Since 2022, more than four million Ukrainians have received temporary protection in the European Union. Spain alone has welcomed well over 200,000 of them, many settling in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and along the Mediterranean coast. Behind each arrival is a stack of paperwork: birth certificates, diplomas, work records, medical files, driving licences.
Sooner or later, almost all of it needs to be translated. Schools, employers, hospitals and public offices need to understand these documents, and many of them expect a professional translation rather than a quick summary from a friend.
Which language to translate into
The first question sounds obvious but often is not. Should a Ukrainian diploma be translated into Spanish, English or another language? It depends on who will read it.
Spanish authorities generally require Spanish, often a sworn translation by a traductor jurado. International employers, universities running English-taught programmes and many NGOs prefer English. A ukrainian english translation can also serve as a bridge when a document will be used in several countries, for example by someone who expects to move again for work.
Names and transliteration
Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, and names can be written in Latin letters in different ways. Oleksandr, Olexandr and Aleksandr may all refer to the same person. Kyiv was long spelled Kiev in many Western documents.
The safest approach is to follow the spelling in the international passport. Translators should apply it consistently across every document for the same person. When a birth certificate, a diploma and a bank statement show three different spellings, authorities may ask for additional proof of identity, and the process slows down.
Bilingual and older records
Many Ukrainian documents issued before the 1990s, and some issued later, are partly or entirely in Russian. Others are bilingual. Handwritten entries, faded stamps and old Soviet-era formats are common. An experienced translator recognises these features, translates both languages where needed and notes any illegible parts rather than guessing.
Certification rules differ by country
Every country has its own idea of what an official translation looks like. Spain relies on sworn translators appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Germany uses court-authorised translators. France works with translators registered at a court of appeal. The United Kingdom usually accepts a signed statement from a qualified translator or agency.
Families who move between these systems quickly discover that a translation accepted in one country may not work in another. A Ukrainian nurse moving from Spain to Belgium or Quebec, for example, may need certified french translation services for her qualifications, even though she already has Spanish versions.
Apostille and legalisation
Ukraine is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. Many public documents can therefore be apostilled for use abroad. Because of the war, access to Ukrainian offices has sometimes been difficult, and several EU countries have temporarily relaxed their requirements for people under temporary protection.
Rules change, so it is always worth checking the current position with the receiving authority before ordering translations.
How organisations can cope with volume
Municipalities, universities, hospitals and NGOs have faced a sudden surge in multilingual paperwork. Translating each file by email with a different freelancer quickly becomes chaotic. Deadlines slip, files get lost, and the same standard phrases are paid for again and again.
Larger organisations increasingly rely on an ai powered translation management system to organise this work. Such platforms route documents to the right linguists, reuse previously approved translations of standard phrases and keep an audit trail, while human translators remain responsible for accuracy and certification.
Healthcare and education
Two areas deserve special attention. In healthcare, vaccination records, prescriptions and medical histories must be understood correctly to ensure continuity of care. Mistakes in dosage or diagnosis can have real consequences.
In education, school reports and university transcripts determine which class a child joins or whether a student can continue their degree. Grading systems differ, and a good translator explains the original scale rather than converting grades without context.
A checklist for families
- Keep digital scans of every document, front and back.
- Note the passport spelling of every family member's name.
- Ask each authority which language and type of translation it accepts.
- Check whether an apostille is required or currently waived.
- Store original translations safely, as some offices want paper copies.
About the language
Ukrainian is an East Slavic language spoken by around 40 million people, with its own literary tradition stretching back centuries. As the overview of the Ukrainian language on Wikipedia explains, it shares features with Russian and Belarusian but differs clearly in vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar. Treating it as a variant of Russian is both inaccurate and, for many Ukrainians today, deeply unwelcome.
Looking ahead
For many Ukrainians, life in Spain and elsewhere in Europe is no longer temporary. They are building careers, enrolling children in school and starting businesses. Clear, correct translations of their documents are a small but important part of making that new chapter possible, and of making sure their skills and qualifications are fully recognised.