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In Ukraine the apostille on a birth, marriage or death certificate (civil-registry / ДРАЦС records) is issued by the Ministry of Justice – the sole competent authority for civil-status documents, with a state fee of 670 UAH for individuals. The apostille goes on the original, so Soviet-era (pre-1991), laminated or worn forms usually need a fresh duplicate (повторне свідоцтво) from ДРАЦС first – we say so before payment, so the new civil-registry form is in hand first. We work remotely across Ukraine: you send the documents by Nova Poshta, we file them with the Ministry of Justice and return the finished apostille – at a price agreed before the work starts, with the ministry handled by us.
Who apostilles a certificate – and why it's the Ministry of Justice
Under Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 61 the apostille is split between authorities by document type: civil-registry (ДРАЦС) records – birth, marriage, divorce, name-change and death certificates – together with notarial acts (e.g. powers of attorney) and court rulings are apostilled by the Ministry of Justice; education documents by the Ministry of Education; the criminal-record certificate by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; medical and most others by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So a birth certificate cannot be apostilled by the education or foreign-affairs ministries – it is the Ministry of Justice's remit, with a state fee of 670 UAH for individuals (1160 UAH for legal entities). The apostille is always placed on the original document bearing a proper signature and seal.
Laminated, worn and Soviet forms: a reissued certificate first
The most common reason for refusal is the condition or type of the form itself. Originals of certificates issued by a registry office of the Ukrainian SSR are not accepted for apostille: what matters is not the year of issue but which authority issued the document, and the solution is a reissued certificate from the Ukrainian civil registry. Badly worn originals usually need a fresh form too, because their data has to be verified against the register. Separately: laminated certificates cannot be apostilled, because the seal cannot be verified under the film – such a document also requires a new form first. We look at the scans and tell you straight away whether the ministry will accept your form, and as soon as the new document is in your hands we file it with the Ministry of Justice for the apostille.
What exactly falls under the rule on USSR documents, and why a notarized copy does not rescue it, is covered in a separate article.
Steps, turnaround, and when you need legalization instead
The order is simple: you send the original certificate (or first obtain a duplicate from ДРАЦС), then we file the document with the Ministry of Justice, get the apostille and, if needed, add a notarised translation for the destination country. The Ministry of Justice's turnaround is roughly from a few working days; if a duplicate has to be requested first, the overall timeline grows. It's important to check the destination country: an apostille is valid only for Hague Convention states. A recent change – China joined the Convention effective 07.11.2023, so it now requires an apostille rather than consular legalization (Canada joined 11.01.2024). The UAE, however, is not a member – instead of an apostille they need consular legalization via the UAE embassy.
Send us a scan of the certificate and we'll arrange the apostille on your birth certificate, marriage or death record remotely and return the finished document by Nova Poshta.
An apostille on a birth, marriage or death certificate is the Ministry of Justice's remit with a 670 UAH state fee for individuals, while Soviet-era, laminated or worn forms first need a duplicate from ДРАЦС. We take on the filing, the translation and Nova Poshta delivery across Ukraine, so you don't have to travel between offices. The figures and timelines here are current for 2026; we don't guarantee the outcome at a specific foreign institution, but we'll honestly tell you which route – apostille or legalization – your country needs.
