Apostille on a Ukrainian diploma: from 2 hours to 40 working days, and what decides the speed

An apostille on a Ukrainian diploma is issued by the Ministry of Education and Science, and the documents are processed by its operator, the Information and Image Centre (ДП «Інформаційно-іміджевий центр», apostille.in.ua). I saw this system from the inside when I worked at the Centre, and I have arranged apostilles on education documents since 2013. People usually ask me how fast it can be done and how much it costs. The speed depends less on money than on whether the diploma is in Ukraine’s education database, and that check should come before any travel plans.

Prices and processing times

Each document counts separately: a diploma and its supplement are two documents, each with its own fee. On top of the service price there is an administrative fee of 51 hryvnias per document for individuals. If you apply remotely, ask the Centre how to pay it, or let a representative in Ukraine pay it for you.

For applicants abroad the 10-day and the 20-day services cost the same. International postage is calculated separately. The Centre’s own page gives the standard term as 30 working days in the price table and 40 working days in the rules above it, so plan for the longer one. In my experience the standard service takes longer than a month in August and September, when school leavers apply to universities abroad.

What decides the speed

The fast services work only when the Centre can confirm the diploma in the Register of Education Documents, part of Ukraine’s unified state education database (ЄДЕБО, EDEBO), without writing to the university. If it cannot, the diploma goes to the 20-day service with university verification or to the standard service, and paying more will not speed it up, because the Centre has to wait for the university’s answer.

The register covers education documents issued roughly from 2000, but the database itself started in 2012 and earlier documents were added afterwards, not always completely. In practice:

• University diplomas issued from about 2012 and school-leaving certificates issued from 2019 were added as they were issued and usually pass without university verification.
• School-leaving certificates from 2000 to 2018 and university diplomas from 2000 to 2011 may or may not be in the register.
• Documents from before 2000, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) diplomas issued before 2022, retraining diplomas (a second qualification at the same level) issued before 2016 and diplomas from military universities are not in the register.

You can check this yourself on the public register page info.edbo.gov.ua/edu-documents/. Choose the level of education, enter the series and number of the diploma and the holder’s surname, first name and patronymic in Ukrainian, spelled exactly as on the diploma. If the document is found, the page shows the institution and the year straight away, and you can order an extract with an electronic signature, which arrives by email within three working days. If the page finds nothing, that does not mean the diploma is invalid, only that it will need university verification.

The 2-hour apostille

The 2-hour service exists only for documents handed in at the Centre in Kyiv. The price list for applicants abroad stops at 2 working days. Two hours can work when three things come together:

1. The diploma is in the register and can be confirmed without university verification.
2. Someone who knows how the Centre’s reception works in practice hands in the original in Kyiv on the day it is needed.
3. The administrative fee of 51 hryvnias is paid beforehand, because its receipt has to be handed in with the document.

A client of mine who lives in Mannheim needed an apostille on her school-leaving certificate. A friend was travelling to Ukraine for two days. Before the friend left, we checked that the certificate was in the register. The friend brought it to Kyiv in the morning, it was handed in for the 2-hour service at midday, the apostilled certificate went back to the friend in the evening, and the next day it was in Germany. Without the certificate in the register, we would have planned the trip around 20 working days instead.

If you are already abroad

You have three options:

• Send the original to the Centre by international post and choose a remote service. The shortest is 2 working days, plus postage both ways.
• Give the original to someone travelling to Ukraine and use the 2-hour or 2-day service in person.
• Send it to a representative in Kyiv who handles the submission and sends it back.

Whichever you choose, check the register first. Apostilles are issued only on originals, and a scan is not enough.

After the apostille, find out whether your destination needs a sworn translation made in that country, as some institutions in Poland and Germany require, and whether the institution will verify the apostille online. I explained how to check a Ministry of Education apostille in a separate article. If your country is not a party to the Apostille Convention, you need consular legalization instead.

If your deadline is close, contact me with the type of document, the year, the university and the country. I will check the diploma in the register and tell you whether two hours is possible.

Sources checked on 7 November 2026: the Information and Image Centre price list and rules (apostille.in.ua, Ukrainian and English pages, including prices for applicants abroad); the public check of the Register of Education Documents and the EDEBO extract instructions (info.edbo.gov.ua). Ukrainian version of this article: Апостиль освітнього документа за 2 години.