Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Belarus - Which Ministry, What a Relative Does in Minsk, Sequence and Timing

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Belarus

Belarus has been a Hague Apostille member since 1992 by succession and Georgia joined in 2007, so a public document from either country is recognized in the other once apostilled by the issuing country's competent authority. The Embassy of Belarus in Tbilisi and the Embassy of Georgia in Minsk do not legalize documents between the two countries. Georgia left the CIS legal assistance framework in 2009, so the Minsk Convention's exemption from legalization does not apply between Georgia and Belarus, and the apostille is required in both directions - a point Belarusian offices sometimes get wrong in the other direction, expecting a Georgian document without an apostille because Belarus applies the Convention with other CIS states.

Which Belarusian authority wants an apostille differs. ZAGS offices require apostilles on foreign civil status documents; the Ministry of Education's recognition body on diplomas; courts and notaries on everything. Georgian offices require an apostille on every Belarusian public document presented for a residence permit, marriage, company registration or court matter, and a Georgian notarized translation.

Where Belarusian documents get their apostille: three ministries

Belarus distributes apostille authority among three ministries according to the issuing body. The Ministry of Justice apostilles ZAGS certificates of birth, marriage, divorce and death, notarial documents (powers of attorney, consents, certified copies, notarized translations), court decisions and other documents of the justice system, at its central office in Minsk and through the regional justice departments. The Ministry of Education apostilles diplomas, transcripts, school certificates and other education documents, at its office in Minsk. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles documents from all other state bodies - the certificate of no criminal record from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Information Center, archive certificates, medical and pension documents, and certificates from the tax authorities - at its consular department in Minsk. Apostilles are usually issued within a few days on presentation of the original by the holder or by any person with the document (a power of attorney is generally not required for the apostille itself), which matters because most Belarusians in Georgia have a relative obtain both the document and the apostille. Belarus does not issue apostilles electronically. We confirm the ministry and the route for each document.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Belarus

Georgian documents going to Belarus are apostilled here, and this part we handle entirely. Civil status certificates - most often the Georgian birth certificates of children born to Belarusian parents and Georgian marriage 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 through the education verification route, which is the slowest at up to five business days; the Georgian conviction certificate through the Ministry of Internal Affairs route. You bring the original to Agmashenebeli 117 once, and we submit, track and collect the apostille, then translate the bundle into Russian or Belarusian and notarize it, and apostille the notarized translation where the receiving Belarusian office asks. The finished set is carried by a travelling relative or friend or shipped by courier.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Belarus

• Georgian residence permits: Belarusian certificates of no criminal record (MFA apostille), ZAGS birth and marriage certificates (Ministry of Justice apostille), diplomas (Ministry of Education apostille).
• Marriage at the House of Justice: Belarusian certificates of marital status or divorce certificates.
• Children born in Georgia: Georgian birth certificates for Belarusian ZAGS registration and for the child's Belarusian citizenship documents.
• Company registration in Georgia: extracts from the Belarusian Unified State Register, charters and powers of attorney of Belarusian companies opening Georgian entities.
• Employment and recognition: Belarusian diplomas and employment records for Georgian employers and work permits; Georgian diplomas for Belarusian recognition.
• Property and succession in Belarus: Georgian death certificates, inheritance documents and, within the 2023 limits, powers of attorney; Belarusian inheritance certificates for Georgian notaries.
• Divorce and family matters: Georgian and Belarusian divorce decisions, child support and custody documents.

The sequence for Belarusian files

• Step 1: the original is apostilled by the competent authority in the issuing country - a relative at the right ministry in Minsk for Belarusian documents, or us for Georgian ones.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille and the translation is notarized in Tbilisi.
• Step 3 (where asked): the notarized translation of a Georgian document is apostilled for a Belarusian office.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled as issued, scanned as one file for online submissions, and carried or shipped where paper is needed.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated; a diploma taken to the Ministry of Justice or a criminal record certificate taken to the Ministry of Education is refused. We tell the relative in Belarus which office before they go.

Timing, validity and common errors

Apostilles on Georgian civil status documents usually take one to three business days; education documents up to five. Belarusian apostilles usually take a few days at the ministry, plus the time for the underlying document - the certificate of no criminal record from the Information Center takes up to a couple of weeks, and ZAGS re-issues of certificates a few days. Add 1-2 hours for the translation on arrival. The Public Service Development Agency accepts the certificate of no criminal record for a limited period, so it should be obtained and apostilled last. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a document apostilled by the wrong ministry, a certificate of no criminal record that expired while the courier was slow, a Belarusian document in a name whose Latin form on the passport (Belarusian-based) differs from the Russian form on the document without a note, a power of attorney notarized in Georgia for a transaction Belarus no longer accepts from abroad, and a bundle unstapled for scanning. Send photos of both sides of every page and every stamp and we run this check before submitting.

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