Certificate of Sponsorship and Criminal Record

What criminal record certificate a Ukrainian needs for a UK Certificate of Sponsorship, how to get it from Ukraine’s MIA, apostille rules and common mistakes.

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We are not affiliated with FCDO Legalisation Office. The official document is issued directly by the government body: www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised. Our service is paid support (preparation, apostille, translation, delivery).

Published September 22, 2026

We do not issue certificates or decide visa cases; we help people prepare and legalise documents that official authorities require.

If you are moving to the UK on a sponsored work visa, the Certificate of Sponsorship is the document your employer assigns to you. For many roles, especially in health, education and social care, the visa rules also expect a criminal record certificate from every country where you lived for 12 months or more during the last 10 years, from age 18, excluding the UK. This page explains how Ukrainians get that certificate, what to do about apostille and translation, and where people most often trip up.

Who needs a criminal record certificate for a Certificate of Sponsorship

The requirement comes from the Home Office guidance on criminal records checks for overseas applicants, last updated 31 January 2025. It applies to applicants in listed sectors, and the information is collected to provide to employers in the United Kingdom.

• Applicants in health, education or social care under the skilled work routes

• Anyone who lived 12+ months in the last 10 years in a country other than the UK, from age 18

• People whose sponsor explicitly asks for a police certificate as part of the hiring check

If you only lived in Ukraine, one Ukrainian certificate covers it. If you also lived elsewhere, you need a certificate from each of those countries, and the process differs by country. The gov.uk country guidance lists how to apply in the country of origin or through the relevant embassy in the UK.

How it works

For Ukraine, the certificate of non-conviction is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The paper route through service centres is gone: MIA service centres do not issue paper certificates. Instead, the request is submitted electronically through vytiah.mvs.gov.ua, and the result arrives as an electronic extract (vytiag). You log in with a qualified electronic signature (KEP).

• Register or log in on vytiah.mvs.gov.ua with your KEP

• Submit the request for the extract about criminal record (absence or presence)

• Receive the extract in electronic form

• Order a certified translation if your sponsor or the visa route needs English

• Legalise the document if the requesting party requires an apostille

A typical situation: a care worker in Ukraine is offered a sponsored role with a UK care provider. The Certificate of Sponsorship arrives, the employer mentions a police check. The person applies for the extract online, gets the translation done, and checks with the employer whether an apostille is needed on top.

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Apostille: who issues it and where people go wrong

An apostille is a certificate under the Hague Convention confirming a signature and seal on a public document, so another member country accepts it. On UK documents it comes as a physical apostille stamp or as an e-Apostille. The same logic applies in reverse: a Ukrainian extract gets its apostille from the Ukrainian authority, not from any UK body.

• ACRO Police Certificate: for visa applications to Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, the police certificate comes from ACRO, the Association of Chief Police Officers Criminal Record Office. ACRO also issues the International Child Protection Certificate.

• DBS checks: questions about criminal record checks inside the UK go to the Disclosure and Barring Service. Standard and enhanced checks are only available to umbrella bodies and registered bodies, not to individuals.

• AccessNI: in Northern Ireland, AccessNI does not provide an apostille but is authorised by the FCO to sign basic certificates, which confirms to the FCO that the certificate is genuine. The basic check reveals unspent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NI) Order 1978, and not every country accepts it.

• Embassy attestation: for countries outside the Hague Convention, documents go through embassy attestation instead of an apostille.

Note that the same FCDO Legalisation Office handles other UK documents too, such as a UK marriage certificate, UK birth certificate or UK death certificate, if your visa file needs them legalised.

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Which countries accept an apostilled document

An apostilled Ukrainian extract is accepted by countries party to the Hague Apostille Convention, and the UK accepts properly apostilled Ukrainian documents where a route asks for legalisation. If the destination country is not in the Convention, you are looking at full legalisation with embassy attestation instead. Confirm with the requesting body, because sponsors and visa caseworkers can have their own preferences about document age and format.

What happens if a document is rejected

Rejection comes down to one of a few causes, and most are fixable.

• The apostille was requested from the wrong authority (for example, expecting the FCDO to apostille a Ukrainian document)

• The translation is not certified, or the translator’s details are missing

• The extract is too old for the requesting body’s validity window

• The electronic format is not accepted and a printed, apostilled version is needed

If the FCDO rejects a UK document, the rejection notice states the reason, typically a missing signature or a document that is not an official UK public document. Fix the underlying issue and resubmit. For a Ukrainian document, the fix happens on the Ukrainian side.

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Where this fits: the Ukrainian police certificate hub

Everything above is one branch of a bigger topic. We keep the full picture, including step-by-step guidance on the Ukrainian extract and how it is used abroad, on our Ukrainian police certificate hub. Start there if you are unsure which document your situation actually needs.

Step-by-step order of actions

• Read your Certificate of Sponsorship and job offer to confirm whether a criminal record certificate is required

• List every country where you lived 12+ months in the last 10 years, from age 18

• Apply for the Ukrainian extract through vytiah.mvs.gov.ua with your KEP

• Order a certified translation if English is needed

• Apostille the document if the requesting party requires it

• Submit everything with your visa application and keep copies

Typical mistakes and how to avoid them

• Late start. The extract, translation and apostille are sequential, so start when the sponsor mentions the check.

• Assuming a paper certificate exists. MIA service centres do not issue paper certificates; the extract is electronic.

• Skipping the certified translation. An uncertified translation is a common rejection reason.

• Apostilling the wrong document version. The apostille must match the final version you submit.

• Confusing DBS with a foreign police certificate. A DBS check covers UK records; it does not replace a Ukrainian certificate.

What a private company can do is make sure your paperwork is complete, correctly translated and correctly legalised before it reaches them.

See also

• ACRO Police Certificate UK, Application Assistance

• Apostille for a UK Birth Certificate

• ACRO Police Certificate

• Apostille for an ACRO police certificate

This page is for general information only and is not legal advice. Apostilles for UK public documents are issued exclusively by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office; this site is not affiliated with any government body. Please consult a qualified professional before making decisions.

FAQ

Your sponsor assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship, and if your job sector requires it, you provide a criminal record certificate from each country where you lived 12 months or more in the last 10 years, from age 18, excluding the UK. For Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issues the certificate as an electronic extract through vytiah.mvs.gov.ua, accessed with a qualified electronic signature.

The application is submitted online, but the processing time depends on the queue at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so there is no fixed figure we can quote.

An apostille works between countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention, and the UK accepts apostilled Ukrainian documents where the route requires legalisation. Some visa routes instead ask for a police certificate from ACRO, which covers Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA for their own visa applications.

The FCDO Legalisation Office rejects documents that are not official UK public documents or lack a proper signature. A Ukrainian extract does not go to the FCDO directly; it needs an apostille from the Ukrainian side first. If a UK document is rejected, fix the signature or document type and resubmit.

The issuing authority sets the pace: the FCDO Legalisation Office for UK documents, and the Ukrainian apostille authority for Ukrainian ones. We prepare and route the paperwork so nothing bounces back for a missing signature or wrong document version.

Yes, in the sense that we help prepare documents for embassy attestation, certified translation and apostille applications. As a private company we cannot issue any document ourselves; we prepare and route paperwork to the authorities that can.

An apostille is a standard certificate under the Hague Convention that confirms the signature and seal on a public document so another member country accepts it. On UK documents only the FCDO can attach it, and it comes as a physical apostille stamp or as an e-Apostille.

Step by step

• 1 Check what your sponsor actually asks for. Read your Certificate of Sponsorship and the job description. If the role is in health, education or social care, expect a criminal record certificate requirement.

• 2 Confirm the country list rule. You need a certificate for every country where you lived 12 months or more in the last 10 years, from age 18, excluding the UK.

• 3 Apply for the Ukrainian extract online. Submit the request through vytiah.mvs.gov.ua by logging in with a qualified electronic signature. Paper certificates are not issued by MIA service centres.

• 4 Get a certified translation if needed. If the sponsor or visa route requires English, order a certified translation of the extract.

• 5 Legalise or apostille where required. Ukrainian documents for use abroad may need an apostille from the Ukrainian authority; UK documents get an apostille only from the FCDO Legalisation Office.

Helpful guides

Which UK documents can be apostilled: certificates, degrees, company and court papers, e-Apostille rules, FCDO rejections and embassy attestation explained.

Which countries accept a UK apostille, which require embassy attestation, and country-by-country guides for UK documents used abroad.

Apostille meaning explained for UK documents: what the FCDO certificate looks like, which documents qualify, e-Apostille and when embassy legalisation.

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