An apostille is the stamp that lets a marriage certificate issued in Tbilisi be used in the UK, the US, Canada, India and the other countries of the Hague Apostille Convention. A single Georgian agency issues it, and the fee depends only on how fast you want it back. Here is what it proves, where it works, how to order it in person or from abroad, and what each option costs.
Quick summary
- An apostille from Georgia's Public Service Development Agency lets offices in Hague Apostille Convention countries accept your marriage certificate without an embassy stamp.
- Each document costs GEL 150 for the same day, GEL 120 for the 2nd working day, GEL 60 for the 4th or GEL 30 for the 8th, at any Public Service Hall.
- From abroad, a Georgian consulate takes the application for USD 10 and returns it within 8 working days, and the agency handles video-call applications for GEL 55, ready within 3.
- The UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Iran do not accept an apostille and need embassy legalization instead.
- Because the apostille leaves the certificate in Georgian, offices abroad usually ask for a translation too, at GEL 30 a page from the agency.
On this page
What an Apostille on a Marriage Certificate Proves
An apostille is a certificate attached to a public document so that another country can accept it without its own embassy checking it first. Under Article 5 of the Hague Apostille Convention (opens in a new tab), it confirms 3 things: the signature on your marriage certificate is genuine, the official signed in that official capacity, and the seal is the registry's own.
It says nothing about the marriage itself. Whether your home country treats you as married is decided by its own law, and the apostille only proves that the Georgian paper in front of its officials is real.
In Georgia the stamp is issued by the Public Service Development Agency, which sits under the Ministry of Justice, and the Convention has been in force for Georgia since 14 May 2007. An apostille is the single-stamp way of legalizing a Georgian marriage certificate: for a Convention country, nothing is added after it.
Only Georgia can apostille a Georgian document, because an apostille always comes from the country where the document was issued. The rule runs in both directions, so a divorce decree from home reaches the Tbilisi registry already apostilled by the country that granted it.
From our Tbilisi team
If an office in a Convention country asks for the certificate to be "legalized", the apostille answers that request. Article 3 of the Convention makes the apostille the only formality a member country may require to verify the signature and seal, and we tell couples to quote that article if a counter at home asks for an embassy stamp as well.
Countries That Accept a Georgian Apostille
The Convention had 130 contracting parties when the HCCH last updated its status table on 30 June 2026, and it keeps growing: it took effect for Canada only in January 2024. Here are the dates for common destinations, and the countries that stay outside.
| Country | Takes the apostille | Convention in force since |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Yes | 24 January 1965 |
| Germany | Yes | 13 February 1966 |
| Israel | Yes | 14 August 1978 |
| United States | Yes | 15 October 1981 |
| India | Yes | 14 July 2005 |
| Oman | Yes | 30 January 2012 |
| Bahrain | Yes | 31 December 2013 |
| Philippines | Yes | 14 May 2019 |
| Saudi Arabia | Yes | 7 December 2022 |
| Pakistan | Yes | 9 March 2023 |
| Canada | Yes | 11 January 2024 |
| United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait | No, legalization instead | Not a party |
| Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iran | No, legalization instead | Not a party |
Dates from the HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention, last updated 30 June 2026.
For the countries in the last 2 rows, an apostille is the wrong stamp. Their certificates go through embassy legalization instead, which starts with the same Georgian fee and ends at the destination country's embassy, and a legalized certificate works in that country alone.
Say where the certificate is going before you pay
An apostille and a legalization cost the same at the Public Service Hall, so the price will not tell you that you ordered the wrong one. A couple living in Doha who fly home with an apostille find that Qatar does not accept it, and the certificate has to start again with a Georgian legalization before the embassy stage can follow.
How to Apostille a Marriage Certificate in Tbilisi
You order the apostille after the registration, at the same kind of office. The agency's apostille rules (opens in a new tab) let anyone interested apply, so a friend or a representative can file it once you have gone home.
- Ask for a printed certificate. Marriage certificates have been electronic since 1 June 2021 and are printed on request, so ask for the paper copy if the apostille is going on paper.
- Name the country. A Convention country takes an apostille; the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and the others outside it take a legalization, ordered at the same counter.
- Apply at any branch. Tbilisi's Public Service Halls are Central, on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Embankment, Gldani and Varketili, and any of them will do, not only the hall where you married.
- Pick the speed and pay. You pay per document, and the working day you collect sets the fee, from GEL 30 to GEL 150.
- Order the translation. The agency also translates the documents it apostilles, so ask for it if your country wants the certificate in its own language.
- Collect and read it. Check both names and the date against your passports at the counter, because a correction later means a new certificate and a new apostille.
Before you order the apostille
- The country, or countries, that will use the certificate
- Whether each one is in the Convention or needs legalization
- Whether the office at home accepts an e-apostille, if you would rather skip the paper
- The language your country wants the translation in
- The date of your flight home, which sets the speed you pay for
- Both names on the certificate spelled exactly as in your passports
How Long an Apostille Takes in Georgia
Speed is the only thing the fee buys. The same apostille on the same certificate costs 5 times as much on the day you apply as it does on the 8th working day.
| Where you apply | Ready | Fee | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Hall or agency office | Same day | GEL 150 | A flight home the next working day |
| Public Service Hall or agency office | 2nd working day | GEL 120 | Staying 2 working days after you apply |
| Public Service Hall or agency office | 4th working day | GEL 60 | Staying most of a working week |
| Public Service Hall or agency office | 8th working day | GEL 30 | Staying into the second week, or someone to collect it |
| Georgian consulate abroad | Within 8 working days | USD 10 | Couples already home, near a consulate |
| Video call to the agency from abroad | Within 3 working days | GEL 55 | Couples already home who need it soon |
| Online, with a qualified electronic signature | Within 3 working days | GEL 50 | An e-apostille for offices that accept electronic documents |
Fees set by the Public Service Development Agency. At a Public Service Hall, a legalization costs the same as an apostille at each of the 4 speeds.
Working days leave out weekends and Georgia's public holidays. The 2 still ahead in 2026 fall on Wednesday 14 October and Monday 23 November, so an apostille ordered in either of those weeks comes back a day later than a count of weekdays suggests.
Flying out before the 8th working day does not force you onto the GEL 150 tier. Once you are home, the video-call route costs GEL 55 and a Georgian consulate charges USD 10, both well under the GEL 120 and GEL 150 you would pay to have it before an early flight.
From our Tbilisi team
We ask couples how many offices at home will keep the original, not just how many will see it. A civil register that files your certificate keeps its apostille too, so a couple who need one copy for the register and one for a visa application order 2 certificates and 2 apostilles: a repeat certificate from GEL 5 and each apostille from GEL 30.
Apostille Cost and the $500 Apostille Package
Registration at the registrar's desk is free, so on the apostille route the cost of getting married in Georgia is mostly the stamp and the translation. At the slowest speed, with a certificate that fits on a single translated page, the state takes about GEL 60.
State fees on the apostille route
- Registration without a ceremony, weekdays
- Free
- Apostille, 8th working day to same day
- GEL 30 to 150
- Agency translation of the certificate
- GEL 30 per page
- Repeat certificate, for a second apostilled copy
- GEL 5 to 50
- Free registration, 8th-day apostille, 1 translated page
- About GEL 60
A ceremony adds GEL 75 to 255. Flights, hotel nights and anyone you pay to help come on top.
Our Apostille package costs $500 and runs the whole route for you. It covers the document check and certified translations, the registry booking, an interpreter and 2 witnesses at the Public Service Hall, a coordinator with you on the day, and the apostilled certificate couriered to your address.
The state fees and the translation of the certificate are inside that price. If the registry turns you away for something our document check should have caught, you get a full refund.
Translating the Apostilled Certificate
An apostille translates nothing. The certificate stays in Georgian, and Georgia issues no multilingual version, so an office abroad that cannot read Georgian will ask for a translation alongside the stamp.
The agency covers 8 languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Russian and Turkish, at GEL 30 a page in Georgia or USD 10 a page through a Georgian consulate. For a country whose language is not on that list, such as the Netherlands or Poland, you arrange a translation of the certificate with a translator that country accepts.