How to Get Documents From Ukraine When You’re Abroad: Power of Attorney, Diia, DP “Document,” and Other Options¶

You urgently need a birth certificate for the Standesamt, but it’s sitting in a drawer at your mom’s place in Poltava. Or you’re applying for Einburgerung and suddenly discover you need a criminal record clearance with an apostille - and you haven’t been to Ukraine in three years with no plans to go anytime soon. Sound familiar? You’re not alone - hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians abroad face this every year: they need some paper from Ukraine, but physically getting to the RACS (DRACS - civil registry office) or the Ministry of Justice is impossible.

Good news: you can get almost any document remotely. Bad news: there are many options, and each one has its own limitations, timelines, and price tag. In this guide, we’ll break down all five real methods - from free (via Diia) to the most expensive (turnkey legal service) - so you can pick the one that works for you.

Which Documents Are Most Often Needed From Ukraine¶

Before we dig into the methods, let’s clarify what people usually order from abroad. Here’s the top 10 by popularity among Ukrainians in Europe:

Document	Why you need it	Who issues it
Birth certificate (duplicate)	Marriage, citizenship, visas	RACS (DRACS - civil registry)
Marriage/divorce certificate	Marriage abroad, Einburgerung	RACS (DRACS)
Criminal record clearance	Work visas, permanent residence, citizenship	MIA via CNAP (admin services center) or online
Apostille on a document	Legalization for foreign authorities	Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education, MFA
Extract from DRACS register	Data confirmation for immigration	Diia portal or RACS
Diploma (duplicate)	Education recognition (Anerkennung)	Educational institution
Employment record book (extract/copy)	Rentenversicherung (pension insurance), work experience	Employer or archive
Income certificate	Renting, loans, social benefits	Tax authority, employer
Tax ID number (RNOKPP)	Any operations in Ukraine	Tax service (DPS)
Power of attorney for a representative	Property management, obtaining other documents	Consulate or notary

You can get most of these documents remotely using one of the five methods we’ll cover below. But one nuance: some documents don’t just need to be obtained - they also need to be apostilled and translated. We’ll cover the proper sequence at the end of the article.

Method 1: Diia Portal - free, but not for everything¶

The simplest option if you have a KEP (qualified electronic signature) or can authenticate via BankID.

What you can order through Diia¶

Through the Diia portal you can order:

• Duplicate birth certificate
• Duplicate marriage certificate
• Duplicate divorce certificate
• Duplicate name change certificate
• Extract from the State Register of Civil Status Acts (extract about birth, marriage, etc.)

As the Ministry of Digital Transformation states:

Order the certificate or extract you need online instead of traveling to DRACS offices.

How it works¶

1. Log in at diia.gov.ua using your KEP or BankID
2. Select the service you need (for example, “Re-issuance of birth certificate”)
3. Fill out the online form with your details
4. Choose a delivery method - at a Ukrposhta (Ukrainian postal service) branch or by courier
5. Pay the state fee (if applicable)

Price and timelines¶

• DRACS extract: free (only delivery cost)
• Duplicate certificate: state fee of 51 UAH (about 1.2 EUR)
• Timeline: 1-3 business days for processing + delivery

The catch¶

The main problem for people abroad: delivery is only within Ukraine. Diia will send the certificate to Ukrposhta or by courier - but only to a Ukrainian address. So you need someone in Ukraine who can pick up the document and forward it to you abroad. You give a relative’s address, and then they ship it to you via DHL or Nova Poshta.

Second nuance: to log in to the Diia portal from abroad, you need either an active KEP (for example, from PrivatBank - but you need an active account for that) or Diia.Signature, which you generate in the Diia smartphone app. If you don’t have either, this method won’t work for you.

Who it’s good for¶

Ideal if: you have a KEP or BankID, you have a reliable person in Ukraine to receive the document, and you don’t need anything beyond civil registry certificates or extracts.

Method 2: Ukrainian consulate or embassy¶

The classic and most official route. It works for a wider range of documents than Diia, but it’s slower.

What you can do through the consulate¶

• Order duplicate certificates (birth, marriage, death) - the consulate sends a request to DRACS in Ukraine
• Set up a power of attorney for a representative in Ukraine (a consular power of attorney does NOT need an apostille - it’s immediately valid in Ukraine)
• Request documents from state archives
• Certify copies of documents
• Apply for a foreign passport (at some consulates)

As the Ministry of Justice explains:

The main advantage of executing a power of attorney at a consular office is that the power of attorney is valid on the territory of Ukraine from the moment of its execution and doesn’t require further legalization or translation.

Price and timelines¶

Service	Approximate price	Timeline
Duplicate RACS certificate	20-30 EUR (consular fee)	2-6 months
Consular power of attorney	30-50 EUR	1-5 business days
Certified copy	10-20 EUR	1-3 business days
Archive document request	20-40 EUR	3-6 months

Prices vary depending on the specific consulate and country. Current rates are always on the MFA website.

The catch¶

Timelines. A request for a duplicate certificate through the consulate can take 2-6 months, because the consulate sends a request to DRACS in Ukraine, waits for a response, then notifies you. During the war, timelines are even longer - some RACS offices have been evacuated or operate with restrictions.

The second problem is appointments. At most consulates, appointment slots are booked weeks, sometimes months in advance. If you need something urgently - this isn’t your option.

Who it’s good for¶

Works well if: you need a consular power of attorney (the best option - immediately valid without an apostille), or you’re not in a hurry and you’re prepared to wait a few months for a duplicate certificate.

Method 3: DP “Document” abroad¶

DP “Document” (a state enterprise) operates under the State Migration Service and functions as a passport service. After the start of the full-scale invasion, they opened mobile offices abroad.

Where DP “Document” operates¶

As of 2026, DP “Document” centers operate in:

• Poland (Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Gdansk, Rzeszow, Poznan, Lublin)
• Czech Republic (Prague)
• Slovakia (Bratislava, Kosice)
• Germany (Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg)
• Spain (Madrid, Barcelona)
• Italy (Rome, Milan)
• Bulgaria (Sofia)
• Moldova (Chisinau)
• Canada (Ottawa, Toronto)
• United Kingdom (London, Edinburgh)
• Belgium (Brussels)

The up-to-date list and addresses are at pasport.org.ua/centers.

What you can do¶

• Apply for or renew a foreign passport
• Apply for or renew an ID card
• Replace a driver’s license
• Add a child’s photo to a passport

Price and timelines¶

Getting a passport through DP “Document” abroad costs 30 to 70 EUR (depending on type and urgency). Standard timeline is 10-20 business days, express is 3-7 business days for an additional fee.

The catch¶

DP “Document” is exclusively a passport service. You can’t order a birth certificate, criminal record clearance, apostille, or other civil documents through it. It only handles passports and ID cards.

Another nuance - appointments. Just like with consulates, available slots often get snapped up within minutes. Check the schedule on the website and book well in advance.

Who it’s good for¶

You specifically need a passport or ID card, and you live in a country that has a DP “Document” center. For all other documents, look at the other methods.

Method 4: Power of attorney for a representative in Ukraine¶

This is the most universal method that works for virtually any document. The idea is simple: you set up a power of attorney for someone in Ukraine (a relative, friend, or lawyer), and that person obtains, apostilles, and ships the documents to you on your behalf.

How to set up a power of attorney from abroad¶

There are two paths:

Path 1: Through a Ukrainian consulate (recommended)

You set up the power of attorney at the consulate - it’s immediately valid in Ukraine without additional legalization. No apostille or translation needed. Cost: 30-50 EUR. More details in our guide on power of attorney between Ukraine and Germany.

Path 2: Through a local notary

You set up the power of attorney with a notary in your country of residence. But then you need to: 1. Get an apostille on the power of attorney 2. Get a sworn translation of the power of attorney into Ukrainian 3. Have the translation notarially certified

This takes longer and costs more - an additional 50-150 EUR for the apostille and translation. But you don’t need to schedule a consulate appointment and wait for months.

What a representative can do with a power of attorney¶

• Get a duplicate certificate from RACS
• Submit an archive request
• Obtain a criminal record clearance
• Get an apostille at the Ministry of Justice (technically, a power of attorney isn’t required for an apostille - anyone can submit, but it’s better to have one)
• Obtain a tax ID number (RNOKPP)
• Pick up documents from any government office

Price and timelines¶

Step	Cost	Time
Power of attorney (consular)	30-50 EUR	1-5 days
Power of attorney (notary + apostille + translation)	100-200 EUR	1-2 weeks
Representative obtains the document	0 (except state fees)	1-14 days
Apostille on the document	51 UAH (~1.2 EUR)	2-3 business days
Shipping abroad (DHL/Nova Poshta Global)	15-40 EUR	3-7 days

As the Ministry of Justice explains:

If the applicant is abroad, the apostille can be applied based on a request sent by postal mail to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.

So you can even mail the document for an apostille without a representative - but it’s risky because the document could get lost in transit.

The catch¶

The main risk is the quality of your representative. If it’s a relative without legal experience, they might make a mistake: go to the wrong office, forget some reference document, miss a detail. One real-life case: a woman in Berlin asked her mom in Kharkiv to get a duplicate birth certificate. Mom got it, but forgot to have the apostille applied. The document arrived in Berlin, and it was rejected without an apostille. Mom had to go back to the Ministry of Justice, then back to the post office - an extra month and costs for re-shipping.

Who it’s good for¶

Best option if: you have a reliable person in Ukraine, you need a document that you can’t get through Diia or the consulate, and you’re willing to spend time setting up the power of attorney.

Method 5: Turnkey legal service¶

If you don’t have time, don’t have a reliable representative in Ukraine, or your situation is complicated (archive documents, documents from occupied territories, Soviet-era records) - you can hire a law firm that specializes in obtaining documents.

How it works¶

1. You describe what you need (for example: “I need a duplicate birth certificate from Donetsk + apostille + sworn translation into German”)
2. The lawyer assesses your situation and gives you a price
3. You set up a power of attorney for the lawyer (usually through a consulate or local notary)
4. The lawyer handles everything: submits requests, obtains documents, apostilles, arranges translation
5. You receive the finished package by courier

How much it costs¶

Prices depend heavily on complexity:

Service	Approximate price
Obtaining one RACS certificate + apostille	100-200 EUR
Obtaining a document from an archive	150-300 EUR
Restoring documents when records were destroyed by the war	200-500 EUR
Full package: document + apostille + translation + delivery	250-600 EUR
Complex case (occupied territories, court proceedings)	from 500 EUR

Law firms that work with Ukrainians abroad usually publish their price lists on their websites. Some well-known ones: LegalKey, UST Group, TCG. Prices are approximate - they’ll give you an exact quote after assessing your specific case.

The catch¶

Price. This is the most expensive option. For the same money, a relative in Ukraine can do all of this if they know where to go. But if you don’t have a relative or your situation is non-standard - a lawyer saves you months of stress.

Second point - vet your lawyer. The internet is full of fly-by-night firms that take a deposit and disappear. Before paying, check whether the firm has a real office, whether it’s registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, and read reviews.

Who it’s good for¶

You have a complex situation (documents from occupied territories, from archives that have shut down, or you need to restore lost documents), you don’t have people in Ukraine, and you’re willing to pay for convenience.

Comparison table of all five methods¶

Criteria	Diia	Consulate	DP “Document”	Power of attorney	Turnkey lawyer
Document types	RACS certificates, extracts	Certificates, powers of attorney, passports	Passports/ID only	Any	Any
Price	51 UAH + delivery	20-50 EUR	30-70 EUR	30-200 EUR	100-600 EUR
Timeline	1-3 days + delivery	2-6 months	3-20 days	1-4 weeks	2-8 weeks
Need someone in Ukraine	Yes (to receive)	No	No	Yes	No
Need KEP/BankID	Yes	No	No	No	No
Apostille included	No	No	No	No (but can add)	Usually yes
Translation included	No	No	No	No	For additional fee
Complex cases	No	Limited	No	Depends on representative	Yes

Step-by-step guide: the optimal path for a typical case¶

Let’s say you need a birth certificate with an apostille and a sworn translation for submission to a Standesamt in Germany. Here’s the optimal plan:

Week 1: Power of attorney - Book an appointment at the Ukrainian consulate and set up a power of attorney for your mom/sibling/friend in Ukraine (30-50 EUR) - Or go to a local notary, create the power of attorney, apostille it, and translate it (100-200 EUR) - Ship the power of attorney to Ukraine by courier (15-30 EUR, 3-5 days)

Week 2-3: Obtaining the document - Your representative goes to the RACS where the act was registered (or submits an application online through Diia on your behalf if you have a KEP) - Gets the duplicate certificate (1-14 days depending on the RACS office)

Week 3-4: Apostille - Your representative submits the certificate to the Ministry of Justice for apostilling (51 UAH, 2-3 business days) - Or sends it by mail (takes longer, but no trip to the regional center required)

Week 4-5: Shipping - The apostilled certificate gets shipped to you abroad by courier (15-40 EUR, 3-7 days)

Week 5-6: Translation - You receive the original and order a sworn translation from a certified translator (beeidigte/r Ubersetzer/in) registered with a German court (30-60 EUR per page) - Or you order a translation online through a service like ChatsControl - upload the scan, AI creates a draft, a sworn translator reviews it and stamps it, and the finished PDF arrives by email in 2-4 hours (price is comparable - around 30-50 EUR). Convenient if there’s no certified translator in your city or you need it urgently. Downside - not suitable for handwritten or very old documents with illegible stamps

Total budget: 80-350 EUR depending on the option Total timeline: 3-6 weeks

Important detail: the order is “document - apostille - translation”¶

People mix up the sequence all the time and then have to redo everything. The correct order is:

1. First - get the document (certificate, reference)
2. Then - apply the apostille to the ORIGINAL (not to the translation!)
3. Then - get a sworn translation of the DOCUMENT TOGETHER WITH THE APOSTILLE

Why this order? Because a sworn translator translates everything on the document - including the apostille stamp. If you translate first and apostille second, the translation won’t contain the apostille information, and you’ll have to translate again. More details on this in our article apostille or translation first.

Exceptions exist: some countries (for example, the UK) accept the apostille separately from the translation. But in Germany, France, and Austria, the translation must include the apostille.

New rules in 2026: what changed¶

Starting February 1, 2026, Ukraine updated its apostille rules. The key changes:

• The decision to apostille or refuse now takes 3 business days (it used to be 2)
• The list of documents eligible for e-apostille (electronic apostille) has been expanded
• E-apostille has the same legal force as paper and can be verified via a QR code

For those abroad, this means the total timeline increased by 1 day. Not critical, but worth factoring in when planning.

Also, since 2025, the Diia portal has expanded the list of DRACS services available online. Previously only extracts were available - now you can order duplicate certificates too. Check the current service list at diia.gov.ua.

Special cases: when the standard path doesn’t work¶

Documents from occupied territories¶

If your documents were issued in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson oblasts, or Crimea, the situation is more complicated. RACS offices in occupied territories don’t operate within the Ukrainian system, and a standard DRACS request may not produce results.

Options: - Contact the RACS at your current place of registration (if you changed residence as an IDP - internally displaced person) - Submit a request through Diia if the record exists in the electronic register - Hire a lawyer who has experience with documents from occupied territories

Soviet-era documents¶

Documents issued before 1991 may exist only in paper archives - and there’s no guarantee the archive survived. If you need a duplicate of a Soviet-era certificate, you may need to request it from the state archive of the oblast where the document was issued. This takes longer and is more complicated - 1 to 6 months. We wrote about the specifics of working with such documents in our guide to translating Soviet birth certificates.

Digital documents from Diia¶

If you have an e-certificate in the Diia app - be careful. Not all foreign authorities accept digital documents. Most Auslanderbehorde (immigration offices) and Standesamt (civil registry offices) in Germany require a paper original with an apostille. A digital certificate from Diia is not a replacement for the original - it’s a convenient tool for use within Ukraine only.

If you need an e-apostille¶

Since 2023, the Ministry of Justice has been issuing e-apostilles - electronic apostilles with a QR code for verification. They carry the same legal force as paper ones. You can verify an e-apostille on the Ministry of Justice website.

What to do next: translating the documents you’ve received¶

Once you have the document with the apostille in hand, the last step is the translation. Depending on which country you’re submitting documents to:

• Germany: you need a beglaubigte Ubersetzung (certified translation by a sworn translator registered with a German court)
• France: you need a traduction assermentee (sworn translation)
• Italy: you need a traduzione giurata with asseverazione (court-certified translation)
• USA: you need a certified translation with a certificate of accuracy

We have separate articles about translation requirements for each specific country - pick yours in the blog.

Important: if your document is bilingual (Ukrainian-Russian, which is typical for documents issued before 2014) - make sure to tell your translator in advance. The legal validity of the translation depends on which language is listed as the source.

FAQ¶

How much does it cost to get a document from Ukraine when you’re abroad?¶

It depends on the method. The cheapest is through Diia (51 UAH + shipping, roughly 20-40 EUR total). Through a consulate - 20-50 EUR per document. Through a turnkey lawyer - 100 to 600 EUR including apostille and delivery. Add translation on top of that (30-60 EUR per page) and you’ve got your full budget.

How long does it take to get documents from Ukraine remotely?¶

Through Diia - 1-3 days plus shipping time (about 1-2 weeks total). Through a power of attorney and representative - 2-4 weeks. Through the consulate - 2-6 months (the longest option). Through a lawyer - 2-8 weeks depending on complexity.

Do I need a notarized power of attorney to apply an apostille?¶

No. Under the Hague Convention, anyone can submit a document for an apostille - a power of attorney isn’t formally required. But if you’re not physically in Ukraine, you need a power of attorney so that someone can obtain the document from RACS or an archive, and then take it for the apostille.

Can I mail documents from abroad for an apostille?¶

Yes. The Ministry of Justice accepts documents for apostilling sent by postal mail. This is officially confirmed by the Ministry of Justice. But there’s a risk of losing the original in transit - so it’s recommended to send by registered mail with tracking or by courier.

Will an Auslanderbehorde or embassy accept a re-issued certificate (duplicate)?¶

Yes. A re-issued certificate (duplicate) carries the same legal force as the original. It will have a “re-issued” notation - this is normal and isn’t grounds for rejection. The key thing is that it has an apostille and a certified translation.

What if the RACS that issued my document is now in occupied territory?¶

Submit an application to any RACS in government-controlled Ukrainian territory or through Diia. If the record exists in the electronic State Register of Civil Status Acts, they’ll issue a duplicate without problems. If the record only exists in a paper archive that remained in occupied territory - the situation is more complicated, and you may need a court proceeding to restore the record. In that case, it’s better to hire a lawyer.

How do I verify whether a lawyer for document retrieval is legit?¶

Check the firm’s registration on the Unified State Register. Read reviews on Google Maps and in relevant Facebook groups (for example, “Ukrainians in Germany” or “Ukrainians in the UK”). Ask to see the contract before paying. Never pay 100% upfront to an unknown firm - standard practice is 50% upfront, 50% upon receiving the document.