Driving License Translation - Notarized From a Photo for Georgia and Abroad

Foreign driving licenses in Georgia: driving, exchanging and being stopped

A visitor may drive in Georgia on a valid foreign license for a limited period, and a foreign license in Latin script is generally understood at a roadside check, but a license in Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, Thai or another script is not, and a notarized Georgian translation carried with the license avoids a long conversation with the patrol police. Foreign residents who stay longer exchange their license for a Georgian one at the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which requires the foreign license with a notarized Georgian translation, the passport translation, the residence permit and a medical certificate, and which exchanges licenses from many countries without a test and requires a theory or practical test for others; the Agency checks the categories, the dates of issue and expiry and the restrictions on the license against the translation, so the translation must carry every code and every date. Rental companies in Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi accept most foreign licenses but ask for a translation or an International Driving Permit when the license is not in Latin script, and insurers ask for a translated license when settling a claim after an accident involving a foreign driver.

Georgian driving licenses abroad: recognition, exchange and rentals

The Georgian driving license is a card in Georgian and Latin script that follows the European layout, and it is accepted for driving as a visitor in most countries for the period each country allows, usually six months to a year after taking up residence. Georgians who settle abroad exchange it for a local license where an exchange arrangement exists - a number of European and other countries exchange Georgian licenses on presentation of a translation and, in some cases, a medical certificate, while others require a test - and the exchange office almost always asks for a translation by a translator it recognizes, a notarized and apostilled translation from Georgia being accepted by many and re-certified locally by our partners where a country insists on its own sworn translators. Rental companies abroad and airport rental desks accept the Georgian license widely, but a translated copy or an International Driving Permit prevents refusals in countries where staff cannot read it, and foreign insurers ask for a translated license after an accident. We translate the license, its categories and codes and its dates into the target language, notarize and apostille the translation, and advise on whether the destination exchanges Georgian licenses or requires a test, based on what our language teams see.

Translation or International Driving Permit: which one you need

The International Driving Permit (IDP) is a booklet issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention that translates a national license into several languages and is meant to be carried with it; Georgia issues IDPs to holders of Georgian licenses through the Service Agency, and many countries issue them to their own drivers. An IDP is what a rental company or a traffic officer in a foreign country expects to see alongside an unfamiliar license, and it is the right document for driving as a tourist. A notarized translation is what an office expects when the license is being exchanged, registered or examined - the Service Agency in Georgia, an exchange office abroad, an insurer, a court, an employer hiring a professional driver - because an IDP is not a certified translation of the specific document and is not accepted for those purposes. Many clients need both: the IDP for the road and the translation for the paperwork. We produce the translation in 1-2 hours; the IDP for a Georgian license is obtained from the Service Agency, and we advise on the procedure.

What a driving license translation must contain

Driving licenses carry more coded information than any other personal document of their size: the license categories (A, B, C, D and their subcategories, which differ between the Vienna Convention layout and national systems), the dates of first issue and expiry for each category, restriction and information codes (corrective lenses, automatic transmission, professional driving qualifications), the issuing authority and the license number. An exchange office compares every one of these against its own rules, and a translation that summarizes the categories or omits a code is refused. We translate the license field by field and code by code, mirror the layout so that the officer can compare the two side by side, add a translator's note where a national category has no direct equivalent (the Georgian T and S categories, the American state endorsements, the old Soviet and post-Soviet categories on licenses still in circulation), and reproduce numbers and dates exactly, re-checked by a second reader.

Old licenses, paper licenses and professional drivers

Not every license is a current plastic card. Older Georgian licenses and licenses from other post-Soviet countries exist in paper and laminated formats with Russian text, which foreign exchange offices scrutinize; licenses from some countries are in a national script only, with no Latin transliteration of the holder's name; and paper counterparts, points records and driving history extracts are asked for by some exchange offices and employers. Professional drivers - truck and bus drivers going to work in the EU and Turkey, taxi and delivery drivers coming to Georgia - need their professional qualification cards, tachograph cards and driving history translated alongside the license, and employers in international transport ask for translated medical certificates and criminal record checks too. We translate all of these, keep the holder's name consistent with the passport, and produce the sets that transport employers and exchange offices expect.

Pricing, delivery and how to order

Driving license translations are priced at a fixed rate per license, whatever the language, plus the notary's fee, with a modest supplement for rare languages; the apostille on a translation going abroad is charged at the state fee plus handling, and an e-Notary certified PDF is available at the same price for online submissions.

To order, send a clear photo of both sides of the license on WhatsApp or Telegram, tell us the target language and whether the translation is for the Service Agency, an exchange office abroad, a rental company or an insurer, and the quote arrives within 15 minutes. The notarized translation is ready within 1-2 hours from the photo, with no visit and no original required, and is delivered as a scan the moment the notary signs, by collection at Agmashenebeli 117 near Marjanishvili Metro, by same-day courier in Tbilisi or by courier to any city or abroad.

Frequently asked questions

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