Marrying in Tbilisi does not change the name in your passport. Georgia records the surname you choose at registration, and your home country makes the change from the certificate once it carries an apostille or legalization and a translation. Here are your surname options on the day, what the certificate shows, what the Georgian side costs, and the order to update your passport and other documents at home.
Quick summary
- At registration in Georgia you can each keep your own surname, both take one partner's surname, or combine your surname with your spouse's unless either already has 2 parts.
- The surname you choose goes into the Georgian marriage record, but your passport keeps the old name until your own country issues a new one.
- Georgia's later name-change procedure is for Georgian citizens and stateless people with Georgian status, so a foreign spouse makes any later change at home.
- Your passport office works from the certificate once it carries an apostille (GEL 30 to 150) or legalization and, in most countries, a translation.
- Until the new passport arrives, book every flight in the name on your current passport.
On this page
Surname Options When You Marry in Georgia
You choose your surname in the same sitting where you both sign the marriage record, as part of a marriage registration in Georgia rather than a separate application. Article 53 of the Law of Georgia on Civil Status Acts (opens in a new tab) sets the options, and they are the same for husband and wife.
| Option | What it means | Example: Anna Keller marries Tom Price |
|---|---|---|
| Keep your own surname | Each of you keeps the surname in your passport | Anna Keller and Tom Price |
| Take a common surname | Both of you take one partner's surname, his or hers | Anna Price and Tom Price, or Anna Keller and Tom Keller |
| Combine surnames | One or both of you add the spouse's surname to your own | Anna Keller-Price and Tom Price |
Combining is not available where either surname already has 2 parts.
From our Tbilisi team
We ask couples to check what their own passport office will issue before they choose. Georgia does not ask, and if it records a combined surname your country will not put in a passport, the certificate and the passport disagree for as long as you use them.
What the Georgian Marriage Certificate Shows
The registrar takes your names from your passports and writes them into the record in Georgian letters, working from the Latin line. A divorce decree or any other document that spells your name differently has to be put right before the day.
The surname you chose is recorded with the marriage, and each of you reads and signs the record, so check it letter by letter before you sign. Certificates have been issued electronically since 1 June 2021, with a paper copy on request. Ask for the paper copy, because it is the one you legalize and carry home.
Does Marrying in Georgia Change the Name in Your Passport?
No. Only your own country can reissue your passport in a new name, so it keeps the old one until your passport office replaces it.
Georgia will not change it later either. Its name-change procedure, in Article 62 of the same law, is open to Georgian citizens and stateless people with Georgian status, so a foreign spouse makes any later change at home, with the certificate as proof of the marriage.
Home rules can differ from Georgian ones. Your country may take the surname in the Georgian record as it stands, ask you to declare your married name separately, or offer fewer options than Georgia does.
Book your flights in your passport name
The UK government's passport guidance puts it directly: the name on your passport must match the one you book travel in. A flight home booked in a married surname your passport does not show yet can cost you the seat.
How to Change Your Surname at Home, Step by Step
The certificate is prepared in Tbilisi and your name changes at home, so finish the Tbilisi part before you fly.
- Collect a paper certificate. Order a second copy if more than one office will want an original; a repeat certificate costs GEL 5 to 50, depending on speed.
- Legalize each copy. The apostille or legalization costs GEL 30 on the 8th working day, up to GEL 150 the same day. The UAE, Qatar and Kuwait are outside the Hague Convention, so they need legalization plus embassy attestation.
- Translate it. The certificate is in Georgian, so most countries want the translated certificate beside it. The agency translates into 8 languages for GEL 30 a page; check both surnames against your passports.
- Register the marriage at home if your country asks. Some countries enter a foreign marriage in their own register before changing anything else.
- Apply for the new passport. Send the legalized certificate and its translation with the application.
- Update everything else. Once the passport shows the new name, other offices can match the certificate against it.
In the UK, for example, GOV.UK says a change of name means a new passport: you send your marriage certificate with the application, a double surname included, and pay £102 online or £115.50 on paper. If you marry and keep your name, your passport stays valid as it is.
If you live outside the country that issues your passport, each country gets a copy with its own stamp. A British couple in Dubai takes an apostilled copy to the UK passport office and a legalized, UAE-attested one for their residence visas.
Georgian costs of a surname change
- Repeat copy of the certificate
- GEL 5 to 50
- Apostille or legalization, per copy
- GEL 30 to 150
- Agency translation of the certificate
- GEL 30 per page
- Notary certification of a one-page translation
- GEL 11
- One copy, apostille on the 8th working day, one translated page
- GEL 60
Your passport fee at home comes on top (£102 online in the UK), as does any embassy fee, such as USD 41 at the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi.
Documents to Update After You Change Your Surname
Each office compares the certificate with a current ID, so the passport goes first, and a residence permit follows the passport it was issued against.
| Document | Where to change it | What to bring |
|---|---|---|
| Passport | Your passport office, or your embassy abroad | Legalized certificate and translation |
| National ID card | The office that issued it | Certificate and new passport |
| Residence permit or visa | The immigration authority where you live | New passport, certificate legalized for that country |
| Driver's license | The authority that issued it | New passport, certificate if asked |
| Bank, employer, tax and insurance records | Each organization | New passport |
Name-change papers to carry home
- The paper certificate, apostilled or legalized for the country that issues your passport
- A second legalized copy if you live in another country
- The translation, with both surnames spelled as your passports show them
- For a country outside the convention, the embassy's attestation already on the certificate
- Flights home booked in the names on your current passports