Lion's Mark Law Company provides the services of certification of official documents issued in Ukraine by affixing an Apostille stamp.
On 22/12/2003 Ukraine became a member of the Hague Convention of 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents. Official documents that will be used in the territory of the Convention Member States shall be certified with a special Apostille stamp (hereinafter - Apostille) to be affixed by the competent authority of the State where the document was issued. According to this Convention, a compliance with the procedure of affixing the Apostille may not be required by Convention Member States, if there are agreements between two or more States, which abolished or simplified this procedure, or exempt the document from legalization.
In connection with the entry of the Hague Convention into force for Ukraine, the changes in the order of certification of documents occurred only in relations with the Convention Member States, which still used a consular legalization.
Apostille shall be affixed in a place of the document free of text, on its reverse side or on a separate sheet affixed to the document. A person affixing the Apostille shall certify the number of bound sheets with his sign and seal. For affixing an Apostille stamp, it is necessary to submit the original documents, Apostille is affixed on the notarized copies in some cases only.
Apostille can not be affixed on diplomatic and consular documents as well as administrative documents relating to commercial, financial or customs operations.
According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On granting the authority to affix the Apostille, provided by the Convention, which abolishes the requirement of legalization for foreign official documents" of 1/18/2003 No. 61,
Apostille can be affixed by:
Medical certificates for traveling abroad (standard form 079 or 082) are isuued by local clinics at the place of person's registration. The certificate shall contain the stamp of the clinic with its identification code. After
that, it shall be certified with the seal of regional or municipal health department and the seal of the Ministry of Health and only then - with Apostille.
Double Apostille
We shall note, that in some cases affixing the double Apostille is required. It means that the first Apostille is affixed on the original document or its notarized copy with the following Apostille affixed on the notarized translation of that document.
This is a procedure of double Apostille, which is required by some Hague Convention Member States, in particular: Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, F`rance, Switzerland.
For example, to enter the Austrian college or university, a citizen of Ukraine has to affix the Apostille on the documents confirming his education. In this connection, the first Apostille is affixed by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine on the original Certificate or Degree, then German translation of the document shall be certified by a notary and finally the resulting document shall be certified with the second Apostille by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
In some cases, depending on the document's purpose, after the first Apostille the document is submitted for certification to the embassy of the country of its intended use, for example: Italy, Spain.
