworn translation are a prerequisite, not the recognition of the diploma itself. First the apostille, then the sworn translation, and only afterwards nostrification under Czech rules. The final recognition decision is made by the Czech side under its own criteria — we prepare the documents so everything is formally flawless, but we do not decide on the authority's behalf.

Apostille, sworn (soudní) and notarised translation: which one, when

These are three different things and are often confused. An apostille certifies the origin of a Ukrainian document for Hague Convention countries — it is placed only by the relevant ministries in Kyiv. A notarised translation is a translation whose signature is attested by a Ukrainian notary; it is accepted for some procedures and for submission inside Ukraine. A sworn translation (soudní překlad) is a translation prepared to Czech requirements by a court translator (soudní překladatel) for submission to Czech authorities.

For the Czech Republic the logic is usually: first the apostille on the original (if the document needs it), then the sworn translation of the already-apostilled document — so the stamp itself is translated too. Thanks to the Ukraine-the Czech Republic legal-aid treaty, legalisation is simplified for some procedures, but a translation into Czech to local rules is needed almost always.

On honesty: the sworn translation into Czech is produced by Etalon's own sworn translators — we hand the document to our own soudní překladatel and never resell the order to another bureau with a markup. The apostille is placed in Ukraine, while the sworn translation is a separate step tailored to Czech requirements; we do not claim the translator is sworn in within Ukraine.

How we work

1. 1Send scans and your goalSend photos or scans of your documents via Telegram, Viber or WhatsApp and state your goal: work, pobyt, study and nostrification, or marriage and family.
2. 2Get a quoteWe check the requirements for your situation free of charge: the document list, the translation type (sworn or notarised), the need for an apostille, the exact price and the timeline.
3. 3Apostille and sworn translationIf needed, we submit documents for apostille to the Kyiv ministries on your behalf and produce the sworn translation into Czech with Etalon's own sworn translators.
4. 4Delivery by Nova PoshtaWe return the finished set by Nova Poshta to any city in Ukraine; if needed, together with the apostille on the original.

Prices

• Notarised translation of a document per documentfrom UAH 250
• Sworn translation (into Czech) prepared to Czech requirementsby quote
• Apostille on a Ukrainian document state fee paid separatelyby quote

Prices are indicative ("from") and given excluding state fees. A notarised translation is from UAH 250 per document; the sworn translation into Czech and the apostille are quoted individually after a free review of your scans — the amount depends on the document, the volume and the authority's requirements. The apostille state fee is paid separately.

FAQ