How Registration Proceedings Begin and What Documents Are Needed
Registration of ownership takes place within the proceedings defined by the Law on the Public Registry, and the foundation of this page consists of Articles 8, 9, 11, 12 and 15. Article 8 provides that registration proceedings start on an application or a decision of an authorised body. The application must be accompanied by the registration documentation and information defined by the instruction — not a formality: the completeness of the documentation decides the fate of the proceedings.
In a specific case the registering body may additionally request any document or information connected with the proceedings and necessary for deciding the question raised. An applicant should therefore have every document needed for review ready from the outset — this saves time otherwise lost.
General Principles of Registration
Article 9 sets the technical framework: registration proceeds on the basis of registration and other documents, as well as electronic copies of that documentation created in the appropriate manner. The registering body confirms the submission of the application by registration in the application registration book and by assigning it a registration number; where the application is submitted through automated means of administration, the precondition is payment of the registration fee.
As a result, the registering body prepares an extract, and upon registration of ownership — or a change of cadastral data — on a previously unregistered immovable, additionally a cadastral plan. The rule does not extend to public-law restrictions, tax liens or mortgages, nor to rights in movable property and non-material assets: the form of the issued document depends on the right registered.
Rights Subject to Registration and Their Hierarchy
Article 11 lists the rights registered in the registry of rights to immovables: ownership; superficies and its mortgage encumbrance; usufruct; servitude; mortgage; lease and sublease; tenancy and subtenancy; demand; leasing; public-law rights of use and possession; obligations connected with ownership, including privatisation conditions; and the pre-emptive purchase right. The registry also contains identification data of the right's subject and object, including the cadastral data.
The hierarchy matters as well: the listed limited rights may be registered only where ownership is already registered. Data on those rights and on privatisation conditions pass to the new owner unchanged, except as defined by legislation. For long-term transactions with the participation of a private-law legal person — exceeding a term of 1 year — registration in the public registry is necessary.
Advance Registration of a Right and Its Effect
Article 12 protects the person planning to acquire a right in an immovable: to secure future registration, on the basis of a contract between the parties, an advance registration may be made. It precludes the registration of any other right over the item and of the abandonment of ownership, unless agreed otherwise, but not the registration of an heir as owner.
The advance registration terminates upon registration of the secured right; expiry of a term where one was set; the parties' written agreement; or registration of another person's ownership in the established manner — except an heir, and the case where cancellation leaves the item without an owner. For agricultural land, advance registration proceeds under the special legislation's requirements.
The Special Rule for Buildings and Their Units
Article 15 links registration of ownership of a building or its unit — including one under construction — to construction documentation: registration proceeds on the basis of the document confirming the right and the construction documentation, and upon completion, the document confirming fitness for use (acceptance into operation). A legalised building, or one lawfully deemed as such, is also admissible. Where these documents are not submitted, ownership is not subject to registration: the landowner receives an information card about the building, not reflected in the extract or on the cadastral plan.
A building may be the object of a single right or consist of more than one separate object (unit); interconnected spaces united in one system may be registered as a unit. Alienation of a unit is admissible after registration of ownership over it; division into units changes the ownership registered on the plot, and the unit owners hold co-ownership of the land, the share set by the ratio of the unit's area to the building's total area.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do registration proceedings start?
By application or by a decision of an authorised body. The application must be accompanied by the documentation defined by the instruction, and where necessary the body requests additional documents as well.
What is the purpose of advance registration?
Protecting a planned right: it blocks the registration of other rights over the item and of abandonment of ownership, but does not stand in the way of registering an heir.
Can a limited right be registered on property without ownership?
No — such rights are registered only where ownership of the item is already registered in the registry of rights to immovables.
What happens when construction documents are missing?
The right is not subject to registration; the landowner receives an information card about the building, which is not reflected in the extract or on the cadastral plan.
What documents result from registration?
An extract, and upon registration of ownership or of a change of cadastral data on a previously unregistered immovable — additionally a cadastral plan.
How We Help on Legal.ge
On Legal.ge we manage the registration process from start to extract: we check documentation, build the advance-registration strategy and clear defects at every stage. Contact us — we will assess your property and plan the registration within the law's framework.