How to Get an Apostille on Ukrainian Court, Civil Registry or Notarial Documents

Which Ukrainian documents can the Ministry of Justice apostille?

The Ministry of Justice is the competent Ukrainian authority for apostilles on specified categories of official documents intended for use abroad. For this procedure, the most important categories are:

• documents issued by Ukrainian courts;
• documents issued by justice authorities, including relevant civil-status documents;
• documents drawn up by Ukrainian notaries.

The Ministry's competence is document-specific. Documents belonging to another competent authority, such as certain education, migration or tax-related documents, must follow that authority's apostille procedure instead.

Do you actually need an apostille?

An apostille authenticates the origin of an official document for use under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. It certifies matters such as the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signer acted and, where applicable, the authenticity of the seal or stamp.

Before applying, check the rules of the country where you will use the document. An apostille is generally relevant where the destination participates in the Hague apostille system, but Ukraine also has international agreements under which particular documents may be accepted without legalization or an apostille. The apostille itself does not certify the substantive truth of the information contained in the document.

Where do you submit a paper document?

Since the new Ministry of Justice procedure took effect on 1 February 2026, a person who already has an official paper document may make an oral apostille application by appearing personally at any civil registry office of a territorial Ministry of Justice body or a Ukrainian notary.

The chosen office or notary registers the application in the Electronic Apostille Register, scans the document and forwards the electronic case for consideration by the Ministry of Justice. The paper document remains with the receiving office or notary while the apostille is processed.

Can you apply from abroad by post?

Yes, in a specific situation. If the applicant is outside Ukraine and already has the official paper document, the current Ministry of Justice procedure allows the request to be sent by post to any civil registry office of a territorial Ministry of Justice body. The office registers a postal request no later than the next working day after receiving it.

This postal option is particularly useful when a Ukrainian official document is already in the applicant's possession abroad and must be authenticated for foreign use.

Can you get a Ukrainian apostille online?

Yes, for an eligible official document that already exists in electronic form. The current procedure provides for an electronic apostille application to the Ministry of Justice through the Diia Portal. The electronic application is transferred to the Electronic Apostille Register through Ukraine's government data-exchange infrastructure.

This does not mean that an ordinary paper birth certificate, court document or notarized paper document can simply be photographed and uploaded as an electronic-document application. The online route applies to an official document that exists in the qualifying electronic form required by law.

What do you need to submit?

For a paper document, the applicant submits the original official document or a copy certified in the prescribed manner and a payment instruction confirming payment for the apostille service.

When applying personally, the applicant must also present an accepted identity document. For an applicant who is a foreign citizen or stateless person, the current procedure recognizes an appropriate national, diplomatic or service passport or another document establishing the person's identity.

If an applicant is legally exempt from the apostille fee, evidence of that exemption is used instead of ordinary payment evidence. For a postal request, the copy proving the exemption must be certified in the prescribed manner.

What if you have several documents?

Separate applications are required for each category of official documents: justice-authority documents, court documents, archive documents and documents drawn up by Ukrainian notaries are treated as separate types.

For paper documents of the same category, one application may include multiple documents, with no stated numerical limit in the current procedure. The apostille fee is nevertheless paid according to the number of documents submitted. An electronic application may contain only one electronic official document.

How much does a Ukrainian Ministry of Justice apostille cost in 2026?

The Ministry of Justice fee order sets the charge per document as a proportion of the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons:

• individuals: 0.2 of the subsistence minimum;
• legal entities: 0.35 of the subsistence minimum.

Ukraine's 2026 State Budget sets the subsistence minimum for able-bodied persons at UAH 3,328 from 1 January 2026. Applying the statutory formula gives a 2026 charge of UAH 665.60 per document for an individual and UAH 1,164.80 per document for a legal entity.

The fee is charged separately for each document. Under the Ministry of Justice procedure, a fee paid for an application that is refused is not refunded.

Who can qualify for a fee exemption?

Official service guidance identifies statutory exemptions for certain applicants when the document directly concerns them, including persons with Group I or II disabilities, qualifying persons with disabilities resulting from the Second World War, citizens in the first category of persons affected by the Chornobyl disaster and orphans. Evidence of the exemption must be provided or verified through the applicable electronic systems.

How long does the apostille take?

Under Ministry of Justice Order No. 3177/5, effective from 1 February 2026, the current statutory period for either placing the apostille or refusing the application is up to 3 working days.

The period begins on the day after the application is registered in the Electronic Apostille Register. This current rule replaces older Ministry of Justice service information that referred to different standard or extended processing periods.

What does the Ministry of Justice verify?

For a paper document, the Ministry checks whether the document is eligible for an apostille and verifies the signature and official capacity of the signer together with the relevant seal, stamp or matrix code where applicable. For an electronic official document, the Ministry verifies the signer's capacity and the qualified public-key certificate information.

Civil registry records may be checked against the State Register of Civil Status Acts. Notarial documents may be checked through the relevant notarial registers, while court decisions may be checked against the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

If required signature, seal or stamp samples are not already available, the Ministry may request the information from the responsible authority. A document suspected of being forged can be refused, and where refusal is based on suspected forgery, the Ministry must notify law-enforcement authorities no later than two working days after the refusal.

Why can an apostille be refused?

Common statutory grounds include circumstances where:

• the document contains unconfirmed corrections or additions;
• the document raises a suspicion of forgery;
• the signer's capacity or signature authenticity cannot be confirmed;
• the signature, seal or stamp does not match available official samples or is not sufficiently clear;
• the document does not conform to the form or mandatory requirements applicable when it was issued;
• the text cannot be read because the document is damaged;
• the document falls outside the competence of the authority asked to apostille it;
• the document is written or signed in pencil or was received through facsimile transmission.

Check the document carefully before submission. A refusal does not automatically result in repayment of the apostille fee.

What do you receive after approval?

For a paper document, the Ministry creates the apostille through the Electronic Apostille Register. The receiving civil registry office or notary then visualizes the apostille on a separate sheet and securely attaches it to the official document. The completed document is released to the applicant or authorized representative, or sent by post where the special overseas postal route applies.

For an electronic application, the result is delivered through the Diia Portal.

The Electronic Apostille Register also allows free verification of apostilles issued by the Ministry of Justice. For apostilles issued under the current system, the register can use the apostille registration number, issue date and verification control code. This provides a direct way for a foreign authority or document holder to confirm the electronic record.

Prepare the underlying Ukrainian document first

An apostille authenticates an existing official document; it does not replace the procedure for obtaining that document. If the civil-status document itself is missing, first follow the procedure for getting a replacement Ukrainian birth certificate. If you need proof of your registered address for an overseas procedure, you can separately obtain an official extract confirming your registered place of residence.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Applying to the Ministry of Justice for a document that falls within another Ukrainian authority's apostille competence.
• Assuming every destination country requires an apostille without first checking applicable treaties and the receiving authority's requirements.
• Submitting different document categories under one application even though separate applications are required.
• Paying for only one apostille when several individual documents are being submitted.
• Assuming a scan of an ordinary paper document qualifies for the Diia electronic-document route.
• Submitting a damaged, illegible or improperly altered document.
• Confusing an apostille with a translation. A foreign authority may separately require a translation even after the Ukrainian document has been apostilled.