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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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- Published on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 15:10
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We often receive calls asking us the same or similar questions, so in this section we will try to answer your most frequently asked questions.
General questions about the Apostille certification of education confirming documents
1. Is it possible to place an Apostille on a notarized copy of an education confirming document?
1. Is it possible to place an Apostille on a notarized copy of an education confirming document?
No, it is not. An Apostille can be placed on original documents confirming education and academic degrees only. Please note that a duplicate copy of an education confirming document equals to the original.
2. Does the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine places Apostilles on the Birth Certificate, Marriage Certificate, Surname Change Certificate, and Statement of No Record of Convictions?
No, the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine places Apostilles on public documents related to the area of education and science. To apostilize documents issued by justice bodies and courts, as well as those made by Ukrainian notaries, you need to apply to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. All other documents are apostilized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
3. Is the document confirming education required to be translated before submitted for apostilization?
No, it is not. You submit your documents written in Ukrainian. The Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine fills out the Apostille stamp/form in Ukrainian as well. You may later get the apostilized documents translated and the translation notarized. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is authorized to place the Apostille stamp on notarized translations of documents.
4. Do I need to specify the country for which I apply for the apostilization. Will this country be indicated in the Apostille stamp?
No, it will not. This information is required to clarify it for you whether or not you really need the Apostille certification for the country you are leaving for.
5. Which language is used to fill out the Apostille stamp?
The Apostille stamp is filled out in the official language of Ukraine, Ukrainian.
6. What is the validity term of an Apostille?
The Apostille stamp is valid until the document it certifies expires, if such an expiration date is indicated in this document.
7. Which education confirming documents are required to be submitted for apostilization, if I go to a specific country for study (work, permanent residence)?
The Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine places Apostilles on any documents issued in Ukraine and related to education and science. The list of documents that require apostilization may vary. It depends on the specific country and institution that is inviting you, as well as the purpose of your visit. You should contact the embassy of this country to find out the exact list of documents to be apostilized for your specific situation, or contact the educational institution where you plan to study or another institution that is inviting you.
8. Am I required to submit for apostilization my high school certificate and its supplement (diploma, qualification certificate etc)?
The graduation document and the supplement to it are two different documents. You may submit for apostilization your high school certificate (diploma, qualification certificate) alone or together with its supplement. The need for you to apostilize the supplement depends on the specific country and the purpose of your visit. You are advised to find out this information at the embassy of this country or contact the educational institution where you are going to study for this purpose. Please note that you will not be able to apostilize the supplement to a document without apostilizing the document itself.
9. I have already had the Apostille stamp from the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine on my diploma (high school or qualification certificate etc). Now I need to apostillize the supplement to it. Is it possible?
Yes, the supplement to an education confirming document is a separate document, and you may submit it separately. But you are advised to bring along the education confirming document to have it when submitting the supplement for apostilization. In some cases this may shorten the time to be taken to consider and process your documents.
10. The country I am going to is on the list of Hague Convention signatory countries, but Ukraine is in a bilateral agreement with this country abolishing the document legalization procedure and it does not require the Apostille certification. However, the educational institution (or another establishment) requires Ukrainian education confirming documents to bear the Apostille stamp. What should I do?
The Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports will not decline your Apostille application in this case, but leaves it for you to decide whether to apply for the Apostille certification or not. Ukraine is in agreements with former USSR countries and some other countries, which contain articles abolishing or simplifying the document legalization procedure. In the list of Convention signatory countries they are marked with the star sign (*). However, educational institutions or other establishments sometimes require from Ukrainian citizens apostilized documents, especially education confirming documents. You are advised to clarify whether or not you need to confirm with the Apostille your education confirming documents. You may be required to have an apostille-certified translation of this document. In this case, you will have to get the document translated and the translation notarized. Such a document has to be apostilized by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Otherwise, if you are still required to have your document confirming education or academic degree apostilized, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine recommends that you apply to the Ukrainian embassy or consulate in the country your are going to, asking it for an explanation letter for the educational institution or another establishment in this country.
11. Who is entitled to submit documents for apostilization?
The applicant may be the holder of the document confirming education or another person representing his/her interests. The application form is required to be completed by the person submitting the documents on his/her own behalf. Documents are submitted and received against the passport of the person submitting documents.
12. I changed my surname after I had received the document confirming education which I want to apostilize. Which surname has to be indicated in the application?
In the line “Applicant,” you put your current surname as it is written in your passport. In the section with details of the document confirming education, you put the surname for which document was issued. No document confirming the surname change is required.
13. Who is entitled to collect the documents?
- the applicant carrying his/her passport (or the person who submitted the documents);
- another person whom the applicant indicated during the documents submission, who is also required to bring his/her passport;
- any person bearing a notarized authorization from the applicant.
14. Do you legalize education confirming documents obtained in other countries?
If your education confirming documents obtained in another country are to be used in Ukraine, you need to submit such documents for nostrification, which is the procedure for recognition of foreign education confirming documents. Documents for nostrification are accepted by the nostrification division of SE Information and Image Centre. For details please call +380 44 486 20 43, 486 25 43.
15. Are there any privileges for the Apostille certification?
Yes, there are. There is an array of privileged categories. These are Group 1 and Group 2 disabled persons, WWII invalids, citizens who belong to Category 1 of Chornobyl catastrophe victims, and orphaned children under 18 years of age. If Apostilles are stamped on any documents directly relating to such citizens, they will not be required to pay the state duty, as well as document processing fee. Documents may be submitted by their holder or another person representing his/her interests (the applicant). The applicant is required to present the document holder’s original identification document that entitles the document holder to privileges, a copy of this identification document, and the applicant’s passport.
16. Is it possible to obtain an Apostille without coming to your office? If so, how can this be done?
Yes, it is possible. For this purpose, you will have to register a Personal Cabinet on our website. After entering the Personal cabinet, you will be able to complete an application for either personal or remote submission of the documents, and to receive consultations from our operator, if needed. At the time the application is completed and all questions are settled with our operator, you pay for the application and send the documents by courier mail. Once the documents are ready, we will return them to the address indicated in your application by the same courier mail. The Personal Cabinet allows you to:
- make payments by a bank card and print your payment documents;
- check the processing status of your documents;
- send and receive messages to/from operators of the Information and Image Centre;
- be notified of the readiness of your documents by e-mail or SMS messages.
17. What is the procedure for centralized submission of documents for foreign graduates of institutions of higher learning?
Representatives of an institution of higher learning have to prepare a letter from this institution and have their passports on them. For medical educational establishments, the IHL letter is additionally required to have an endorsement of Yurii Ivanovych Fisun, the Director of the Centre of International Programs of the Ministry of Health (at 9 Dorohozhytska St, Shupyk National Medical Academy of Post-Graduate Education). For other educational establishments, it is necessary to obtain an endorsement of the director of the International Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports (at 10 Peremohy St, Kyiv). International students may also submit documents personally, provided that they present an IHL letter, passport, original documents for the Apostille certification along with 2 copies of these documents.{/spoiler}
If you wish to submit your documents personally
1. What needs to be done to submit documents for apostilization?
1. What needs to be done to submit documents for apostilization?
You need to decide which documents need to be apostilized and make two photocopies of each document. Then, put the original documents and their photocopies into a transparent file, register a Personal Cabinet where you can complete an application and schedule your visit. There is no need in this case to print the application. You may also come to our office without prior registration in office hours and complete your application here through the electronic kiosks. If you experience any difficulty, our operator will help you. However, in this case you will not be able to take advantage of all the options and advantages of the Personal Cabinet.
2. Am I required to notarize or otherwise certify the document copies submitted together with their originals?
There is no need to certify the two copies of documents. The photocopies of the originals are needed for further work with your documents.
3. Who is entitled to submit documents for apostilization?
The applicant can be the holder of the document or another person. The application form is required to be completed by the person submitting the documents on his/her own behalf. Documents are submitted and collected against the passport of the person submitting the documents.
4. Is the document confirming education required to be translated before submitted for apostilization?
No, it is not. You submit your documents written in Ukrainian. The Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine fills out the Apostille stamp/form in Ukrainian as well. You may later get the apostilized documents translated and the translations notarized. The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine is authorized to place the Apostille stamp on notarized translations of documents.
5. Who is entitled to collect the documents?
- the applicant carrying his/her passport (or the person who submitted the documents);
- another person whom the applicant indicated at the moment of documents submission, who is also required to have his/her passport on him/her;
- any person bearing a notarized authorization from the applicant.
6. Do I need to have on me the passport of the person who is submitting the document, if I am a proxy of this person?
If you are indicated in the application as a proxy authorized to collect the documents, you are required to carry your own passport and the tear-off tag with the mark “paid.”
If you are not indicated in the application as a proxy, you need to bring a notarized power of attorney from the applicant, passport, and tear-off tag with the mark “paid.”
If you wish to get your documents
1. What needs to be done to submit documents remotely, without a personal visit?
1. What needs to be done to submit documents remotely, without a personal visit?
We have made it possible for those of you who are in Ukraine or abroad to submit your documents remotely, excluding the need for you to come to Kyiv. To take advantage of this opportunity, register a Personal Cabinet and select the “remote document submission” service. You will need to fill out the application form and attach scanned copies or legible photos of your documents. Apart from the Apostille certification, you may also add to your order requests for additional services such as issue of statements, preparation of a document package for the WES or another qualification recognition organization. After your order is sent, our operator will give you an estimated time of completion of your documents’ processing and the total cost of the services provided. If you accept our offer, you should add to the application form the express mail information and confirm your order. After our specialist checks the completed application form for correctness, you will be given the possibility to pay for the order or print out the payment document, as well as to print your application out. After you pay for your order, prepare the document package for sending, including in it the original documents for apostilization, a document confirming your payment, and the completed application form bearing your signature. Send the package by a courier service of your choice to our office. For details of the remote documents submission procedure, please read the section Documents by mail.
2. I do not see in your list a courier service I trust to send my documents to you. What should I do?
We work with a number of trusted courier services which we recommend to our clients. If you have a pressing need to send your documents with another courier service, select “other” in the list of courier services and specify the name of the service of your choice. Our specialists will check if this service is active in Ukraine and provides the “door-to-door delivery” service. Please note that choosing another courier service may result in a delayed delivery of your documents.
3. Who pays for the express mail service?
The cost of express mail services is not included in the cost of our services. The applicant pays for the delivery of his/her documents within Ukraine at the time of his/her receipt of the document package. For applicants abroad, the most preferable option is payment for the delivery by this applicant personally. For this propose, the applicant staying abroad needs to indicate his/her customer number registered with the chosen courier service when preparing his/her order. But since there are cases when it is impossible for the applicant to pay for the delivery, we provide an option of including the cost of delivery in the total cost of our services. This option, however, requires more time as our operator will have to contact the specified courier service to find out the delivery cost of your package.
4. If I am still to make up my mind as regards my order and I need a consultation, how can I get it?
First, we recommend our navigator "What to begin with?” It is intended to help those who are still indecisive as to which documents need to be prepared and how to do this. Another option for you is to register a Personal Cabinet through which you will be able to get a preliminary consultation or ask a question to our operator at any application preparation stage. You may also contact us at +380 44 484 64 45; + 380 44 484 64 95.
5. How can I pay for my order remotely?
Courier services are not included in the cost of our services. Delivery of documents in the territory of Ukraine is paid while sending or receiving a package of documents. In case of international delivery, payment can be made in advance at the courier's office. Detailed information on the return delivery of documents is provided by the operator when processing the application.
If you need to obtain another document rather than the Apostille
1. I need a statement from the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine for an embassy (educational institution). How can I get it?
1. I need a statement from the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine for an embassy (educational institution). How can I get it?
You can place an order with us for several types of statements from the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine for embassies or educational institutions abroad. These are:
- statement “On the Knowledge Assessment System in Ukraine”;
- statement “On the License and Accreditation Level of the Institution of Higher Learning”;
- statement “On Confirming the Fact of Completed Education and the Right to Pursue the Next Qualification and Educational Level or Engage in Professional Activities.”
To obtain these statements, you must first decide which document you need. You will also need to bring a copy of your diploma or high school certificate with the supplement to them. You may order these statements through the Personal Cabinet or during your personal visit to our office. For details please read the section Additional Services. Other Documents.
2. I am preparing documents for legalization at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. To legalize my education confirming documents, I need a statement. Who am I to apply to?
In this case you may need a statement confirming the fact of issue of your education confirming documents. You may obtain this statement from your educational institution. But if you are unable to apply to it, we can help you. Our Centre can obtain this statement for you after verifying the fact of your study from the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine. For details please read the section “Additional services. Other documents.”
3. Does the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine place Apostilles on the statements it issues?
The Apostille certifies the signature of the person who signed the document and authenticity of the stamp affixed to it. Statements issued by the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine do not need a special Apostille stamp since they are already certified with the signature of the department director and original seal of the Ministry.
4. How can I convert my marks into credits for an educational institution abroad?
To convert your marks into credits (ECTS), you need to apply to the dean’s office of your educational institution. The staff of the dean’s office should give you detailed information about this.