Apostille in Cyprus: where to get one and what it costs

An apostille is a stamp that makes a Cypriot document valid abroad. Without it, the country you are sending it to has no way to know your birth certificate or diploma is genuine, and will usually refuse it.

This explains which documents need one, where to go, and what happens if you are not in Nicosia — which is most people.

What an apostille actually is

It certifies that a signature, seal or stamp on a public document is authentic. It does not say anything about the content — an apostille on a diploma confirms the registrar's signature is real, not that you attended the course.

It exists because of the Hague Apostille Convention. Between member countries, one stamp replaces the old chain of consular legalisation.

If the destination country is not a Hague member, an apostille is not enough. Those documents need consular legalisation through that country's embassy instead — a longer process, and worth checking before you start.

Which documents can be apostilled

Public documents issued in Cyprus:

• Civil status — birth, marriage, death certificates
• Educational — diplomas, transcripts, school certificates
• Criminal record certificates
• Court documents — judgments, orders
• Notarial acts — powers of attorney, affidavits, certified copies
• Company documents — certificates of incorporation, directors, good standing

Private documents cannot be apostilled directly. A contract, a letter or a translation has to be notarised or certified first, which turns the notary's signature into the thing being apostilled.

Where to submit

The competent authority is the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, at 125 Athalassas Avenue, Nicosia. Open Monday to Friday, mornings until early afternoon.

You do not have to go there in person. Documents are also accepted at:

• Citizen Service Centres (KEP) across the island, including Larnaca, which forward them to the Ministry
• District courts, for court-issued documents

A KEP is usually the sensible route if you are outside Nicosia: you hand the document in locally and it travels for you.

What it costs

There are two separate costs, and it helps to keep them apart.

1. A €5 stamp duty per document — and you buy it beforehand.

This is the detail that sends people home empty-handed, so read it twice: the €5 is not a fee you pay at the Ministry counter. It is a stamp duty (χαρτόσημο) that you buy at a post office and bring with you, already in hand, when you submit the document.

• Any post office sells it
• It is per document, not per visit — ten documents means ten stamps
• Turn up without the stamps and you cannot file, however far you have travelled

Stamp duty on documents was abolished on 1 January 2026 — this stamp was not. The abolition covers the general duty on documents, which is why an employment contract is no longer stamped. The apostille stamp is a separate charge and is still required.

That €5 is the figure Cyprus publishes in the Hague Conference's own overview of apostille fees. Amounts are set by the authority and can be revised, so we confirm the current position before submitting rather than working from a figure in an article. Where urgent handling is available it costs more.

2. Our fee, if you use us. This is separate from the stamp duty and it is not a mark-up on it. It covers the work: collecting your documents, arranging certified translation where needed, travelling to Nicosia, submitting, waiting, collecting and returning the documents to you. Urgent turnaround is charged at a higher rate — usually around double — because it means dropping other work and making the trip on your timetable rather than ours.

The fee is quoted before we start, so you know the total in advance, and you are free to do it yourself — buy the stamps, drive to Nicosia, queue — if the trip and the wait suit you. What you are paying us for is not the stamp.

Out-of-pocket costs are passed on at cost — government fees, express surcharges, translation charges, courier. For these we may ask for payment in advance before submitting, because they are paid out to third parties on your behalf rather than invoiced to us later.

Anyone quoting you a single all-in number without seeing your documents is guessing. The number depends on how many documents you have, whether they need translating, whether the destination country requires the translation apostilled too, and whether you need it this week.

How long it takes

Straightforward documents are often processed the same or the next working day when submitted directly to the Ministry.

Going through a KEP adds the time the document spends in transit each way, typically a few days. If a translation is needed first, that adds its own step, because the translation usually has to be certified before it can be apostilled.

If you are in Larnaca, Limassol or Paphos

This is the part people trip over: the Ministry is in Nicosia, open on weekday mornings — awkward if you work, and a round trip of hours from most of the island.

Your options:

1. Use your local KEP. Slower, but no travel.
2. Go to Nicosia yourself. Fastest, if you can take the morning off.
3. Have someone do it for you. With the right authorisation, another person can submit and collect on your behalf. That is what we do — including the translation beforehand, where one is needed.

Common mistakes

Arriving without the stamp duty. The €5 per document is bought at a post office beforehand and brought with you. It is not sold at the Ministry counter, and without it the document cannot be filed.

Getting the apostille before the translation. If the destination country needs a translation, the order matters and depends on that country's rules. Ask before you start, or you pay twice.

Assuming an apostille is always enough. For non-Hague countries you need consular legalisation instead.

Apostilling the wrong copy. Some authorities require a recently issued original, not a photocopy — even a certified one. An old certificate from a drawer may be rejected.

Leaving it to the last week. Same-day is often possible directly at the Ministry, but not guaranteed, and a KEP submission plus a translation can run into a couple of weeks.

Getting it done

If you need documents apostilled and you are not in Nicosia — or you simply do not want to spend a morning on it — we handle the whole process: translation where needed, submission, collection, and delivery back to you anywhere in Cyprus.

Send us a list of the documents and the country they are going to, and we will come back with the fee for the work and the expected out-of-pocket costs, so you can decide before anything is committed.

Before you set off: the document checklist has a tick-list for an apostille — what to bring, what needs an apostille, what needs a sworn translation, and what it costs.