Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Japan - Public Documents, Private Documents and the One-Stop Notary

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Japan

Japan has been a Hague Apostille member since 1970 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 Japanese Embassy in Tbilisi does not legalize Georgian documents and does not need to; nor does the Georgian embassy in Tokyo legalize Japanese ones. What the embassies handle is visas, the 婚姻届 and 出生届 of Japanese citizens' marriages and births abroad, the 婚姻要件具備証明書 for Japanese citizens marrying in Georgia, and consular certificates, which is separate from the apostille and presupposes apostilled originals where required.

Whether the translation must also be apostilled is not usually the question in Japan; Japanese offices look at whether the translation is certified by a named translator. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and an apostille on the Japanese original. We prepare whichever the destination requires.

Where Japanese documents get their apostille: public versus private

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外務省, at its Tokyo and Osaka offices, in person or by post) apostilles documents issued by Japanese public institutions directly: 戸籍謄本, 住民票, 印鑑証明書 and 婚姻要件具備証明書 from city halls and the Legal Affairs Bureau, 犯罪経歴証明書 from prefectural police, 登記事項証明書 from the Legal Affairs Bureau, diplomas and transcripts from national and public universities, and documents from ministries and courts. Documents from private institutions or individuals - private university diplomas (Waseda, Keio, Sophia and most Japanese universities are private), 委任状 (powers of attorney), 定款 and board resolutions, employment certificates, translations - cannot be apostilled directly: they are first notarized at a 公証役場 (the notary certifies the signature or the declaration that a copy is true), then certified by the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局) that supervises the notary, and then apostilled by MOFA. Notary offices in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Aichi, Osaka, Hokkaido, Miyagi, Fukuoka and several other prefectures offer a one-stop service (ワンストップサービス) that completes all three steps at once. Japanese citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a 行政書士 or by post to MOFA.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Japan

Georgian documents going to Japan 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 Japanese with our certification; where a Japanese court or notary specifically requires notarization of the translation in Japan, we forward the text to a partner. Clients in Japan receive the finished set by DHL or EMS within three to five days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Japan

• Japanese visas and the Certificate of Eligibility: Georgian diplomas and transcripts, marriage and birth certificates for spouse visas, the Georgian conviction certificate where the sponsor's 行政書士 asks for it.
• Marriage registration in Japan: Georgian marriage certificate for the 婚姻届 at the city hall or embassy, Georgian birth certificate and marital status certificate for marriage in Japan.
• MEXT and university admission: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results.
• For Georgian residence permits: Japanese 犯罪経歴証明書, 戸籍謄本, 住民票, diplomas.
• For company registration in Georgia: Japanese 登記事項証明書, 定款, board resolutions, 委任状 and 印鑑証明書.
• JICA and Japanese company projects: corporate and licensing documents for Japanese contractors and consultants on Georgian projects.
• Succession: Georgian death certificates and inheritance certificates for Japanese family courts, Japanese 戸籍謄本 proving kinship for Georgian notaries.

Marriage between Japanese and Georgian citizens: the document chain

A Japanese citizen marrying in Georgia presents the 婚姻要件具備証明書 from the Legal Affairs Bureau or the Japanese Embassy in Tbilisi, or a 戸籍謄本 showing no current marriage, apostilled, translated and notarized here; the House of Justice registers the marriage, and the Japanese spouse must file a 婚姻届 at their city hall or the embassy within three months with the Georgian marriage certificate translated into Japanese, after which the marriage appears in the koseki. A Georgian marrying in Japan presents the Georgian birth certificate and marital status certificate, apostilled and translated into Japanese, to the city hall with the 婚姻届, and the Spouse of Japanese National visa follows with its own documentation. Children of these marriages need Georgian birth certificates translated for the 出生届 and the koseki, or a 戸籍謄本 apostilled and translated for Georgian citizenship. We prepare these as matched sets with identical transliteration.

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. Japanese MOFA apostilles take a day in person or about a week by post; the notary and Legal Affairs Bureau route for private documents adds a few days unless a one-stop notary office is used. Japanese immigration and city halls want the 犯罪経歴証明書 and register copies recently issued, typically within three months, and Georgian practice applies similar windows, so timing matters. The errors we correct most often are a private university diploma sent to MOFA without notarization, a 戸籍抄本 obtained where the 戸籍謄本 showing the whole family was needed, a 犯罪経歴証明書 envelope opened before the receiving authority, an era date converted to the wrong year, a name romanized differently across documents, a 婚姻届 not filed within three months, 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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