Apostille and Legalization of Documents Between Georgia and the Arab World - Country by Country

Hague members: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia

Saudi Arabia acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention in December 2022, joining Oman, Bahrain, Morocco and Tunisia, and Georgia has been a member since 2007. A Georgian public document for any of these countries - birth, marriage or death certificate, marital status certificate, conviction certificate, diploma, court decision, notarial act, Public Registry extract - is recognized once it carries a Georgian apostille, with no embassy step; we obtain it through the Public Service Development Agency, the Ministry of Justice route or the education verification route depending on the document, translate the bundle into Arabic and notarize it. Documents from these countries for use in Georgia carry their own apostille: from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Omani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Moroccan Ministry of Justice or Foreign Affairs depending on the document, and the Tunisian Ministry of Justice or Foreign Affairs. Saudi documents must first be attested by the issuing ministry (Education, Justice, Health) before the apostille, a carry-over from the old system that still applies.

Consular legalization for the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait

The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait are not Hague members. A Georgian document for these countries is translated into Arabic and notarized here, certified by the Consular Department of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then legalized by the country's embassy accredited to Georgia; the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi handles UAE legalization directly, while Qatar and Kuwait are served by embassies accredited from neighboring capitals, which we reach through partners. Documents from these countries for use in Georgia are attested by the home Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFAIC in the UAE, MOFA in Qatar and Kuwait) after any required ministry attestation, then legalized by the Georgian mission accredited to that country - Georgia has an embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai, and accreditation for Qatar and Kuwait from the region - and finally translated and notarized in Tbilisi. UAE documents are frequently attested electronically through MOFAIC's online service, and we translate the electronic attestation including its verification data.

Consular legalization for Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine

Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine use the consular chain with an additional first step: documents must be attested by the relevant home ministry before the foreign ministry. Egyptian school certificates and university degrees go through the Ministry of Education or the Supreme Council of Universities, police clearances through the Ministry of Interior, and civil status documents through the Civil Registry, before the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs attests them and the Georgian mission accredited to Egypt legalizes them. Jordanian documents follow the same pattern through the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Iraqi documents through their ministries and the Iraqi MFA, with the Georgian mission accredited from the region. Georgian documents for these countries are translated, notarized, certified by the Georgian MFA and legalized by the Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese or Iraqi embassy accredited to Georgia. Egypt and Iraq are the largest sources of Arab students in Georgia, so these chains are our most frequent.

Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Algeria and difficult routes

Documents from Syria, Yemen, Libya, Sudan and Algeria follow the consular chain in principle, but the practical route depends on which ministries and missions are functioning and which Georgian mission is accredited. Syrian students and families in Georgia, in particular, often hold documents that cannot be attested through the normal chain, and Georgian offices have in some cases accepted alternative verification or documents attested through Syrian embassies in third countries; we advise on what is currently practicable for each document and office rather than promising a standard procedure. Algerian documents are legalized by the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Georgian mission accredited to Algeria. Where a route is genuinely closed, we say so.

Documents most often apostilled or legalized between Georgia and Arab countries

• Students: secondary school certificates with ministry attestation, university degrees and transcripts, police clearance certificates for the student residence permit.
• Gulf property and investment: powers of attorney from home for Georgian notaries, police clearances and proof of funds for investment residence permits, Georgian property extracts for the buyer's home records.
• Family: marriage certificates for spouse residence permits and marriage in Georgia, birth certificates for children, marital status certificates.
• Business: commercial registrations and articles of association for company registration in Georgia, Georgian company extracts for Gulf banks and partners.
• For Arab countries: Georgian university diplomas of Arab graduates for home ministries of higher education and medical councils, Georgian marriage certificates for registration at home, birth certificates of children born in Georgia for citizenship and passports, Georgian court decisions and property documents.

Timing, validity and common errors

A Georgian apostille takes one to five business days depending on the document; the consular chain for Georgian documents through the Georgian MFA and an embassy in Tbilisi takes one to two weeks, and through an embassy accredited from abroad two to four weeks. Attestation of Arab documents at home takes a few days to two weeks, plus the Georgian mission's legalization. Translation is 1-2 hours and is started from a scan while the chain runs. Police clearances and marital status certificates have short validity windows, so time them to arrive legalized close to the application date. The errors we correct most often are an Egyptian or Jordanian certificate sent to the foreign ministry without the prior ministry attestation, a Saudi document sent for apostille without the issuing ministry's attestation, legalization on a photocopy rather than the original, a name in one Latin spelling on the passport and another on the certificate, a Hijri date converted incorrectly, and a bundle unstapled for scanning, which offices on both sides treat as invalid. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run this check before anything is submitted.

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