Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Poland - Authorities, Sequence and Timing

Apostille replaces legalization between Georgia and Poland

Poland has been a Hague Apostille member since 2005 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 Polish Embassy in Tbilisi does not legalize Georgian documents and does not need to; nor does the Georgian embassy in Warsaw legalize Polish ones. What the embassies handle is visas, the transcription of their citizens' marriages and births abroad and consular certificates, which is separate from the apostille and presupposes apostilled originals.

Because Polish offices require a tłumacz przysięgły translation rather than a legalized foreign one, the Georgian notarized translation itself usually does not need to be apostilled for Poland; the sworn translator's certification replaces that function, and the translator's formula states whether the translation was made from the apostilled original. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and do not care about Polish certification of it.

Where Polish documents get their apostille for Georgia

Poland's apostille system has one main authority and two special routes. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) apostilles most public documents - odpisy aktów stanu cywilnego, the zaświadczenie o niekaralności from the KRK, odpisy z KRS, notarial pełnomocnictwa (after the notary's signature is authenticated), court documents and documents from ministries and local government - at its legalization office in Warsaw, in person or by post. Higher education diplomas and related documents are apostilled by NAWA (Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej) after the issuing university authenticates them. School certificates (świadectwa) are authenticated by the kuratorium oświaty of the relevant region and then apostilled by the MSZ. Polish citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a pełnomocnictwo, or by post to the MSZ. We confirm the correct route for each document before you request it.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Poland

Georgian documents going to Poland 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 Polish, notarize it and forward the text to a partner tłumacz przysięgły in Warsaw for re-certification. Clients and employers in Poland receive the finished set by courier within two to three days of re-certification.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Poland

• Zezwolenie na pracę, karta pobytu and Blue Card: Georgian conviction certificate, diplomas and vocational certificates where the job requires them, marriage and birth certificates for family members.
• Family reunification and marriage in Poland: Georgian birth certificate, marital status certificate, divorce decisions.
• Nostryfikacja and university admission: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results.
• For Georgian residence permits: Polish zaświadczenie o niekaralności, odpisy aktów stanu cywilnego, dyplomy.
• For company registration in Georgia: Polish odpisy z KRS, umowy spółki and pełnomocnictwa.
• Citizenship by descent: Polish and Latin parish and civil records for Georgians with Polish ancestry, and Georgian records for Polish citizenship applications.
• Succession and property: Georgian death certificates and inheritance certificates for Polish notariusze and courts, Polish postanowienia o stwierdzeniu nabycia spadku for Georgian notaries.

The sequence for Polish files

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled by the competent Georgian authority.
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Polish and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3: the text is re-certified by a partner tłumacz przysięgły in Warsaw, whose formula records that it was made from the apostilled original.
• Step 4: the bundle is delivered to you, your employer or the urząd wojewódzki, and scanned as one file for the MOS system.

Translating before apostilling leaves the apostille certificate untranslated and the wojewoda returns the file months later. For employer groups we run all candidates' documents through the sequence in parallel. 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 tłumacz przysięgły re-certification in Poland. Polish MSZ apostilles take a few days in person or a week or two by post; NAWA apostilles a week or two after university authentication. Polish USCs want civil status documents recently issued, and the zaświadczenie o niekaralności and the Georgian conviction certificate are accepted for a limited period, so timing matters, especially for karta pobytu files that the wojewoda may not examine for months. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a diploma sent to the MSZ without NAWA, a school certificate sent without kuratorium authentication, a marital status certificate obtained too early, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, Polish diacritics transliterated inconsistently into Georgian, and a bundle unstapled for scanning, which both countries' offices treat as invalid. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run this check before submitting.

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