Apostille or consular legalization - what should be put on the documents?
To ensure that foreign documents have legal force in Ukraine, a special mark — an apostille or consular legalization — must be placed in the country of their origin. The specific type of authentication required depends on the country in which the document was issued.
There are also exceptions: some countries have agreements with Ukraine that eliminate the need for any additional authentication. In such cases, documents can be used without an apostille or legalization.
The same rules apply to Ukrainian documents used abroad.
Below we explain how to determine whether an apostille or consular legalization is required.
Apostille
According to the international Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Hague Convention of 5 October 1961), participating countries use a special “Apostille” stamp to certify the authenticity of official documents intended for use in the territory of another participating country.
Since Ukraine is a party to this Convention, official documents issued in other Hague Convention member countries must be certified with an apostille for use in Ukraine, and accordingly, Ukrainian official documents must be apostilled for use in those countries.
List of participating countries:
Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bahrain, Belize, Belgium, Belarus, Bulgaria, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Burundi, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Armenia, Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, Grenada, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Israel, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Cabo Verde, Kazakhstan, Canada, Kyrgyzstan, China, Cyprus, Colombia, Kingdom of Eswatini, Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kosovo, Costa Rica, Latvia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Malawi, Malta, Morocco, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Germany, Niue, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Cook Islands, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea, South Africa, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Rwanda, Romania, El Salvador, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Senegal, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Suriname, Tajikistan, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Uruguay, Fiji, Philippines, Finland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Chile, Montenegro, Switzerland, Sweden, Jamaica, Japan.
Bilateral agreements that eliminate the need for additional document authentication
Ukraine has entered into international agreements with some countries that abolish the requirement to additionally authenticate the validity of documents in the form of an apostille or legalization.
These countries include: Bulgaria, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Serbia, Hungary, Uzbekistan. Documents issued by public authorities of these countries do not require an apostille or consular legalization to be used in Ukraine, and vice versa. They are valid in the form in which they were issued in the country of origin.
During the martial law period, documents issued in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and russia before 24 February 2022 may be used in Ukraine without an apostille.
Documents from the Republic of Belarus are accepted without an apostille regardless of the date of issue.
Consular legalization
Documents issued in all other countries that are not parties to the Hague Convention and are not included in the list of countries with which Ukraine has bilateral agreements must undergo the procedure of consular legalization for use in Ukraine. Ukrainian documents intended for use in these countries must also be legalized in advance.
