Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and the Czech Republic - Authorities, Sequence and Timing

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has been a Hague Apostille member since 1999 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 Czech Embassy in Tbilisi does not legalize Georgian documents and does not need to; nor does the Georgian embassy in Prague legalize Czech ones. What the embassies do handle is the registration of marriages, births and citizenship matters for their own citizens, which is separate from the apostille and presupposes apostilled originals.

Whether the translation must also be apostilled depends on the office. Czech offices that insist on a soudní překladatel do not need a foreign apostille on the translation, because the sworn translator's certification replaces it; offices that accept a legalized foreign translation want the Georgian notarized translation apostilled as well. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and do not care about Czech certification of it. We prepare whichever the destination requires.

Where Czech documents get their apostille for Georgia

The Czech Republic splits apostille authority by document type. The Ministry of Justice (international department) apostilles documents issued or certified by courts, notaries, executors and the Rejstřík trestů - so court decisions, notarial deeds, plné moci and the výpis z rejstříku trestů go there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (consular department) apostilles all other public documents - rodné and oddací listy from matriky, diplomas and vysvědčení from schools and universities, výpisy z obchodního rejstříku, potvrzení from the ČSSZ and health insurers, and documents from ministries and municipalities. Both ministries offer postal and in-person service, and Czech citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a plná moc, or in some cases through the Czech Embassy in Tbilisi. Documents from the Czech POINT network (výpis z rejstříku trestů, výpis z obchodního rejstříku) can be issued and apostilled in one flow.

Apostille on Georgian documents for the Czech Republic

Georgian documents going to the Czech Republic 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 Czech and notarize it. For offices requiring a soudní překladatel we forward the text for re-certification in the Czech Republic; for offices accepting a legalized translation we apostille the notarized translation as well. Clients in the Czech Republic receive the finished set by courier within two to three days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and the Czech Republic

• Employee card, Blue Card and qualified worker program: Georgian conviction certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, diplomas and supplements, marriage and birth certificates for accompanying family.
• Family reunification and marriage in the Czech Republic: Georgian rodný list, marital status certificate, divorce decisions.
• Nostrifikace and university admission: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results.
• For Georgian residence permits: Czech výpis z rejstříku trestů, rodné and oddací listy, diplomas.
• For company registration in Georgia: Czech výpisy z obchodního rejstříku, společenské smlouvy and plné moci.
• Succession and property: Georgian death certificates and inheritance certificates for Czech notáři, Czech usnesení o dědictví for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Czech files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Czech and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3a (offices accepting legalized translations): the notarized translation is itself apostilled in Georgia.
• Step 3b (offices requiring a soudní překladatel): the text is re-certified by a partner sworn translator in the Czech Republic.
• 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 sworn re-certification in the Czech Republic where required. Czech ministry apostilles typically take a few days by post. Czech matriky want civil status documents less than six months old, and the výpis z rejstříku trestů and the Georgian conviction certificate are generally accepted for a few months, so timing matters. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a výpis z rejstříku trestů sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of the Ministry of Justice, a marital status certificate obtained too early, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, Czech diacritics (č, ř, š, ž, ů) 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.

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