Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Latvia - Sworn Notaries, Sequence and Timing

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Latvia

Latvia has been a Hague Apostille member since 1996 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 Latvian Embassy in Tbilisi does not legalize Georgian documents and does not need to; nor does the Georgian embassy in Riga legalize Latvian ones. What the embassies handle is visas, residence permit intake, and the registration of their citizens' marriages and births abroad, which is separate from the apostille and presupposes apostilled originals.

Whether the translation must also be apostilled is rarely asked in Latvia, because Latvian offices look at how the translation was certified - by a notary or by the translator - rather than at a foreign apostille on it. We apostille the notarized translation only where an office specifically asks. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and an apostille on the Latvian original.

Where Latvian documents get their apostille: any sworn notary

Since 2019 Latvian apostilles have been issued by zvērināti notāri (sworn notaries) rather than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and any sworn notary in Latvia can apostille any Latvian public document regardless of where it was issued, verifying the signature or seal against the register of officials, usually on the spot. Dzimšanas and laulības apliecības and population register izziņas from the PMLP, the izziņa par sodāmību from the Iekšlietu ministrijas Informācijas centrs, diplomi, Uzņēmumu reģistra izziņas, court decisions and notarial pilnvaras are apostilled at the notary's office; documents signed with eParaksts can be apostilled electronically. Latvian citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a pilnvara, or remotely for digital documents. We confirm the route for each document.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Latvia

Georgian documents going to Latvia 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 Latvian, notarize it and, where the receiving office requires Latvian notarial certification, forward the text to our partner in Riga. Clients and employers in Latvia receive the finished set by courier within two to three days.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Latvia

• PMLP employment and study permits: Georgian conviction certificate, diplomas and vocational certificates where the job requires them, school leaving certificates and diplomas for study permits.
• Family reunification and marriage in Latvia: Georgian birth certificate, marital status certificate, divorce decisions, children's birth certificates.
• AIC recognition and university enrollment: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results, particularly for Riga Stradiņš medical admissions.
• For Georgian residence permits: Latvian izziņa par sodāmību, dzimšanas and laulības apliecības, diplomi.
• For company registration in Georgia: Latvian Uzņēmumu reģistra izziņas, statūti and pilnvaras.
• Transport and logistics: licensing and company documents for Latvian carriers and freight forwarders working the Georgian corridor.
• Succession: Georgian death certificates and inheritance certificates for Latvian sworn notaries, Latvian mantojuma apliecības for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Latvian files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Latvian, with names in the Latvian form and the original alongside, and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3 (dzimtsarakstu nodaļa, notaries, courts, some PMLP files): the text is re-certified through a partner translator and zvērināts notārs in Riga.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled as issued, scanned as one file for online submissions, and shipped where paper is needed.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated and the file is returned; sending a translation without notarial certification to a dzimtsarakstu nodaļa costs a month. 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 and a few days for re-certification in Riga where required. Latvian sworn notary apostilles are typically same-day. Latvian dzimtsarakstu nodaļas want civil status documents recently issued, and the izziņa par sodāmību and the Georgian conviction certificate are accepted for a limited period, so timing matters. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a Georgian name in a Latvian document read by a Georgian office as a different person because of the Latvian ending, a translation sent to a dzimtsarakstu nodaļa without notarial certification, a marital status certificate obtained too early, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, Latvian long vowels and soft consonants 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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