An apostille on a Cyprus document comes from one place: the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, which is the Central Authority under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. You can get one at the Ministry's apostille desk in Nicosia or at its office in the Limassol District Office building, and the fee is €5 per apostille, paid in revenue stamps fixed to the certificate. Going the other way, a UK document heading to Cyprus is apostilled by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in the UK, and the Cypriot authorities need nothing more from the High Commission.
That is the short version. The longer one matters because the Ministry will only apostille certain kinds of document, and anything signed by a private person has to pass through two other officials before it gets there.
What an apostille actually certifies
Cyprus joined the Hague Convention through Law 50/72, later amended by Law 91/72. An apostille is a standard certificate attached to a public document. It confirms three things: that the signature on the document is genuine, the capacity of the person who signed it, and the identity of any seal or stamp. It says nothing about whether the content is true or whether the document will be accepted for your purpose abroad. That decision belongs to the authority receiving it.
It only works between countries that have signed the Convention. The UK and every EU member state have, so for most readers of this site the apostille is the whole process. For a country outside the Convention, you need full consular legalisation through that country's embassy instead.
Which Cyprus documents can be apostilled
The Ministry's published guidance is that an apostille can go on public documents only. In practice that means:
- civil status certificates issued by the Republic, such as birth, marriage and death certificates
- court documents, including judgments and papers from court registries
- administrative documents from government departments, such as a certificate from the Registrar of Companies
- official certifications placed on private documents, such as a certified signature
Original birth, death and marriage certificates and court documents are apostilled directly, with no step in between. Copies are another matter. The Ministry will only apostille a copy if it is a certified true copy produced by the department that issued the original. Following advice from the Attorney General, you cannot photocopy your own certificate and have it apostilled.
There is one practical workaround for company papers. The Ministry accepts an affidavit sworn before a court, in which you state under oath that the attached photocopies of company certificates and articles are copies of those filed with the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver. The apostille then goes on the affidavit. The same route is used for certificates of foreign companies whose directors sign in Cyprus.
The Convention does not cover documents issued by diplomatic or consular officers, or administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.
Private documents: wills, contracts and powers of attorney
Here Cyprus differs sharply from the UK. Cyprus has no notaries. The Ministry says so in its own guidance, and it changes how a privately signed document becomes something that can be apostilled.
Instead of a notary, your signature is witnessed by a certifying officer, appointed by the Minister of Interior. They need not be lawyers, though many advocates hold the appointment. The officer must see you sign and must know who you are, so bring the unsigned document and your passport. The full chain for a power of attorney, a sale agreement or a will signed in Cyprus for use abroad looks like this:
- 1You sign the document in front of a certifying officer, who certifies your signature.
- 2The District Administration Office for the district where that certifying officer works certifies the certifying officer's signature.
- 3The Ministry of Justice and Public Order apostilles the District Officer's signature.
Each step certifies only the signature above it. None of the three checks the substance of what you signed. If the document is in a language the Ministry's staff cannot read, they will want either a translation or an affidavit (or the lawyer presenting it stating in writing) what kind of document it is, so they can tell whether it qualifies at all.
If you are granting someone authority to act for you over Cyprus property or a bank account, our guide to powers of attorney in Cyprus covers what the document itself should say.
Where to go, and when
The Ministry runs two apostille counters, both open Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 14:30:
- Nicosia, at the Ministry building on Athalassas Avenue in Strovolos. Queue numbers stop at 14:00 so staff can clear the people already waiting.
- Limassol, on the first floor of the Limassol District Office in Spyrou Araouzou. The counter serves the public until 13:30; documents can be left in a box at the department for processing.
The Ministry has also arranged for the apostille service to be offered through Citizen Service Centres across the island, and its archive is now digitised, so the certificate is completed and registered electronically. If you live in Paphos or Larnaca, check with your nearest Centre before driving to Nicosia. The Ministry publishes no standard turnaround time, so leave slack before any deadline abroad.
The €5 fee is per apostille, which in practice means per document. Five birth certificates, five apostilles, €25.
UK documents going to Cyprus
For a UK birth certificate, a degree certificate, an ACRO police certificate or a UK power of attorney that you need to use in Cyprus, the apostille comes from the FCDO Legalisation Office. As of October 2026, gov.uk lists these fees:
| Service | Fee | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Standard paper apostille | £45 per document | up to 25 working days |
| e-Apostille | £35 per document | up to 2 working days |
| Next-day paper service (registered businesses only) | £40 per document | next working day |
Some documents must be certified by a UK solicitor or notary before the FCDO will touch them, including powers of attorney, contracts, qualification certificates and copies of passports or driving licences. Budget for that fee on top.
Brexit removed one shortcut. Between EU member states, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 exempts many public documents, such as birth and marriage certificates, from the apostille requirement altogether. The UK left that system when the transition period ended, so British documents still need an apostille, even where a French or German equivalent would not.
The Cyprus High Commission in London states that an apostilled UK document needs no further legalisation for use in Cyprus. Separately, it certifies signatures on documents for Cypriot authorities for £9 per signature, which can be an alternative to a notary for something like a simple authorisation. Ask the receiving department which they prefer before paying for both.
If you are assembling papers for a residence permit or citizenship application, apostilles are usually only half the job. See our guides to citizenship by descent and moving to Cyprus from the UK for the document lists.
Translations
Government departments in Cyprus work in Greek, and many accept English. Anything in another language, and sometimes English documents too, will need a certified translation. Since 1 July 2019 these have been governed by the Registration and Regulation of Sworn Translator Services Law, 45(I)/2019. Official translations into or out of Greek are done by sworn translators listed in the register kept by the Council of Sworn Translators, which is published in the Official Gazette and on the Press and Information Office website. The Press and Information Office no longer certifies translations itself, which still catches out people working from older guides.
Order matters. Get the apostille on the original first, then have the document and its apostille translated together, so the receiving office can read both. Translators set their own prices, so ask for a quote per page before sending a stack.
Where people go wrong
- Bringing a photocopy of a Cyprus certificate, however clean, rather than a certified copy from the issuing department.
- Having a private document witnessed by someone who is not a certifying officer, which leaves the District Office nothing it can certify.
- Apostilling a UK document with a date the Cypriot authority considers too old. Criminal record certificates in particular are often expected to be recent; check the receiving department's rule before ordering.
- Assuming a Cypriot apostille means the document will be accepted abroad. It proves the signature is genuine; whether the foreign authority accepts the document is up to them.
Need documents certified or apostilled for a Cyprus matter? A lawyer who is also a certifying officer can witness signatures and run the District Office and Ministry steps for you. Find one in our directory, or browse lawyers in Nicosia and Limassol, close to the two apostille counters.