Thousands of Ukrainians who left abroad after 2022 sooner or later face the same problem: a diploma earned in Ukraine simply does not work there. Employers ask for an education document, and universities or medical institutions require qualification confirmation, and it turns out that a plain photocopy of a certificate or diploma is of no interest to anyone. This topic was the focus of a webinar at the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, moderated by the Office’s representative Olga Altunina. The step‑by‑step algorithm for recognizing educational documents was explained by the head of the document verification department of the state enterprise “Information‑Image Center” of the Ministry of Education and Science, Vita Soloshenko, and by the head of the foreign qualification recognition department of the same enterprise, Anna Bakhlukova.
What is an Apostille and Why a Diploma is Not Recognized Without It
An apostille is a special mark placed on an official document of a state party to the 1961 Hague Convention, which cancels the requirement for consular legalization. In Ukraine, the authority to place an apostille on educational documents was transferred to the Ministry of Education and Science by a Cabinet of Ministers decree dated January 18, 2003, No. 61, and the procedure is carried out directly by the state enterprise “Information‑Image Center.” The mark is filled in Ukrainian and affixed to the original document.
During the apostille placement, specialists simultaneously check several things: the fact of document issuance, its conformity to the legislation in force at the time of issuance, the institution’s right to issue a state‑standard document, and the authenticity of the signature and seal. In other words, the apostille confirms that the document is genuine and issued by an authorized institution, not the person’s knowledge. The processing time depends on the document type and whether information about it exists in the Unified State Electronic Education Database, ranging from two hours to thirty working days.
Why is this stamp even needed? Without it, foreign universities, licensing bodies, or employers have no reason to believe that the diploma was issued by a real institution rather than someone printing a blank form at home. The apostille is the first and mandatory step in the chain: first the original is verified, then the document is translated together with the apostille, and only after that the package is submitted for recognition in the country where the person plans to study or work.
How the Procedure Works
Documents can be submitted in two ways. The first is in person at the center’s office in Kyiv, after booking an appointment through the personal account on the website. Either the document holder or any other person who received them can do this; a separate power of attorney is not required. The second method is intended for those physically abroad: the applicant creates a request for remote submission, uploads scanned copies of documents in the account, receives a list of required papers for signature from the specialist, and then still sends the originals by courier to the center’s address, because the apostille is placed only on the original. The completed documents are returned by courier to any country in the world or issued at the office.
In addition to the apostille, the center issues accompanying certificates: about the equivalence of a specialist diploma to a master’s diploma, about the Ukrainian grading system, about the presence of a license and accreditation of the educational institution during the study period, and about professional reputation for pedagogical specialties. All these services can be ordered simultaneously in one account, and the cost and processing time for each certificate are published on the website.
After the apostille, the document must be translated, and this is where most practical difficulties arise. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and Switzerland usually require a translation performed by a sworn translator directly in the destination country: for example, in Italy it is done by an accredited translator at the consulate or court, in France by a specialist from the register of expert translators at the appellate court, in Spain the translation is approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Lithuania and Latvia, on the other hand, accept a regular notarized translation made in Ukraine. Therefore, it is advised to clarify the requirements of the receiving side in advance, rather than translating blindly: as Soloshenko noted, translating from Ukrainian in Ukraine is cheaper and faster than later re‑translating abroad.
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Who Absolutely Needs an Apostille and Who Doesn’t
After confirmation in Ukraine, the document is submitted for recognition in the country of use, and here the division into regulated and unregulated professions appears. Regulated professions include doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, speech therapists, psychologists, teachers, lawyers, and attorneys— for them the recognition procedure is more complex, often requiring verification of continuous professional development, language proficiency exams, and confirmation of the right to practice in that field. Architects also fall into this list: a participant from Portugal, who worked as a chief architect for a quarter of a century, learned that to confirm her master’s qualification she would have to contact the national architects’ association rather than the ENIK‑NARIK network, because that association is responsible for the regulated profession in her country.
For unregulated professions, in some countries a simpler confirmation suffices. In Italy, for example, the digital service CIMEA issues a blockchain‑formatted certificate of diploma equivalence in a few weeks—enough for employment in the private sector. But for civil service or a regulated profession, official recognition through the relevant ministry and an additional document from the Italian consulate, the so‑called Declaration of Value (Dichiarazione di Valore), is required. It can be obtained only by personally contacting the consulate, and, according to Bakhlukova, the consulate sends a request to the center, which verifies the documents and then issues the declaration.
Does the Bologna Process Exempt from Apostille?
The answer is no, it does not exempt. Ukraine ratified the relevant agreements, including the Lisbon Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education in the European Region, signed in 1997 in Lisbon with the participation of the Council of Europe and UNESCO. This convention establishes the right of the qualification holder to have their document examined by a competent authority in another country, but it does not cancel the verification procedure itself.
The reason is simple: recognition is not reduced to comparing an attachment to a European standard diploma. The competent authority in another state must verify the authenticity of the document, the fact of the person’s study, the status of the educational institution at the time of issuance, and the conformity of the study program to that in the recognition country. No country, Soloshenko emphasized, is ready to trust a paper solely because it bears a European attachment—just as the Ukrainian side cannot unconditionally accept a foreign bachelor’s diploma that in some countries corresponds only to secondary education. An additional complication is the differing number of study years: where Ukraine has nine grades and a medical school, the European system often requires twelve or thirteen years of schooling, and the foreign recognition authority formally sees a lack of hours, even if the program content and practical experience fully meet the requirements.
What to Do if the Educational Institution Remains in Occupied Territory
A separate and painful block of questions concerned educational institutions in temporarily occupied territories. If the institution’s archives were not moved to Ukrainian‑controlled territory, it is impossible to place an apostille on the original, because the center cannot confirm the issuance of the document. In such a case, the Ministry of Education issues an official certificate explaining the reason for not placing the apostille and confirming that the document’s form complied with the legislation at the time of issuance—and this certificate can then be apostilled. However, as Soloshenko clarified, such a certificate alone does not grant academic or professional rights and only temporarily postpones recognition until the document holder obtains a duplicate.
The procedure for obtaining a duplicate depends on the education level. For higher or pre‑higher vocational education, the application is submitted to the successor institution, and if there is none, to the Ministry of Education and Science, which determines the institution that will produce the duplicate. For professional‑technical education, a similar application is submitted to the regional or Kyiv city state administration. A certificate of general secondary education can be restored by any general secondary school of the appropriate level in the holder’s place of residence or stay in Ukraine. If there is no information about the document issuance in the Unified State Electronic Education Database and the archives are destroyed, there are no alternative routes: the legal fact of obtaining education must be established through the courts. This is exactly the scenario that one of the webinar participants encountered: the institution where she studied was liquidated, the documents were not transferred to the successor, and the state enterprise directly advised her to go to court to prove the inactivity of an institution that was not personally dependent on her.
Live Examples
A part of the meeting was conducted in the format of individual consultations, and it is on these examples that one can see how differently the system works in each country. A participant from Switzerland explained that there the apostille is placed not on the original document but on its copy, and she worried whether such an apostille would be recognized in Ukraine; the speakers clarified that it does not matter, because the apostille confirms not the bearer but the signature and authority of the person who certified the document. A resident of Portugal, who graduated before the Bologna process, was able to order a recalculation of the average grade according to the new grading scale simply through the center’s website—previously, according to her, the Ministry of Education itself refused, but now the service works. A Latvian doctor asked whether the entire chain of documents, including certificates of new specializations after the main diploma, needs apostilling— the answer was: if the receiving side requires confirmation of continuous professional development, each document in the chain must be apostilled, not just the first diploma. And a participant from Moldova received a short and clear answer that this country also joined the Hague Convention, so apostille is mandatory there, and a notarized translation suffices.
A separate practical warning was issued for those who turn to intermediaries in the regions. Since the state enterprise’s office operates only in Kyiv, and the representation in Ternopil belongs to intermediaries, documents will still reach the capital, just slower and more expensive. Direct contact with the center, Soloshenko emphasized, remains the fastest and cheapest option, especially since the presence of documents in the “Diia” application can speed up verification.
Each country checks the document in its own way, and that is why the speakers repeatedly gave the same advice: before ordering an apostille or translation, it is worth writing a request directly to the educational institution where the person will submit documents and finding out the exact list of requirements. One institution may accept a notarized translation, another may require a sworn translator in the country of residence, and for a regulated profession—yet another letter from the relevant association or ministry.
Those who have approached various institutions and authorities for education or qualification recognition but did not receive a response or encountered a breach of processing deadlines can write to the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights—there they consider such appeals and, if necessary, connect the applicant directly with the Ministry of Education and Science.
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