What to do while still in that country
Obtain the birth certificate and immediately establish whether it needs an apostille for use in Ukraine. Only the issuing state can apostille it — this cannot be done in Ukraine, and it is the most common and most expensive mistake.
If a legal assistance treaty is in force between Ukraine and that country, an apostille may not be needed at all: a notarised translation suffices. This applies to several neighbouring countries in particular, but the scope is not the same for every document type, so check your own case.
Take the full certificate rather than a short extract, where both exist. Ukrainian authorities do not always accept abbreviated forms.
The spelling of the name is where files fail
The child's name in the translation must match how it will be recorded in Ukrainian documents and how the parents' documents are spelled. One differing letter and the file comes back.
The difficulty is that a foreign certificate often carries the name in the Latin transliteration of the country of birth, which does not match the Ukrainian one. 'Sofiia' against 'Sofia', 'Mykhailo' against 'Michael' — to an institution these are different people.
So before translation, tell the manager how the name should look in Ukrainian, or send the parents' documents — we reconcile spelling across the whole file rather than document by document.
What happens in Ukraine
The certificate is translated into Ukrainian and the translation is notarised. The whole document is translated — apostille stamp, seals and certification wording included — because the institution has to read all of it.
The document then goes wherever it is needed: the child's citizenship, civil registry records, a passport application, benefits or social programmes. Each authority has its own list, so confirm it before ordering the translation — sometimes several copies are required.
If you are already in Ukraine and there is no apostille
First check whether it is needed at all: a legal assistance treaty may apply and the worry may be unnecessary.
If it is needed, the options are: arrange it through someone acting on your behalf in that country, approach the consulate, or send the document back by post. The last does not work everywhere and is never quick.
Send us a photograph of the document and we will tell you what your case actually requires, before you spend time on a procedure you may not need.