Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and the Portuguese-Speaking World - PGR, Cartórios, Consulates, Sequence and Timing

Hague members and non-members in the Portuguese-speaking world

Portugal has been a Hague Apostille member since 1969, Brazil since 2016 and Cape Verde since 2010, and Georgia since 2007, so a public document from any of these is recognized in the other once apostilled by the issuing country's competent authority; São Tomé and Príncipe has also joined. Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and East Timor are not Hague members, and documents between them and Georgia must be legalized through the consular chain: authentication by the issuing country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then legalization by the receiving country's embassy or consulate. Portugal's embassy accredited to Georgia does not legalize Georgian documents; nor does the Georgian embassy in Lisbon legalize Portuguese ones, and the same applies to Brazil, whose embassy in Tbilisi handles visas and consular acts rather than legalization.

Which Portuguese or Brazilian authority wants an apostille differs. AIMA requires apostilles on the registo criminal and civil status documents; the Conservatórias require them on everything; Portuguese universities and DGES require them on diplomas; Brazil's Polícia Federal, cartórios and universities require them on every Georgian document. Georgian offices require a Georgian notarized translation and an apostille on the Portuguese or Brazilian original.

Where Portuguese and Brazilian documents get their apostille

In Portugal the competent authority is the Procuradoria-Geral da República, through its offices in Lisbon and Porto and the Procuradorias-Gerais Regionais in Coimbra and Évora, and the apostille can be requested in person, by post or through a lawyer; certidões from the Conservatórias, certificados de registo criminal from the Direção-Geral da Administração da Justiça, diplomas and certidões de habilitações, certidões permanentes from the Registo Comercial and notarial procurações are all apostilled there, usually within a few days. Portugal also issues electronic apostilles (e-Apostila) for certain documents. In Brazil, apostilles are issued by cartórios authorized by the Conselho Nacional de Justiça in every state, usually the same day, for certidões from the registro civil, atestados de antecedentes, diplomas, contratos sociais and notarial documents. Portuguese and Brazilian citizens already in Georgia can obtain apostilles through a relative, a lawyer with a procuração, or by post to the PGR. We confirm the route for each document.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Portugal, Brazil and Cape Verde

Georgian documents going to Hague countries 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 Portuguese and notarize it, apostille the notarized translation where the receiving office asks, and arrange certification in Lisbon or a tradução juramentada in Brazil where required. Clients in Portugal receive the finished set by courier within two to three days, in Brazil within four to five.

Consular legalization for Angola and Mozambique

Georgian documents going to Angola or Mozambique - diplomas of Georgian graduates and of Angolan and Mozambican students who studied in Georgia, commercial documents of Georgian exporters, powers of attorney, civil status certificates - go through a chain: notarization of the translation into Portuguese, authentication by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and legalization by the Angolan or Mozambican embassy accredited to Georgia, which is located in the region rather than in Tbilisi. We handle the Georgian steps, arrange the consular legalization through the accredited embassy, and give a realistic timeline of one to three weeks. Angolan and Mozambican documents for use in Georgia are authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs there and legalized by the Georgian embassy accredited to that country, then translated and notarized here.

Documents most often apostilled or legalized

• AIMA files: Georgian registo criminal, marriage and birth certificates, marital status certificate, divorce decisions.
• Conservatória transcription, marriage and nationality: the same civil status documents plus the registo criminal.
• Portuguese universities, DGES and the Ordens: Georgian diplomas, supplements, school leaving certificates with national exam results.
• Brazilian Polícia Federal, cartórios and revalidação: every Georgian document, with tradução juramentada.
• For Georgian residence permits: Portuguese registo criminal, Brazilian atestado de antecedentes, civil status certidões, diplomas.
• For company registration in Georgia: Portuguese certidões permanentes, Brazilian contratos sociais, procurações.
• Angola and Mozambique: diplomas, commercial invoices and certificates of origin, procurações, civil status certificates, with consular legalization.

The sequence, timing and common errors

• Step 1: the Georgian original is apostilled (Hague destinations) or authenticated by the Georgian MFA (Angola, Mozambique).
• Step 2: we translate the document and its apostille into Portuguese and the translation is notarized.
• Step 3 (where asked): the notarized translation is apostilled, certified by a lawyer in Lisbon, re-certified by a tradutor juramentado in Brazil, or legalized by the Angolan or Mozambican embassy.
• Step 4: the bundle is kept stapled, scanned as one file for online portals, and shipped where paper is needed.

Apostilles on Georgian civil status documents usually take one to three business days; education documents up to five; consular legalization one to three weeks. Add 1-2 hours for the translation and a few days for certification or juramentada re-certification. AIMA's three-month rule on the registo criminal and the Conservatórias' preference for recent certidões mean timing matters. The errors we correct most often are an untranslated apostille certificate, a registo criminal that expired while the file waited, a Brazilian apostille on a photocopy rather than the certidão, a marital status certificate obtained too early, a Georgian document in a maiden name that differs from the passport, Portuguese names 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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