Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Bulgaria - Four Authorities, One Sequence

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Bulgaria

Bulgaria has been a Hague Apostille member since 2001 and Georgia since 2007, so a public document from either country is recognized in the other once apostilled by the issuing country's competent authority. The Bulgarian Embassy in Tbilisi does not legalize Georgian documents and does not need to; nor does the Georgian embassy in Sofia legalize Bulgarian ones. What the embassies handle is the registration of their citizens' marriages and births abroad and consular certificates, which is separate from the apostille and presupposes apostilled originals.

Whether the translation must also be apostilled depends on the office. Bulgarian offices that require certification by a Bulgarian-registered translator and notary do not need a foreign apostille on the translation; offices that accept a legalized foreign translation, including the embassy for visa files, want the Georgian notarized translation apostilled as well. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and do not care about Bulgarian certification of it. We prepare whichever the destination requires.

Where Bulgarian documents get their apostille for Georgia

Bulgaria splits apostille authority four ways. The Ministry of Justice apostilles documents issued by courts and notaries and the свидетелство за съдимост. The Ministry of Education and Science apostilles diplomas, дипломи за средно образование, академични справки and other education documents. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs apostilles documents from central government bodies and agencies, including удостоверения за актуално състояние from the Registry Agency and documents from the NOI and NAP. The областни администрации (regional administrations) apostille documents issued by municipalities, including удостоверения за раждане, за граждански брак and за семейно положение from the ГРАО. Most of these offer electronic application and some issue electronic apostilles verifiable online, which we translate including the verification data. Bulgarian citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a пълномощно, or online where available.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Bulgaria

Georgian documents going to Bulgaria 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 bundle into Bulgarian and notarize it. For the embassy and offices accepting legalized translations we apostille the notarized translation as well; for offices requiring Bulgarian certification we forward the text to a partner registered translator in Sofia. Clients in Bulgaria receive the finished set by courier within two to three days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Bulgaria

• Single permit, Blue Card and seasonal work: Georgian conviction certificate, diplomas and supplements, marriage and birth certificates for accompanying family.
• Family reunification and marriage in Bulgaria: Georgian birth certificate, marital status certificate, divorce decisions.
• NACID recognition and university admission: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results.
• For Georgian residence permits: Bulgarian свидетелство за съдимост, удостоверения за раждане and за брак, diplomas.
• For company registration in Georgia: Bulgarian удостоверения за актуално състояние, учредителни актове and пълномощни.
• Transport and trade: company and licensing documents for carriers and freight forwarders on the Black Sea corridor.
• Succession and property: Georgian death certificates and inheritance certificates for Bulgarian notaries, Bulgarian удостоверения за наследници for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Bulgarian files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Bulgarian and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3a (embassy and offices accepting legalized translations): the notarized translation is itself apostilled in Georgia.
• Step 3b (offices requiring Bulgarian certification): the text is certified by a partner registered translator before a Bulgarian notary.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled as issued, scanned as one file for online submissions, and shipped.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated and the file is returned; choosing step 3a for an office that requires 3b wastes a state fee and a week. We confirm the sequence in the first reply based on the receiving office.

Timing, validity and common errors

Apostilles on Georgian civil status documents usually take one to three business days; notarial acts and court documents about the same; education documents up to five. Add 1-2 hours for the translation, a day or two if the notarized translation must also be apostilled, and a few days for Bulgarian certification where required. Bulgarian ministry and regional apostilles typically take a few days. Bulgarian общини want civil status documents less than six months old, and the свидетелство за съдимост and the Georgian conviction certificate are generally accepted for six months, so timing matters. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a diploma sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of the Ministry of Education, a civil status certificate sent to a ministry instead of the областна администрация, a marital status certificate obtained too early, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, Bulgarian Cyrillic names transliterated inconsistently into Georgian, and a bundle unstapled for scanning, which both countries' offices treat as invalid. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run this check before submitting.

Bulgarian translation - frequently asked questions

More Bulgarian translation services