This is not a universal list of documents. It is our family's story of obtaining Ukrainian papers with apostilles while we were living in Switzerland and travelling to Ukraine during the war was not an option.
The paperwork began as soon as we chose Uruguay
When my parents said we were moving to Uruguay, we started finding out what papers might be requested. At first it sounded routine. Then we learned about criminal records, birth certificates and many other documents, all needing apostilles.
- Ukrainian birth certificates
- criminal record certificates
- other documents for our particular case
- apostilles on the required papers
There were five of us and we had already lived in Switzerland for two years, yet we still needed documents issued in Ukraine. That was a small shock.
The consulate did not solve the problem
The obvious first idea was the Ukrainian consulate. It did not work for us. We were told that these documents, especially with apostilles, had to be arranged in Ukraine.
Going into a country at war just to collect certificates was not an option for our family. That left a remote process or no process at all.
Finding someone who could arrange everything remotely
We searched for a long time. There were few convincing options, many promises and little trust. Eventually friends shared the contact of someone who helped people obtain documents without travelling to Ukraine.
The service was not cheap, but we could not see another route. Apostilles, postage and the full package for five people came to roughly $700. I no longer remember the exact total.
The apostilled package arrived after about two months
We waited around two months before the documents arrived by post in Switzerland. Without them, we would not have been able to approach the Uruguayan Migración process with the same confidence.
We also ordered translations in Ukraine, but they were not useful. For Uruguay we needed a local Traductor Público. The important part was that the original papers and apostilles had reached us.
We later used the same route for driving-licence papers
The story did not end with the move. Once we were in Uruguay and my parents needed documents for their Uruguayan driving licences, we contacted the same person again. For us, the route worked more than once.
This is our route, not an offer of document services, so I do not publish the contact. Allow time: our package took about two months. Do not assume translations made abroad will be accepted; Uruguay required a Traductor Público in our case. Our broader papers article: /en/pereezd/dokumenty/.