Apostille and Legalization Between Georgia and Russian-Speaking Countries

Hague apostille applies between Georgia and all Russian-speaking states

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Georgia are all parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. A public document from any of these countries is recognized in Georgia once it carries an apostille from the issuing country, and a Georgian public document is recognized there once apostilled in Georgia. There is no consular legalization, which matters especially for Russia, with which Georgia has no diplomatic relations: the Swiss embassy's Russian interests section in Tbilisi does not legalize documents, and it does not need to, because the apostille replaces that function entirely.

A number of bilateral treaties on legal assistance between Georgia and former Soviet states provide that certain official documents are accepted without any legalization at all. Georgian authorities apply these unevenly, so we verify the current practice for your specific document and institution rather than promising an exemption.

Where Russian-language documents get their apostille before coming to Georgia

This is the question we are asked most, because the apostille must be obtained in the issuing country before the document arrives here. The competent authorities are:

• Russia: civil registry certificates through the regional Justice departments (Управление Минюста) or the ЗАГС apostille service; notarial acts and court documents through the Ministry of Justice; police certificates (справка о несудимости) through the МВД information centres; diplomas and educational documents through the regional education authorities under Рособрнадзор rules.
• Kazakhstan: Ministry of Justice and its departments for most documents; Ministry of Education for diplomas; Prosecutor General's Committee for police certificates. Many are available through eGov.
• Belarus: Ministry of Justice for notarial and civil documents; Ministry of Education for diplomas; Ministry of Internal Affairs for police certificates.
• Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Tajikistan: their Ministries of Justice, Education and Interior respectively, with similar splits.

If you have already left and cannot return, a relative or a lawyer with a power of attorney can obtain the apostille for you, and in Russia and Kazakhstan several document types can be apostilled through online government services and mailed.

Apostille on Georgian documents for Russia and the CIS

Georgian documents going the other way 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 whole bundle into Russian and notarize it. Clients already in Russia, Kazakhstan or Belarus receive the finished set by international courier; where sanctions-related courier restrictions apply for a destination, we advise on the working routes.

Documents most often apostilled between Georgia and Russian-speaking countries

• For Georgian residence permits: Russian, Kazakh and Belarusian police certificates, marriage and birth certificates, diplomas for work permits.
• For company registration in Georgia: ЕГРЮЛ and ЕГР extracts, charters, notarial powers of attorney from Russia and Belarus.
• For marriage in Georgia: Russian single-status certificates and divorce certificates from ЗАГС.
• For Russia and Kazakhstan: Georgian birth certificates for children born in Tbilisi to Russian-speaking parents, Georgian marriage certificates, Georgian court decisions on divorce and custody, Georgian diplomas for employment.
• For pensions: Georgian employment records and archive extracts for Russian and Kazakh pension funds.

Children born in Georgia to Russian-speaking parents

A distinct and growing category. A child born in Tbilisi or Batumi receives a Georgian birth certificate in Georgian. To register the child's citizenship or obtain a passport from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan or another home country, the parents need that certificate apostilled and translated into Russian, and the interests section or consulate usually wants the translation notarized as well. We prepare the apostilled, translated and notarized birth certificate as a package, often within three business days, and we can also translate the hospital discharge summary and vaccination record into Russian for the child's future pediatrician. The same logic applies to Georgian marriage certificates for couples who married in Georgia and need the marriage recognized at home.

Checklist before you request an apostille

Before we submit anything, we check five things, and you can check them too. First, that the document is an original or a properly certified duplicate, since apostilles are not placed on simple photocopies. Second, that the document is still valid for its purpose: Russian police certificates and Georgian single-status certificates have short validity windows and an apostille does not extend them. Third, that the name on the document matches your passport exactly, including patronymics, which Georgian and many foreign forms do not have a field for. Fourth, that any stamps, seals and reverse-side notes are legible, because the translation must include all of them. Fifth, that you know the exact receiving institution, because that determines whether the translation itself also needs to be apostilled, which is occasionally requested by Russian courts and pension funds. Send photos of both sides of every page and we run through this list in the first reply.

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