Notarized and Certified Malay Translation - ITBM, Malaysian Authorities, Singapore and the Georgian Notary

How Malaysia certifies translations, and the Georgian notarized translation

Malaysia has no register of sworn translators. Official bodies accept translations from the Institut Terjemahan dan Buku Malaysia (ITBM), the national translation institute, from translators certified by the Malaysian Translators Association (Persatuan Penterjemah Malaysia), from the translation units of universities, and, for court purposes, from translators the court accepts; Malaysian embassies also certify translations for their citizens. For a foreign document to be used in Malaysia, the National Registration Department (JPN), the Immigration Department, the Ministry of Education, the Companies Commission (SSM) and the courts require the original to be legalized through the consular chain, and accept a translation into Malay or English that is either made by an accepted Malaysian translator or notarized abroad and included in the legalized bundle; English is accepted by most federal bodies, while JPN, the Syariah courts and state religious departments prefer Malay. Georgia has the translation notarized by a Georgian notary, who certifies the signature of a translator registered as competent in Malay.

We translate the Georgian original into Malay or English here, notarize it, run the Georgian MFA authentication and the Malaysian mission's legalization with the translation attached, and, where a Malaysian office asks for a Malaysian translator's certification, forward the text to our partner ITBM-certified translator in Kuala Lumpur. A Malaysian translation, ITBM or otherwise, is, from Georgia's point of view, a foreign document; for use in Georgia it must be legalized by Wisma Putra and the Georgian mission and translated into Georgian and notarized here.

Marriage: JPN, the Syariah courts and the House of Justice

Malaysian marriage law is dual. Muslims marry under Islamic law administered by the state religious departments (Jabatan Agama Islam of each state) and the Syariah courts, with the sijil nikah issued by the state and registered nationally; non-Muslims marry under the civil Law Reform Act at JPN, with the sijil perkahwinan. A Malaysian Muslim marrying a Georgian faces the rule that a Muslim may only marry a Muslim under Malaysian law, so a non-Muslim Georgian partner converts and obtains a kad Islam or conversion certificate from a state religious department or a recognized Islamic body, and the marriage is solemnized in Malaysia by the religious department or abroad and then registered with it; a Georgian civil marriage at the House of Justice, valid in Georgia, is recognized in Malaysia for a Muslim only if the Syariah requirements are met. A Malaysian non-Muslim marrying a Georgian goes through JPN's civil procedure or marries in Georgia and registers the marriage at the Malaysian mission. For all of these the Georgian partner's birth certificate, certificate of marital status and, where relevant, conversion documents are legalized through the chain and translated into Malay, and the Malaysian partner's documents - MyKad, birth certificate, a certificate of single status or a JPN search, and for Muslims the religious department's letter of no impediment - are legalized and translated into Georgian. We prepare both sets and explain each side's requirements plainly, since couples are often surprised by them.

The Immigration Department, the Expatriate Services Division and Georgian residence permits

Georgians working in Malaysia go through the Expatriate Services Division's employment pass system with the employer's sponsorship, and their diplomas, conviction certificates and, for dependants, marriage and birth certificates are legalized and translated; Georgians studying in Malaysia obtain the student pass through the institution and Education Malaysia Global Services; and Georgian spouses of Malaysian citizens apply for the long-term social visit pass with the legalized marriage documents. Malaysians and Bruneians in Georgia beyond their visa-free period - students, spouses, employees of Malaysian companies, halal auditors on assignment - present the passport (translated from a photo, no visit needed), a police clearance certificate from the Royal Malaysia Police (the certificate of good conduct) legalized by Wisma Putra and the Georgian mission, and by category the enrollment certificate, the employment contract or the marriage and birth certificates, translated into Georgian and notarized here. We assemble these files with the name structure explained and the transliteration identical across every document.

Brunei and Singapore

Brunei is not a Hague member and follows the consular route: Bruneian documents for Georgia are legalized by Brunei's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Georgian mission accredited to Brunei, and Georgian documents for Brunei by the Georgian MFA and the Bruneian mission accredited to Georgia, both located outside the two countries, with translations into Malay, which in Brunei carries Jawi script on many official documents and its own administrative vocabulary. Singapore joined the Hague Convention in 2021, and Singaporean documents - almost all in English, issued by the ICA, the Registry of Marriages (ROM) and the Registry of Muslim Marriages (ROMM), the Ministry of Education and ACRA - are apostilled by the Singapore Academy of Law and translated into Georgian and notarized here; Georgian documents for Singapore are apostilled in Georgia and translated into English, with Singaporean authorities accepting certified English translations. Malay-language Singaporean documents, such as ROMM marriage certificates, are translated by the same team.

Malaysian documents for Georgian authorities

Any Malay-language document used in Georgia must be translated into Georgian and notarized here, and the underlying public document must have been legalized by Wisma Putra and the Georgian mission unless the Georgian office accepts it without. The most frequent are passports and MyKad, JPN sijil kelahiran, sijil perkahwinan and sijil kematian, sijil nikah and sijil cerai from state religious departments and Syariah courts, police clearance certificates, SPM, STPM, matriculation and university certificates, SSM company documents (the certificate of incorporation, the company profile and the constitution), powers of attorney, employment contracts and bank statements. Many Malaysian documents are bilingual Malay-English, and we translate from the Malay with the English checked. We also offer e-Notary certification with a qualified electronic signature.

Certified translation without notarization, and when it is enough

Not every recipient needs the notary or the chain. Malaysian universities for initial admission, employers, halal certification bodies at the review stage, hotels and tour operators, insurers and online portals accept a certified translation with our agency stamp and translator statement in Malay or English, which is quicker and cheaper. JPN, the Immigration Department, the Syariah and civil courts, SSM, Georgian courts, registries, the Public Service Hall and banks do not. Tell us who will receive the document and we recommend the right level; a certified translation can be upgraded to a notarized, legalized and ITBM-certified one later without re-translating. For clients who submit documents online we issue digitally signed PDFs, and we print, stamp and courier the same file when paper is required.

Malay translation - frequently asked questions

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