The Service: Legalisation as the Alternative to an Apostille
When a foreign document must be used in Georgia for a notarial act or any other official purpose, its cross-border force has to be confirmed. Article 55 of the Georgian Law on Notarial Practice states it without embellishment: the notary accepts a document issued in another state if it is legalised or certified by an apostille, in the manner established by Georgian legislation. Which route extends to a particular country is determined by the legislation — and where the apostille mechanism does not apply, the route is the chain of consular legalisation. Planning and carrying that chain through is exactly what the Legal.ge team does.
The service on this page unites both directions: preparing a document issued abroad for use on the Georgian side, and applying the rules that give consulates and diplomatic missions the power to perform notarial acts. Both directions rest on the same law and are described precisely below.
The Consular Notarial Mandate (Article 42)
Article 42 provides that notarial acts, besides the notary, may be performed abroad by duly authorised officials of Georgia’s diplomatic missions and consular posts. They are guided by the legal acts regulating the activity of those posts and by the requirements envisaged by this law — in other words, the standard is the same as for a notary, supplemented by consular rules.
The decisive technical condition is written into the law directly: officials of consular posts and diplomatic missions are granted the power to perform notarial acts only where the electronic notarial registry is accessible. In practice this means that before arranging anything abroad, the availability of access to the registry must be established — and that is the first factor we check when planning the chain.
The Notary and the Foreign Document (Article 55)
The Georgian-side gateway is Article 55: the notary accepts a document issued in another state if it is legalised or certified by an apostille, in the manner established by Georgian legislation. This rule leaves no room for a “skip it” option: a foreign document needs either legalisation or an apostille — and which one applies in your case must be established in advance. We determine the status of each document and plan the exact steps, so that you are saddled neither with a superfluous formality nor with a deficient package.
Legalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Timeline and Fee
According to the official information published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, legalisation is carried out within no more than 5 working days, and the fee is 15 US dollars per document; the rule is established by the Minister’s Order No. 60 of 2010. These parameters come from a fixed normative foundation, and its current wording should be verified before use — we run that verification on every engagement, so that the plan is built on real timelines.
The Practical Side of the Chain: What We Check in Advance
Within the legalisation chain, the path of each document is determined by its country of issue and its issuing authority — which agency authenticates the document in the issuing state, at which point the consular post, and then the ministry, verifies that authentication, is established from official sources. We map this sequence in advance, check the translation requirements, and tie the chain to the condition of Article 42 — the accessibility of the electronic notarial registry. The result is a step-by-step plan in which, at every point, what happens and why is known in advance.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does a document need an apostille and when legalisation?
Article 55 requires that a document issued in another state be legalised or certified by an apostille, in the manner established by Georgian legislation. The specific route is determined by the document’s country — we establish it in advance.
Can a consul perform a notarial act?
Yes, under Article 42 — abroad, duly authorised officials of Georgia’s diplomatic missions and consular posts may do so, and only where the electronic notarial registry is accessible.
How long does ministry legalisation take and what does it cost?
Per the information published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — no more than 5 working days, with a fee of 15 US dollars per document; the rule is set by the Minister’s Order No. 60 of 2010. We confirm the current terms when accepting an engagement.
Will a notary accept a foreign document without legalisation?
No — Article 55 permits acceptance only of a legalised or apostilled document, in the manner established by the legislation. That is why preparing the package begins with checking the legalisation or apostille status.
How We Help on Legal.ge
Contact us on Legal.ge: we will assess your foreign documents, determine the necessary route — an apostille or the consular legalisation chain — and verify every step in advance, including the conditions of consular notarial authority; prepare the documentation and hand you an exact timeline plan. A foreign document’s entry into the Georgian system is a matter of one correctly planned chain — and we build that chain.