The documents required to get married in Georgia fit in a single folder: your passports, proof you are in the country legally, your witnesses' IDs and, if either of you was married before, proof that the marriage ended. The effort goes into the detail: which papers need an apostille, which need a Georgian translation, and which the registry never asks for. Below is each document, who brings it and what it needs before you fly.
Quick summary
- The official list is short: a joint application signed at the office, both passports, proof of lawful stay, the 2 witnesses' IDs, and proof that any earlier marriage ended.
- A foreign passport that shows your name in Latin letters is accepted without a Georgian translation, and so is a foreign witness's passport.
- Other foreign documents, such as a divorce decree or death certificate, need an apostille or legalization from the issuing country and a notarized Georgian translation.
- Georgia does not ask for a certificate of no impediment, a birth certificate, a medical certificate or your parents' consent.
- A ceremony or an off-site registration adds a payment receipt of GEL 75 to 255; registration without a ceremony is free.
- Since 1 January 2026, tourists need health and accident insurance of at least GEL 30,000 to enter Georgia, though the registry never asks for it.
On this page
Documents Needed to Marry in Georgia: The Official List
The Public Service Development Agency's requirements (opens in a new tab) for a marriage registration are short, and the Public Service Hall asks for the same set. Of the 8 rows below, 4 apply to every foreign couple and 4 only in particular cases: an earlier marriage, a ceremony or off-site registration, an application filed by someone else, or a partner under guardianship.
| Document | Who brings it | Translation or legalization |
|---|---|---|
| Joint written application | Both partners, together | None: you fill it in and sign it at the office |
| Passport or other identity document | Both partners | None if it shows your name in Latin letters; otherwise a notarized Georgian translation |
| Proof of lawful stay in Georgia | Each foreign partner | None: the entry stamp, visa or residence permit you came in on |
| Passport or Georgian ID card | Each of the 2 witnesses | None if a foreign passport shows the name in Latin letters |
| Divorce certificate or decree, or the former spouse's death certificate | Anyone married before | Apostille or legalization, plus a notarized Georgian translation |
| Payment receipt | Couples booking a ceremony or a registration away from the office | None |
| Notarized power of attorney | A representative who files the application for you | Apostille or legalization and a notarized Georgian translation if signed abroad |
| Guardian's prior written consent | An adult with limited legal capacity | Apostille or legalization and a notarized Georgian translation if issued abroad |
Paperwork is the one part of getting married in Georgia that needs planning from home. With the folder complete, you can file the application and register on the same day, and if you pick a later date, the application stays valid for 2 months.
Passport Requirements and Passport Translation
Your passport is your identity document at the registry, and identity documents are the one kind of foreign document that needs no apostille. The agency may accept a foreign passport without a Georgian translation when it carries a Latin transliteration of your personal data, which most passports do.
A passport that shows your name only in another script needs a notarized Georgian translation, because the registry works in Georgian. Georgia has no sworn translators. A translator with a diploma makes the translation, and a notary certifies the translator's signature, or the accuracy of the text if the notary knows both languages.
The notary's fee is fixed by government ordinance: GEL 6 per signature on a 1-page document and GEL 4 per signature on 2 to 10 pages, plus GEL 5 to register the act, all before VAT. The translator's own fee comes on top. A partner who is a Georgian citizen brings a Georgian ID card or passport instead, with nothing to translate.
From our Tbilisi team
We tell dual nationals to bring the passport they flew in on. The entry stamp that proves your lawful stay sits in that one, and a second passport without it gives the registrar an identity document but no proof that you are in Georgia legally.
Proof of Lawful Stay for Foreign Partners
Every foreign partner has to be in Georgia lawfully on the day and show a document that proves it. There is no residency rule and no minimum stay, so the proof is simply how you entered: the stamp in your passport, the visa you came in on, or a Georgian residence permit.
Citizens of more than 90 countries, including every EU state, the UK and the US, can stay up to a full year without a visa, and couples who enter as tourists marry on that status. A valid visa or residence permit from 50 listed places, all 6 Gulf states among them, gives 90 days in any 180. Other nationalities need a visa, in many cases an e-visa applied for online at USD 20 plus a 2% service fee.
Since 1 January 2026, the border asks tourists for another document: a health and accident insurance policy that covers the whole stay, arrival and departure days included, with cover of at least GEL 30,000. It can come from a Georgian or a foreign insurer, on paper or on screen, in Georgian or English. The registry does not ask for it; you need it to get into the country.
Documents If Either of You Was Married Before
Anyone who was married before has to prove that the marriage ended. Georgian law ends a marriage by divorce, by death or by a court's declaration of death, so the proof is a divorce certificate or final decree, or your former spouse's death certificate.
A document issued abroad needs an apostille or legalization from the country that issued it, plus a notarized Georgian translation, unless a treaty between Georgia and that country says otherwise. A divorce registered in Georgia is the exception: the agency's database already holds it, so you submit nothing.
Compare the names before anything else. A divorce decree often shows a married surname, or a spelling that differs from your passport, and names that differ between documents are easiest to settle with a paper that links them, such as a deed poll or the earlier marriage certificate. The registrar has to be able to see that every document describes the same person.
A divorce in progress still counts as a marriage
Georgia refuses to register a marriage while either partner is married to someone else, and a divorce counts only once it is final in the country that granted it. Book flights when the final decree or certificate is in your hands with its apostille, not when the hearing date is set.
What Your Witnesses Need to Bring
The registration needs 2 adult witnesses with full legal capacity, and each brings an identity document: a passport, or a Georgian ID card for a Georgian citizen. A foreign witness's passport follows the same rule as yours and is accepted untranslated when it shows the name in Latin letters.
No official rule sets a nationality for witnesses, and they bring no other documents. They sign the marriage record themselves, so their IDs have to be with them in the room on the day.
Apostille and Legalization of Foreign Documents
Every foreign document except an identity document needs a stamp from the country that issued it before the registry accepts it. Which stamp depends on whether that country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, which Georgia has been a party to since 14 May 2007.
| Issued in | What it needs | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| A member of the Apostille Convention | An apostille from the issuing country, then a notarized Georgian translation | UK, US, Germany, Israel, India, the Philippines, Bahrain, Oman; Saudi Arabia since 7 December 2022, Pakistan since 9 March 2023, Canada since 11 January 2024 |
| A country outside the convention | Consular legalization, then a notarized Georgian translation | UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iran |
| Georgia | Nothing, when the agency's database already holds the record | A divorce registered with the Georgian civil registry |
Georgia can accept these stamps but cannot add them. An apostille on a British divorce decree comes from the UK and one on an Indian death certificate comes from India, so this is the step to finish before you travel. The Georgian translation can wait until you arrive, when a translator and a notary in Tbilisi handle it the same way as a passport.
From our Tbilisi team
If your divorce decree comes from a country outside the convention, we ask couples to start the legalization before anything else gets booked. It passes through more offices than an apostille, and each of them sets its own pace, so a wedding date fixed first is the one most likely to move.
Documents Georgia Does Not Require
Several papers that other countries require for a marriage are missing from the Georgian list, and bringing them changes nothing at the registry.
| Document | Needed to marry in Georgia? | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of no impediment or single status | No | The registrar explains the legal bars to marriage before you sign |
| Birth certificate | No | Your passport already shows your date of birth |
| Medical certificate or blood test | No | No health check is part of the registration |
| Parents' consent | No | Both partners must be 18 or older, with no exceptions |
| Proof of address or residence in Georgia | No | Georgia has no residency or minimum-stay rule |
| Religious or conversion certificate | No | The registration is civil and does not ask about religion |
| Health insurance policy | Not at the registry | The border asks tourists for it, since 1 January 2026 |
The missing certificate of no impediment surprises couples most, since many countries issue one specifically for weddings abroad. Georgia does not need it, though the country where you live may still want one if you later register the marriage there.
A prenuptial agreement is optional in the same way. It is not a registry document, so a couple who want one arrange it separately from the registration.
What the Marriage Documents Cost
Most of the documents cost nothing in Georgia. The fees fall on translation, on the stamp for the certificate you take home and, if you book one, on the ceremony.
Fees for the marriage documents in Georgia
- Registration at a Public Service Hall, no ceremony
- Free
- Ceremony at a Public Service Hall
- GEL 75
- Ceremony at a Tbilisi Wedding House
- GEL 135 on weekdays, GEL 225 at weekends
- Registration at a place you choose
- GEL 255
- Notary certification of a 1-page translation
- GEL 6 per signature, plus GEL 5
- Apostille or legalization of the marriage certificate
- GEL 30 to 150
- Agency translation of the certificate
- GEL 30 per page
Notary fees are before VAT. The translator's own fee, the apostille or legalization of documents from home, and insurance for entry are paid separately.
A ceremony booked online is paid in 2 parts: 50% within an hour of confirmation and the rest when the application is registered. That receipt is the payment document on the official list.
Documents You Receive After the Registration
What you take away from the registration is the marriage certificate. Since 1 June 2021 it has been created electronically and published on the agency's system, with a paper copy issued on request, and it is filled in Georgian.
To count abroad, the certificate needs an apostille from any Public Service Hall, at GEL 30 for the 8th working day up to GEL 150 for the same day. A country outside the convention takes legalization instead, at the same fee, followed by its own embassy's stamp. Because Georgia issues no multilingual version, translating the certificate is usually part of using it at home. The agency translates into 8 languages, among them English, German and Russian, for GEL 30 a page.
Checklist to Marry in Georgia
Everything below is done from home, and it decides whether the day in Tbilisi goes to plan. Work through it before you pay for flights.
Before you book the trip
- Both passports are valid and show your names in Latin letters, or you have planned a Georgian translation
- Any divorce decree or death certificate is final and carries an apostille or legalization from the country that issued it
- The names on every document match your passport, or you hold the paper that links them
- Each foreign partner has a legal way in: visa-free entry, a listed visa or permit, or an e-visa
- Each partner entering as a tourist has health and accident insurance for the whole stay
- Your 2 witnesses are confirmed and know to bring their passports or ID cards
- If you want a ceremony, the booking is made and you have the receipt