Notarized Japanese Translation in Tbilisi - Accepted by Every Georgian and Japanese Authority

How Japan certifies translations, and how Georgia does

Japan has no register of sworn translators. A translation submitted to the Immigration Services Agency, a city hall, a university or a court is accepted with the translator's name, the date and a statement that the translation is accurate (翻訳証明), and immigration explicitly allows the applicant to translate their own documents; for court filings and some notarial purposes a 公証人 may certify the translator's declaration, and some Japanese authorities ask for the translation to be made by a translation company with a company seal. Georgia has the notarized translation certified by a Georgian notary attesting a registered translator's signature. Neither is accepted in the other country directly: a Japanese-certified translation is a private document in Georgia, and a Georgian notarized translation is a foreign notarial act in Japan. The efficient route is to have each translation made where it will be used, from the apostilled original: Japanese documents translated and notarized in Tbilisi for Georgian offices, and Georgian documents translated into Japanese here with our translator's certification and company seal, which Japanese authorities accept, and notarized in Japan through a partner only where a court or notary specifically requires it.

The koseki: 戸籍謄本, 戸籍抄本 and what Georgian offices need

Japanese civil status lives in the koseki, the family register kept at the city hall of the 本籍地 (registered domicile), which records a household's births, marriages, divorces, adoptions and deaths in one document. Japan issues no separate birth or marriage certificate; instead, a 戸籍謄本 (全部事項証明書, full copy) or 戸籍抄本 (個人事項証明書, extract for one person) serves as birth, marriage, divorce and family certificate at once, and Georgian offices asking for a "birth certificate" or "marriage certificate" need the relevant register copy, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For marriage at the House of Justice a 戸籍謄本 showing no current marriage, or a 婚姻要件具備証明書 (certificate of legal capacity to marry) from the Legal Affairs Bureau or the Japanese Embassy, is required; for family residence permits the 戸籍謄本 showing the spouse and children; for divorce proceedings the register showing the marriage and divorce entries. We tell Japanese clients which document to obtain, translate the register's format field by field - the 本籍, the 筆頭者, the 身分事項 entries - so a Georgian registrar can follow it, and convert every era date. Older 改製原戸籍 (pre-computerization registers) in vertical handwritten form are translated by our senior translators.

Names, readings and romanization

Japanese names are written in kanji, whose readings are not always predictable, and romanized by the Hepburn system on passports; the same name can be written differently on a koseki (kanji only, no reading), a driving license (kanji and sometimes katakana) and an English-language diploma (romanized, occasionally with a non-Hepburn spelling). Georgian registrars compare spellings strictly. We fix the Georgian spelling of your full name at the first translation, following the passport's Hepburn romanization and Georgian phonetic rules, record it on file together with the kanji and the reading, and use it on every subsequent document, adding a translator's note wherever a source document uses a different romanization; long vowels, which Hepburn passports omit, are handled consistently. Japanese name order - surname first - is annotated so Georgian forms are filled correctly, and Japanese names of Georgian residents in Japan are matched to their Georgian passports in the other direction.

Georgian documents for Japanese visas and the Certificate of Eligibility

Georgians going to Japan for work, study or family obtain a 在留資格認定証明書 (Certificate of Eligibility) through a sponsor in Japan - an employer, a university, a spouse - who applies to the Immigration Services Agency with the applicant's documents, and then a visa at the Japanese Embassy in Tbilisi. The Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services visa requires the diploma and transcript; the Student visa the school certificate or diploma, proof of funds and the sponsor's documents; the Spouse of Japanese National visa the Georgian marriage certificate and birth certificate, the koseki showing the marriage, and questionnaires on the relationship; the Specified Skilled Worker and technical intern routes their own certificates. Immigration accepts Japanese translations made by any translator with name and date, and does not generally require apostilles on foreign documents, though city halls registering the marriage do. We translate the Georgian set into Japanese with our certification, in the format immigration lawyers (行政書士) in Japan expect, and apostille the originals where the city hall will need them.

Japanese documents for Georgian residence permits, business and marriage

Japanese citizens applying for Georgian residence permits - work with JICA projects or Japanese companies, study, family, investment tied to property - need a notarized Georgian translation of the passport, the 犯罪経歴証明書 (police certificate, issued by the prefectural police in a sealed envelope that must remain sealed until the receiving authority opens it, apostilled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), the 戸籍謄本 for accompanying family (apostilled), a diploma for work-based permits, and bank statements or an employment contract. Japanese founders registering Georgian LLCs need the passport and, for corporate founders, the 登記事項証明書 (company registry certificate), 定款 (articles of incorporation) and a board resolution, apostilled and translated, plus the 印鑑証明書 where a seal is used. Marriage between Japanese and Georgian citizens at the House of Justice requires the 婚姻要件具備証明書 or a 戸籍謄本 showing no current marriage, apostilled and translated, and after the marriage the Georgian certificate is translated into Japanese for the 婚姻届 at the city hall or the Japanese Embassy, which must be filed within three months. We prepare these sets with consistent transliteration and notarize everything in one session.

The sealed police certificate, seals in place of signatures, and e-Notary

Two Japanese conventions catch clients out. The 犯罪経歴証明書 is delivered sealed and Japanese authorities expect it to reach the foreign authority unopened; we advise Georgian clients to obtain the apostille on the sealed envelope where the police and MOFA permit, and to let the Public Service Development Agency open it, and we translate it from the copy the applicant receives or, where necessary, at the office in the presence of the receiving officer. Japanese documents are sealed rather than signed, with the 実印 registered at the city hall and evidenced by the 印鑑証明書; Georgian notaries and registries accept sealed documents once the seal certificate is translated alongside, and we translate the certificate and annotate the seal. For clients who submit everything digitally, our e-Notary option produces a PDF with a qualified electronic signature that Georgian registries accept online, and Japanese authorities increasingly accept scanned certified translations for initial submission with originals to follow.

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