Notarised copy of a document: when you need one and how to get it
A notarised copy is a copy whose fidelity to the original a notary certifies with a signature and seal. You make one when the original cannot or should not leave your hands: the institution receives the copy, you keep the original. For us this sits next to translation and apostille as a daily operation: you hand over the original, the notary certifies the copy and, if needed, we translate it and have it apostilled. The point that decides everything else: an apostille goes on whichever document is submitted — so apostilling the copy is often exactly how you avoid parting with the original.
- You keep the original — the institution receives the certified copy
- The apostille on a copy is issued by the Ministry of Justice, because the copy is a notarial act
- Copy, translation and apostille as one order, in the right sequence
- We check whether the document qualifies before it goes to the notary
When a certified copy is what you need, not the original
The most common reason is that the document is needed in several places at once. A diploma goes to a university and to an employer; a birth certificate to a consulate and to a school. There is physically one original, and there can be any number of copies.
The second case is an institution that explicitly asks for "a copy certified by a notary". An ordinary photocopy will not do — the notarial endorsement is the point. The third is when the original is already lodged with another authority and will not come back soon, while the second institution's deadline does not wait.
And separately, there are documents you simply should not let out of your hands: replacing them with a copy is easier than recovering them after they are lost in someone else's file.
Apostille on the original, or on the notarised copy
This is the main fork, and it decides not only what stays in your hands but where the document goes. The apostille is placed on whichever document is submitted. Submit the original of an educational document and it is apostilled by the Ministry of Education and Science. Submit a notarised copy and it is a notarial act, so the apostille comes from the Ministry of Justice.
Hence the practical consequence: the document's route depends on a choice you make at the very start. And hence the main warning — not every foreign institution accepts an apostilled copy. Some countries and bodies require the apostille on the original itself. Establish this before anything is apostilled: an apostilled document cannot be undone, and the route has to be walked again from the beginning.
And two limits set by clause 4 of the Apostille Rules that are rarely mentioned. A copy of a document from the sphere of education and science is apostilled only after the original itself already carries an apostille. A copy of a civil registry document is certified by a notary for use abroad only after the original has been legalised or apostilled. So for these two categories the copy does not replace the apostille on the original — it comes after it.
| Comparison | Apostille on the original | Apostille on the copy |
|---|---|---|
| Issued by | Depends on the document type: MON for educational, Ministry of Justice for civil-registry ones | Always the Ministry of Justice: a notarised copy is a notarial act |
| What you keep | Nothing — the original travels with the stamp | The original |
| When it does not work | When the original cannot be handed over or is needed in parallel | When the receiving institution requires the apostille on the original |
What a notary can certify, and what they cannot
A copy is taken from the original only — a scan or a photograph will not do, the document has to be physically in front of the notary. The document itself must be intact and legible, with no erasures or added text, and if it runs to several sheets it must be bound and numbered properly.
Certain categories of document a notary may not certify at all, and that list is set by regulation rather than by the individual office. So we check whether your document qualifies in advance, before it goes to the notary. This is the part people usually discover on the spot, having lost a day.
Copy, translation and apostille in a single order
Sequence matters. The notary certifies the copy first, the apostille goes on it next, and only then is it translated — that way the apostille stamp is translated too and the document travels as a complete set. Translate earlier and the stamp stays untranslated, so the package has to be finished twice.
We run all three steps as one order: you hand over the original once and receive the finished package back. Within Ukraine we work remotely — the original arrives by Nova Poshta and returns the same way.
One clarification about the stamp itself: since 1 February 2026 the Ministry of Justice may issue the apostille as an entry in the Electronic Register of Apostilles instead of a stamp on paper — for its own category, which is exactly the one notarised copies fall into. The legal effect is the same, but then there is nothing to translate: instead of a stamp you get a register reference. We check in advance which form it will take and assemble the set your institution actually requires.
How we work
- 1Show us the documentSend a photo or a scan — we check whether a notarised copy can be made from it and quote the price and the timing.
- 2Hand over the originalThe original is needed physically: bring it to the office or send it by Nova Poshta.
- 3The notary certifies the copyThe notary compares the copy against the original and certifies its fidelity with a signature and seal.
- 4Apostille and translation, if requiredWe obtain the Ministry of Justice apostille on the copy and translate it, stamp included, into the destination language.
- 5Everything comes back togetherThe original, the certified copy and the finished package return to you in one shipment.
Prices
- Certification of a copy the notary's fee is included, the original is requiredfrom UAH 250
- Notarised translation of the copy the notary's fee is includedfrom UAH 250
- Apostille on a notarised copy (Ministry of Justice) the state fee is includedfrom UAH 950
Prices are indicative and quoted "from": the total depends on the number of pages, the target language and whether an apostille is needed. We quote the exact figure once we have seen the document.
FAQ
Can a notarised copy be made from a scan?
No. The notary compares the copy against the original, so the document has to be physically present. We use a scan only for the preliminary check and the quote — the certification itself is done from the original.
Who apostilles a notarised copy?
Ukraine's Ministry of Justice: a notarised copy is a notarial act, and those are apostilled by the Ministry of Justice. The apostille on the original of the same document may come from a different authority — educational documents, for instance, are apostilled by MON.
Is an apostilled copy accepted everywhere instead of the original?
No. Some foreign institutions require the apostille on the original itself. Establish this before filing: an apostilled document cannot be undone and the route has to be repeated. We will help you word the question to the receiving institution.
How many copies is it worth making at once?
As many as there are institutions that will each want their own: every certified copy is issued separately. Tell us the number up front — we certify all the copies in a single filing, so the original never has to travel twice.
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Updated: 2026-09-08