Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Denmark - One Office in Copenhagen, Sequence and Timing

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Denmark

Denmark joined the Hague Apostille Convention with effect from 2006 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. Denmark's diplomatic representation for Georgia does not legalize Georgian documents, and the Georgian embassy in Copenhagen does not legalize Danish ones; what the missions handle is passports, consular registration and, for Danish visas, the intake of applications through the Norwegian embassy or a visa application center under the Schengen representation arrangement. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are covered by Denmark's accession, and their documents are apostilled in Copenhagen.

Which Danish authority wants an apostille differs. The Familieretshuset requires apostilles on civil status documents for marriage and for registration of foreign marriages; Borgerservice requires them for CPR registration of family status; the Agency for Higher Education and the Patient Safety Authority require them on diplomas; courts require them on everything; SIRI generally does not require apostilles for work and study permits but does look for them on family reunification documents. Whether the translation itself must be apostilled is asked by the Familieretshuset for some countries and by courts; we apostille the notarized translation where the office asks. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and an apostille on the Danish original.

Where Danish documents get their apostille: the Udenrigsministeriet

Denmark has a single apostille authority: the legalization office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Udenrigsministeriets legaliseringskontor) in Copenhagen, which apostilles documents issued by Danish public authorities - vielsesattester from the municipalities, fødsels- og dåbsattester and personattester from the church registers and the CPR, straffeattester from politiet, eksamensbeviser from universities and schools, udskrifter from the CVR, documents from Skat, Udbetaling Danmark and the kommune, court documents, and documents notarized by a notarius publicus - in person, by post or through the online booking system, usually within a few days; documents from private bodies, including some translations and company documents, must first be notarized by a notarius publicus at the byret or certified by a chamber of commerce before the ministry apostilles them. Danish citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a fuldmagt, or by post to the ministry. We confirm the route for each document.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Denmark

Georgian documents going to Denmark are apostilled here, and this part we handle entirely. Civil status certificates and Public Service Hall extracts - the marital status certificate the Familieretshuset needs above all - 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; the conviction certificate through the Ministry of Internal Affairs route. 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 Danish or English and notarize it, and apostille the notarized translation where the receiving office asks. Couples applying to the Familieretshuset receive a digitally signed scan the same day the apostille is collected and the paper set by courier within two to three days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Denmark

• Marriage in Denmark: Georgian certificate of marital status, birth certificate, divorce decision or death certificate of a previous spouse.
• Registration of the Danish marriage in Georgia: the Danish vielsesattest.
• Udlændingestyrelsen family reunification and CPR registration: Georgian marriage and birth certificates.
• Agency for Higher Education and university enrollment: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates.
• Patient Safety Authority authorization: medical, dental and nursing diplomas, curricula, practice records, the Georgian conviction certificate.
• For Georgian residence permits: Danish straffeattest, CPR attester, vielsesattester, eksamensbeviser.
• For company registration in Georgia: Danish CVR udskrifter, vedtægter and fuldmagter.
• Succession and property: Georgian death and inheritance certificates for Danish skifteretten; Danish skifteretsattester and testamenter for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Danish files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority, where the receiving Danish office requires it.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Danish or English and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3 (where asked): the notarized translation is apostilled.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled as issued, scanned as one file for the Familieretshuset's and SIRI's online applications, and shipped where paper is needed.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated; a marital status certificate obtained too early expires before the wedding date. We confirm the sequence and the timing in the first reply based on the receiving office and the planned date.

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. Danish apostilles take a few days by post and are often same-day in person. The Familieretshuset expects the marital status certificate to be recent - its guidance refers to documents not older than a few months at the time of application - and its prøvelsesattest is valid for four months, so a wedding date is planned backwards from these windows; Georgian offices accept the straffeattest and conviction certificate for a limited period too. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a marital status certificate obtained too early or issued for the wrong purpose, a divorce decision without proof of finality, a Danish personattest of the wrong type, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, æ, ø and å transliterated inconsistently into Georgian, and a bundle unstapled for scanning. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run this check before submitting.

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