Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Armenia - Authorities, Sequence and Exemptions

Apostille and the treaty: how documents cross the Georgia-Armenia border

Armenia joined the Hague Apostille Convention in 1994 and Georgia in 2007, so a public document from either country is recognized in the other once apostilled by the issuing country's competent authority. In addition, the bilateral treaty on legal assistance provides that official documents bearing an official seal are accepted without legalization, and Georgian offices apply this to some Armenian civil status documents, court decisions and notarial acts in practice, particularly at the House of Justice and in court proceedings. The recognition center for diplomas, most banks and some Public Service Hall officers ask for an apostille regardless. Rather than argue the treaty with a clerk, we check what the specific receiving office has accepted recently and tell you before you spend money or time. Where an apostille is needed, it is a single stamp obtainable in a few days in either country.

Where Armenian documents get their apostille

Armenia has three apostille authorities. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles civil status certificates from the ՔԿԱԳ, police clearance certificates, and documents from most state bodies, and offers an electronic apostille service. The Ministry of Justice apostilles notarial acts and court documents. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports apostilles diplomas, annexes, school certificates and other education documents. Armenian citizens already in Georgia can obtain an apostille through a relative in Armenia, through a lawyer with a power of attorney, or for some documents through the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi, which forwards applications. Electronic apostilles with QR verification are increasingly common; we translate them including the verification block and Georgian offices can verify them online.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Armenia

Georgian documents going to Armenia are apostilled here, and this part we handle entirely. Civil status certificates and Public Service Hall extracts are apostilled through the Public Service Development Agency; notarial acts and court documents through the Ministry of Justice route; diplomas and school certificates through the education verification route, which is the slowest at up to five business days. You bring the original to Agmashenebeli 117 once, or a relative brings it, and we submit, track and collect the apostille, then translate the whole bundle into Armenian and notarize it. Clients in Yerevan receive the finished set by courier within one to two days. Armenian notaries and civil registries generally accept the Georgian apostilled and notarized bundle directly; where a notary in Armenia insists on local re-certification of the translation, a representative can arrange it using our text.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Armenia

• For Georgian residence permits: Armenian police clearance certificates (apostilled by the MFA), marriage and birth certificates, diplomas for work permits.
• For marriage in Georgia: Armenian no-impediment certificates and divorce certificates from the ՔԿԱԳ, where the House of Justice office asks for apostille.
• For diploma recognition in Georgia: Armenian diplomas and annexes, apostilled by the Ministry of Education.
• For company registration in Georgia: Armenian State Register extracts, charters and notarial powers of attorney, apostilled by the Ministry of Justice.
• For Armenia: Georgian birth certificates for children born in Tbilisi to Armenian parents, Georgian marriage certificates, Georgian court decisions on divorce and custody, Georgian diplomas for Armenian universities and employers, Georgian inheritance documents for Armenian notaries.
• For pensions: Georgian employment records and archive extracts for the Armenian pension system, and Armenian work records for Georgian pension purposes.

Children born in Georgia to Armenian parents, and mixed families

A child born in Tbilisi to Armenian citizens receives a Georgian birth certificate in Georgian. To register the child's Armenian citizenship and obtain an Armenian passport at the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi, the parents need that certificate translated into Armenian and notarized; the embassy accepts it under the treaty in most cases and an apostille is easily added if requested. We prepare the translated and notarized birth certificate within a day, and we can also translate the hospital discharge summary and vaccination record into Armenian. Mixed Georgian-Armenian families often need the same documents in both languages for both countries' registries, schools and clinics, and we deliver matched pairs with identical transliteration of every name so the family's records stay consistent for the child's whole life.

Checklist before you request an apostille

Before we submit anything, we check five things. First, whether the receiving office actually needs an apostille or will accept the document under the treaty. Second, that the document is an original or a properly certified duplicate, since apostilles are not placed on simple photocopies. Third, that the document is still valid for its purpose: Armenian police clearance certificates and Georgian marital status certificates have short validity windows and an apostille does not extend them. Fourth, that the name on the document matches your passport, including patronymics, which Armenian documents carry and Georgian and Latin forms often do not, and including the different transliterations of Armenian names in Russian, Latin and Georgian. Fifth, that any stamps, seals and reverse-side notes are legible, because the translation must include all of them. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run through this list in the first reply.

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