Document Translation and Notarisation in Georgia

Almost any official procedure in Georgia — marriage, residence, banking, study, a deal — requires a foreign document translated into Georgian and notarised. Often you also need an apostille or legalisation from the country of issue. Here's what to do, and in what order, so it's accepted the first time.

When you need a certified translation

A plain translation isn't enough for a government office or bank: they accept a translation whose translator's signature a Georgian notary has certified. You'll need it for marriage (passport), a residence permit, some bank cases, diploma recognition, powers of attorney and property deals.

Apostille or legalisation

This is where people lose the most time, so let's be precise.

• If your country and Georgia are in the Hague Convention, a document (birth certificate, police clearance, diploma) is certified with an apostille in the country of issue — that's enough.
• If not, you need consular legalisation, a longer chain.

Documents translated most often

Passport (for marriage and residence), birth/marriage/divorce certificates, police clearance, diplomas, income statements, powers of attorney, driving licence, property papers. For marriage the key one is the passport — the procedure is in how to get married in Georgia.

Packages by procedure

• Marriage. Both partners' passports with notarised translation; sometimes a certificate of no impediment from your country, with apostille. See the interpreter and support service for the ceremony.
• Residence. Passport with translation, proof of grounds, proof of income — full order in the residence permit guide.
• Bank and business. Passport, sometimes proof of address and income; for a company, founding documents translated. See opening an account and company registration.

Validity of certificates

Many documents have a "shelf life", and it breaks plans more often than you'd think. Police clearance and civil-status certificates are usually accepted only within a limited window from their issue date, so ordering them "for the future" is pointless — by submission they may expire. An apostille goes on a fresh certificate, not last year's. The logic: first confirm the required validity for your procedure, then order the certificate and apostille, and only then travel and translate.

Diploma recognition and powers of attorney

To work in your profession or to enrol, a diploma is translated and notarised, and for a number of regulated professions there's a separate qualification-recognition procedure — not the same as translation, and it takes longer, so start it early. A power of attorney issued abroad also needs translation and often an apostille; while a POA drawn up in Georgia for use abroad is made by a local notary, with the apostille added at the Public Service Hall. Precision of wording matters most here: a POA with a vague or mistranslated scope of powers simply won't work at the moment you need it, and by then you may be out of the country. If a document will be used in a third country, confirm that country's requirements too — Georgia's notarisation plus an apostille is the common chain, but the destination sets the rules.

Sworn or notarised translation

A frequent question from those used to the European system: do you need a "sworn translator"? Georgia doesn't use the sworn-translator institution in the familiar form — legal force comes not from the translator's status but from notarisation of their signature. So don't look for a "certified sworn translator"; look for a bureau that works with a notary and hands over a finished notarised translation. The same rule removes confusion: a translation notarised by a foreign notary won't do here.

Check the translation before you submit

Before taking a translation to an office, spend five minutes checking it — cheaper than a lost visit. Confirm the essentials: the name matches the passport letter for letter; all dates, document numbers and series are carried over without typos; the required scope is translated, not "half"; there's a notary mark and signature. Look separately at place names and organisation names — they're often translated inconsistently across papers. If anything looks off, fix it before submitting: redoing a translation is cheaper than paying the fee again and waiting for a new slot.

Where and how fast

Translation offices sit near the Public Service Hall and often arrange notarisation themselves. A simple document is translated and notarised within a day, sometimes an hour; a deal package takes longer. When choosing a bureau, look beyond price — it's better if it works with a notary on site and takes on the whole "translate plus notarise" path.

The order of steps

1. Check whether you need an apostille/legalisation — if so, do it at home before flying.
2. Bring the original to the office.
3. Translate into Georgian.
4. Notarise the translator's signature.
5. Submit to the relevant body.

Common mistakes

• Arriving without an apostille (you can't get one here on a foreign document);
• notarising with a non-Georgian notary;
• translating only part of the passport;
• name spelling that differs across documents.