Apostille

An apostille (from the French Apostille) is an international square stamp, 10 x 10 in size and standard in layout, which confirms the legality of a given document and certifies the authenticity of signatures, the capacity of the signatories and seals. Confirming the signatures and seals on official documents with an apostille makes those documents valid in all countries party to the Hague Convention (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)
The Hague Convention of 1961 (full title in English “Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents”, in French “Convention du 5 octobre 1961 supprimant l’exigence de la légalisation des actes publics étrangers”) is the international convention that abolishes the requirement of legalisation of foreign public documents between the countries party to it.
The Convention establishes a special mark (a stamp), placed on official documents drawn up in one state and intended to be submitted in another, which replaces the procedure of consular legalisation: this is the apostille.
Documents bearing an apostille issued in one state party to the Convention must be accepted in any other state party without any restriction. Since then, all countries that have acceded to the treaty can legalise documents in this way.
LIST OF COUNTRIES THAT RECOGNISE THE APOSTILLE
List of countries party to the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (The Hague, 1961)

1. Andorra (official name – Principality of Andorra)
2. Antigua and Barbuda
3. Argentina (official name – Argentine Republic)
4. Bahamas (official name – Commonwealth of the Bahamas)
5. Barbados
6. Bahrain (official name – Kingdom of Bahrain)
7. Belize
8. Belgium (official name – Kingdom of Belgium)
9. Belarus (official name – Republic of Belarus)*
10. Bulgaria (official name – Republic of Bulgaria)*
11. Bolivia (official name – Plurinational State of Bolivia)
12. Bosnia and Herzegovina
13. Botswana (official name – Republic of Botswana)
14. Brazil (official name – Federative Republic of Brazil)
15. Brunei (official name – Nation of Brunei Darussalam)
16. Burundi (official name – Republic of Burundi)
17. Vanuatu (official name – Republic of Vanuatu)
18. Venezuela (official name – Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela)
19. Armenia (official name – Republic of Armenia)*
20. Guyana (official name – Co-operative Republic of Guyana)
21. Guatemala (official name – Republic of Guatemala)
22. Honduras (official name – Republic of Honduras)
23. Grenada
24. Greece (official name – Hellenic Republic)
25. Georgia*: does not extend to the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia or the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region
26. Denmark (official name – Kingdom of Denmark): does not extend to Greenland or the Faroe Islands
27. Dominica (official name – Commonwealth of Dominica)
28. Dominican Republic
29. Ecuador (official name – Republic of Ecuador)
30. Estonia (official name – Republic of Estonia)*
31. Israel (official name – State of Israel)
32. India (official name – Republic of India)
33. Ireland (official name – Republic of Ireland)
34. Iceland
35. Spain (official name – Kingdom of Spain)
36. Italy (official name – Italian Republic)
37. Cabo Verde (official name – Republic of Cabo Verde)
38. Kazakhstan (official name – Republic of Kazakhstan)*
39. Kyrgyzstan (official name – Kyrgyz Republic)*
40. China (official name – People’s Republic of China): applies only to Hong Kong and Macao
41. Cyprus (official name – Republic of Cyprus)
42. Colombia (official name – Republic of Colombia)
43. Kingdom of Eswatini (until 2018 – Kingdom of Swaziland)
44. Kingdom of the Netherlands
45. Kosovo (official name – Republic of Kosovo)**
46. Costa Rica (official name – Republic of Costa Rica)
47. Latvia (official name – Republic of Latvia)*
48. Lesotho (official name – Kingdom of Lesotho)
49. Lithuania (official name – Republic of Lithuania)*
50. Liberia (official name – Republic of Liberia)
51. Liechtenstein (official name – Principality of Liechtenstein)
52. Luxembourg (official name – Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)
53. Mauritius (official name – Republic of Mauritius)
54. Malawi (official name – Republic of Malawi)
55. Malta (official name – Republic of Malta)
56. Morocco (official name – Kingdom of Morocco)
57. Marshall Islands (official name – Republic of the Marshall Islands)
58. Mexico (official name – United Mexican States)
59. Moldova (official name – Republic of Moldova)*
60. Monaco (official name – Principality of Monaco)
61. Mongolia*
62. Namibia (official name – Republic of Namibia)
63. Nicaragua (official name – Republic of Nicaragua)
64. Germany (official name – Federal Republic of Germany)
65. Niue
66. New Zealand: does not extend to Tokelau
67. Norway (official name – Kingdom of Norway)
68. Oman (official name – Sultanate of Oman)
69. Cook Islands
70. Palau (official name – Republic of Palau)
71. Panama (official name – Republic of Panama)
72. Paraguay (official name – Republic of Paraguay)
73. Peru (official name – Republic of Peru)
74. Republic of South Africa (RSA)
75. North Macedonia (official name – Republic of North Macedonia)*
76. Poland (official name – Republic of Poland)*
77. Portugal (official name – Portuguese Republic)
78. Republic of El Salvador
79. Republic of Korea
80. Russia (official name – Russian Federation)*
81. Romania*
82. Samoa (official name – Independent State of Samoa)
83. San Marino (official name – Most Serene Republic of San Marino)
84. São Tomé and Príncipe (official name – Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe)
85. Seychelles (official name – Republic of Seychelles)
86. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
87. Saint Kitts and Nevis (official name – Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis)
88. Saint Lucia
89. Serbia (official name – Republic of Serbia)*
90. Singapore (official name – Republic of Singapore) – from 16.09.2021
91. Slovakia (official name – Slovak Republic)
92. Slovenia (official name – Republic of Slovenia)
93. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: does not extend to countries that, on gaining independence (leaving the United Kingdom), did not sign the Convention
94. United States of America
95. Suriname (official name – Republic of Suriname)
96. Tajikistan (official name – Republic of Tajikistan)*
97. Tonga (official name – Kingdom of Tonga)
98. Trinidad and Tobago (official name – Republic of Trinidad and Tobago)
99. Tunisia (official name – Tunisian Republic)
100. Turkey (official name – Republic of Turkey)
101. Hungary*
102. Uzbekistan (official name – Republic of Uzbekistan)*
103. Ukraine (does not extend to the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or the city of Sevastopol)
104. Uruguay (official name – Oriental Republic of Uruguay)
105. Fiji (official name – Republic of Fiji)
106. Philippines (official name – Republic of the Philippines)
107. Finland (official name – Republic of Finland)
108. France (official name – French Republic)
109. Croatia (official name – Republic of Croatia)
110. Czechia (official name – Czech Republic)*
111. Chile (official name – Republic of Chile)
112. Montenegro
113. Switzerland (official name – Swiss Confederation)
114. Sweden (official name – Kingdom of Sweden)
115. Jamaica – from 03.07.2021
116. Japan (official name – State of Japan)

• * Countries with which Ukraine has signed legal assistance treaties abolishing the requirement of legalisation of official documents.
  ** Ukraine raised an objection to Kosovo’s accession to the 1961 Hague Convention, so the Convention does not apply in relations between Ukraine and Kosovo. No apostille is placed on documents for use in the territory of Kosovo
  Practically all documents required abroad must be translated and legalised.
  The apostille stamp is not placed on documents for countries that did not take part in signing the Hague Convention.
  In that case the document is subject to a more laborious and exhausting procedure – consular legalisation, which consists of certifying the document at Ukrainian ministries and at the consulate of the destination country.
  What can be apostilled?
  Documents issued by the following can be apostilled:
  • the Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine;
  • the judicial authorities;
  • the justice authorities;
  • administrative documents (birth/death certificate, marriage/divorce certificate);
  • public or private notaries;
  • notarised copies of the following documents: employment record books, passport documents, military ID cards, vehicle registration certificates, firearms permits (this item has applied since 2014);
  • educational documents and documents confirming academic degrees (diplomas, school reports, certificates, Candidate of Sciences and Doctor of Sciences diplomas, bachelor’s diplomas, extracts from university archives).
  In Ukraine an apostille can be placed by three ministries: the Ministry of Education (MON), the Ministry of Justice (Minjust) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA):
  • MON places the apostille on educational documents;
  • Minjust on papers issued by notaries, justice authorities and courts;
  • the MFA on documents of any kind.
  When preparing documents, you may be asked to carry out a procedure such as a double apostille. You are unlikely to come across this exact name for the procedure in lists of documents or in the rules for preparing them. Instead you may see the following variations for a double apostille: “apostilled translation”, “translation of a document certified with an apostille”, “apostille on the translation” and so on.
  If your list contains an indirect reference of this kind, you can be sure that you need a double apostille.
  This is because the rules on apostilling documents differ in Ukraine and abroad. In some countries the apostille can be placed directly on the translation of a document, but in Ukraine there is a set order:
  • apostille on the original document or its copy
  • translation of the document and its notarisation
  • apostille on the translation of the document
  However, the receiving party (the embassy) does not always state such detailed requirements for preparing documents. You may be given only a list of documents, and you will have to work out the order and rules for preparing documents for a particular country yourself. If you are facing this for the first time, there is a high risk of getting it wrong, so we recommend contacting specialists. This is usually done by sworn translators and translation agencies.
  Documents issued in Italy that are to be submitted in Ukraine are also subject to an apostille. In Italy the apostille is placed by the Prefettura (prefecture) of the province where the document was issued. For example, a birth certificate extract issued by the Comune (municipality) of Acerra must be apostilled at the Prefettura of Naples.