Skilled Worker visa

Which police certificate a Ukrainian applicant needs for a Skilled Worker visa, how the apostille works, and where people go wrong.

Apostilla UK is a private documentation-support company. Official information about the Ukrainian police certificate is published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and on gov.uk.

If you are applying for a Skilled Worker visa and your sponsor asks for a criminal record check from Ukraine, the document you need is the Ukrainian extract about absence of criminal record (vytiag pro nesudymist). It is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and the electronic version is available through the Diia service. The full picture of certificates, apostilles and translations sits in our Ukrainian police certificate hub.

Which certificate does the visa actually need?

There are two different documents people often mix up.

• Ukrainian extract about no criminal record: issued by the MIA of Ukraine, requested by the UK sponsor or mentioned in the Home Office guidance for applicants from overseas.

• ACRO Police Certificate: a UK police certificate issued by ACRO, needed for visa applications to a specific list of countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. For a Skilled Worker application by a Ukrainian national, the ACRO certificate is normally not the document in question.

The Home Office guidance on criminal records checks for overseas applicants (updated 31 January 2025) explains that the check is obtained to provide information to employers in the United Kingdom, and that the application is made in the country of origin or through the relevant embassy in the UK. Read that guidance before ordering anything.

How it works?

The process has two halves: getting the Ukrainian document, and making it usable in the UK.

First, the applicant submits a request through the MIA electronic service, logging in with a qualified electronic signature. Service centres of the MIA do not issue paper certificates, so the electronic route is the main one. The result is an extract confirming the absence (or presence) of a criminal record.

Second, the document needs an apostille so that a UK employer or caseworker can trust it. Here is the point where most confusion happens:

• A Ukrainian document is apostilled in Ukraine, by the Ukrainian authority designated under the Hague Convention.

• The UK Legalisation Office, part of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), only legalises UK-issued documents: court documents with a wet seal, public registry documents such as UK birth, marriage or death certificates and Companies House certificates, and government documents with an official signature.

• Documents issued outside the UK cannot be legalised through the UK service. That rule comes straight from the gov.uk guidance Get your document legalised.

If a sponsor also asks for a UK document, for example a UK marriage certificate or UK birth certificate, that document goes to the Legalisation Office for an apostille stamp. Other papers, such as a power of attorney or copies of a passport, can be legalised only if certified by a UK public official: a notary or a solicitor.

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How long it takes?

There is no honest single answer, and anyone promising one is guessing. The term depends on the queue at the issuing authority, on the format you choose and on whether the document needs a certified translation afterwards.

A realistic way to plan:

• Order the Ukrainian extract as early as your sponsor conversation allows.

• Add time for the apostille in Ukraine, which depends on the Ukrainian authority’s current workload.

• Add time for a certified translation if the sponsor needs English.

• Keep a buffer before your visa biometrics date, because a rejected or misapostilled document means starting a stage again.

Which countries accept an apostilled document?

An apostille works between countries that joined the Hague Apostille Convention. The UK and Ukraine are both parties, so an apostilled Ukrainian extract is accepted in the UK without further legalisation, and an apostilled UK certificate is accepted in Ukraine.

For countries outside the convention, an apostille is not enough: you go through embassy attestation instead, where the destination country’s consulate legalises the document in several steps.

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What happens if my document is rejected by the FCDO?

Rejection often means the document was never eligible for UK legalisation in the first place. Common reasons from gov.uk guidance:

• the document was issued outside the UK, so it must be legalised in its country of origin;

• it is a copy without certification by a UK notary or solicitor;

• it is a type that cannot get an e-Apostille. Notably, gov.uk lists ACRO police certificates and DBS certificates (England and Wales) as not eligible for the electronic apostille, which is issued for PDF files signed electronically by a UK notary or solicitor.

If your Ukrainian extract is refused by the UK office, the fix is not an appeal: it is getting the apostille from the Ukrainian authority. One more practical warning from gov.uk: return of legalised documents to Ukraine is currently not possible, so plan delivery addresses carefully before you post anything.

A typical scenario

Situation: a Ukrainian nurse receives a Certificate of Sponsorship and the employer asks for a police certificate from Ukraine.

Steps: she orders the extract through the MIA electronic service, waits for it to be issued, then gets an apostille on it in Ukraine, then orders a certified translation into English. She sends scans to the sponsor first and keeps the originals for the visa file.

Result: the sponsor is satisfied and the documents are ready.

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Step by step, in plain words

The sequence is short enough to write on a sticky note. Talk to the sponsor first, because everything else depends on which document they actually want. Then order the Ukrainian extract through the MIA electronic service, since paper certificates are not issued at service centres. Once the extract arrives, it goes for an apostille in Ukraine, and only after that, if English is needed, for a certified translation.

Before you send anything anywhere, check the paperwork itself. An apostille issued in the UK can be verified online by its issue date and number (per gov.uk’s apostille verification service). For a Ukrainian apostille, verification runs through the Ukrainian issuing authority instead. And if you need to chase the UK Legalisation Office directly, its published contact line is +44 20 4623 3100, listed in the HCCH register of competent authorities.

Where this fits in the wider picture

Everything above is one branch of a bigger topic. For the full set of certificates, the difference between a Ukrainian extract and UK checks, and how apostilles work for each, see the Ukrainian police certificate hub. It also covers how a Ukrainian certificate differs from a DBS check, which is a question sponsors ask surprisingly often.

Typical mistakes and how to avoid them

• Apostilling a Ukrainian document in the UK. The Legalisation Office will reject it; the apostille belongs to the country of issue.

• Ordering an ACRO certificate when the sponsor asked for the Ukrainian extract, or the reverse. One email to the sponsor settles it.

• Assuming e-apostille covers police certificates. For ACRO and DBS certificates it does not, per gov.uk.

• Leaving no buffer between the apostille and the visa date. Queues move, and a rejected document restarts a stage.

• Skipping the certified translation because the extract “looks understandable”. Sponsors and caseworkers normally ask for a certified English version.

• Posting originals without a delivery plan. Since return of legalised documents to Ukraine is currently not possible per gov.uk, think twice about where the document should end up before you post it.

See also

• British citizenship: Ukrainian police certificate requirements

• UK Family Visa: Ukrainian Police Certificate Requirements

• Health and Care Worker visa: Ukrainian police certificate requirements

• Homes for Ukraine: when you need a police certificate and how to get one

• Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR): Ukrainian 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

An apostille is a certificate placed on a public document under the Hague Convention. It confirms that the signature, stamp or seal on the document is genuine, so another convention country can accept it without further legalisation.

The issuing authority checks the document’s signatures and seals and attaches an apostille stamp or an electronic apostille. In the UK this is done by the Legalisation Office, part of the FCDO. A Ukrainian document gets its apostille from the Ukrainian authority.

It depends on the queue at the issuing authority and on whether the document is eligible for the electronic route. There is no single fixed term, so build spare time into your visa timeline.

Countries party to the Hague Apostille Convention accept an apostilled document directly. For countries outside the convention, embassy attestation is required instead.

The Legalisation Office refuses documents that do not meet its requirements, for example a foreign document submitted to the UK service, or a copy that is not certified by a UK notary or solicitor. You would then need to legalise the document in the country that issued it.

Apostilla UK is a private documentation-support company. We help prepare and check documents for apostille and translation, but we do not issue documents on behalf of any government.

No. According to gov.uk, e-apostille is not available for ACRO police certificates or DBS certificates for England and Wales, among other document types.

Step by step

1. Check what your sponsor actually asks for. Ask the employer or the caseworker which certificate they expect: a Ukrainian extract about no criminal record, an ACRO Police Certificate, or both.

2. Order the Ukrainian extract online. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine issues it through its electronic service; paper certificates are not issued by service centres.

3. Apostille the document in Ukraine. A Ukrainian document is apostilled in Ukraine, not by the UK Legalisation Office. The FCDO only legalises UK-issued documents.

4. Get a certified translation if needed. If the sponsor or a UK body needs English, order a certified translation of the apostilled extract.

5. Check the apostille details. UK-issued apostilles can be verified online by issue date and number; for Ukrainian apostilles, check through the Ukrainian issuing authority.

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 applies.

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