e-Notary - The Notarized Translation as a Qualified-Signature PDF, Valid, Verifiable and Delivered in Hours

The legal basis: qualified electronic signatures and electronic notarial acts

Georgia's Law on Electronic Documents and Electronic Trust Services, aligned with the EU's eIDAS regulation, provides that an electronic document signed with a qualified electronic signature has the same legal force as a paper document with a handwritten signature and a seal, and that a qualified signature issued by a qualified trust service provider registered in Georgia is presumed valid; the notarial legislation and the electronic notarial register allow a notary to perform notarial acts in electronic form, sign them with a qualified electronic signature and register them in the electronic register of notarial acts, from which they can be verified. An e-Notary translation is therefore the same notarial act as a paper notarized translation - the translator's signature certified by the notary, the translation bound to the document, the act registered - executed as a PDF: the translation and the scanned source are assembled into one file, the translator signs electronically, the notary signs with a qualified electronic signature and time stamp, and the act is entered in the register with a number that any reader can check.

Who accepts the e-Notary translation

Georgian state bodies that operate electronic services accept electronic notarial acts, and the number grows every year: the National Agency of Public Registry's online company and property registration, the Revenue Service's portal, the Public Service Development Agency's electronic applications for certain services, the electronic court filing system and the e-procurement system all take qualified-signature PDFs, and Georgian banks accept them for account opening and compliance files submitted through their business portals. Abroad, the e-Notary translation is accepted wherever an authority accepts electronic documents with qualified signatures - which under eIDAS means every EU member state's public bodies for signatures from providers on the EU trusted list and, in practice, many EU portals for Georgian qualified signatures with verification, as well as universities, employers, courts with e-filing and companies everywhere; and it can be apostilled through Georgia's electronic apostille arrangements where available or printed and apostilled on paper where the destination requires. Where a foreign authority insists on a paper original with wet seal - some civil registries and courts still do - we issue the paper act in parallel, and we tell you which the destination wants before you choose.

Verification: how a reader confirms the document

The value of an electronic notarial act is that it can be checked without contacting anyone. A reader opening the PDF in a standard reader sees the notary's qualified signature and the time stamp, and the reader's validation shows whether the signature is valid, whether the document has been altered since signing, who signed it and which trust service provider issued the certificate; a reader who wants more enters the act's register number in the electronic register of notarial acts and sees the act's existence and date confirmed. Because the signature covers the whole file, any change to the translation or to the attached source invalidates it, which is stronger protection against alteration than a paper seal offers. We deliver the PDF with a short verification note in the target language explaining these steps for foreign readers unfamiliar with Georgian qualified signatures, and we provide the certificate details to a foreign authority's IT department where they ask.

What it changes for clients abroad and in the regions

For a client in another country, the e-Notary translation removes the last reason to wait for a courier. A passport, ID card or driving license is translated from a photo and notarized electronically, and the client holds a valid notarized translation within 1-2 hours of sending the photo, from anywhere; a Georgian document held by a relative in Georgia is brought to our office once, translated, notarized electronically and, if needed, on paper, and the electronic act is emailed the same day while the paper follows by courier; a company registering online at the Public Registry from abroad uploads the e-Notary translations of its founders' documents directly. For clients in Batumi, Kutaisi and other cities, where our offices are being renovated, the electronic act arrives by email the same day the original reaches us by courier, and the paper act returns by courier. For law firms, accountants and relocation agencies, the e-Notary translation fits electronic workflows and can be filed, forwarded and archived without scanning.

When paper is still required

Electronic notarization has limits that we state plainly. A foreign public document that must be apostilled or legalized in its own country before translation still has to exist on paper for that step, unless its country issues electronic apostilles; the e-Notary translation can then be made from the legalized original. Some foreign authorities - certain civil registries, courts and consulates, and most authorities in countries without electronic document laws - require a paper act with wet seal, and some Georgian counters still ask for paper for specific procedures. Consular legalization for non-Hague countries runs on paper. And a document that must be bound to a paper original as a single physical bundle for a particular procedure is done on paper. In every such case we issue the paper act alongside the electronic one, at the same notarial fee for the act, and we tell you at the quote which form the destination accepts, so that you never receive a PDF where a stamped page was needed.

Pricing, delivery and how to order

An e-Notary translation costs the translation at our fixed rate per standard document or per page plus the notary's fee for the electronic notarial act at the state tariff, the same as a paper act; issuing both forms of the same act costs one translation and the notarial fee for each act. Delivery is by email as a signed PDF within 1-2 hours for standard documents, with the paper act, where wanted, collected at Agmashenebeli 117 near Marjanishvili Metro or couriered.

To order, send photos or PDFs of every page on WhatsApp, Telegram or email, tell us which portal, registry, bank or authority will receive the document and in which country, and say whether you also need paper; the quote arrives within 15 minutes with our recommendation. Passports, ID cards and driving licenses need nothing more; other documents need the original at our office for the notarization step, brought by you, a relative or a courier, after which the electronic act is issued the same day.

Frequently asked questions

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