Georgia has no waiting period for marriage, so a foreign couple can register on the day they apply. The registration fits into 1 working day in Tbilisi and costs nothing without a ceremony. What sets the length of your trip is the calendar the registry keeps and the apostille or legalization your certificate needs at home. Here is each step with its time and fee, and the days to plan around.
Quick summary
- Georgia has no waiting period: you register on the day you apply or on any day you choose within the 2 months the application stays valid.
- There is no paid express registration, and a registration without a ceremony at a Public Service Hall is free.
- The free registration runs Monday to Friday; at weekends you marry with a ceremony, at Tbilisi Central Public Service Hall for GEL 75 or at a Wedding House for GEL 225.
- The apostille is the only step you can pay to speed up: GEL 30 on the 8th working day, GEL 60 on the 4th, GEL 120 on the 2nd or GEL 150 the same day.
- Plan 2 working days in Tbilisi if your country accepts an apostille, and longer for the UAE, Qatar or Kuwait, whose embassies attest the certificate after the Georgian stamps.
On this page
How Long It Takes to Get Married in Georgia
The legal part is short. Georgia sets no notice period and no minimum stay, so getting married in Georgia can happen on the day you apply: you sign a joint application at a Public Service Hall, sit with the registrar and 2 adult witnesses, and sign the marriage record. The rest of the time goes on what comes before and after that visit.
| Step | How long | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Entering Georgia | No wait for visa-free nationalities; about 5 working days for an e-visa | Your passport |
| Application to registration | The same day, or any day you pick within 2 months | Your chosen date and how busy the office is |
| Registration | 1 visit, with your 2 witnesses | Weekdays are free; weekends need a ceremony |
| Apostille | The same day to the 8th working day | The fee you pay, from GEL 150 down to GEL 30 |
| Legalization for a country outside the Apostille Convention | The same Georgian tiers, then the embassy's own time | The destination country's embassy |
Couples who enter on a tourist visa or a visa-free stamp register on the same terms as residents, because the one condition for a foreign partner is being in Georgia legally on the day. Citizens of more than 90 countries, including every EU state, the UK and the US, need no visa at all and can stay up to a full year.
Same-Day Marriage Registration in Tbilisi
Same-day registration is the rule, not a paid extra. Under the registry's rules your marriage is registered at the time you give on the application, and that can be the day you apply. An office with too many applications can turn down a same-day slot and offer a later one. It has to register you that day only in special circumstances, such as the birth of a child or a real threat to life.
There is no express tier for the registration itself. The state fees for a marriage change with the venue and, at a Wedding House, with the day of the week, but never with speed. The one step you can pay to hurry is the apostille.
Ready for a same-day registration
- Both passports are valid and show your names in Latin letters
- Both of you can be there on the date: a representative can file the application, but never attend the registration
- 2 adult witnesses are free on the day and have their passports or ID cards with them
- Each foreign partner can show the entry stamp, visa or residence permit they came in on
- Your date is a weekday and not a Georgian public holiday
Getting Married in Georgia on a Weekend
You can marry on a Saturday or Sunday, but not for free. The registration without a ceremony runs Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00. At weekends Tbilisi Central Public Service Hall opens from 10:00 to 17:00 for registrations with a ceremony, and both Tbilisi Wedding Houses open on Saturday and Sunday.
| Day | Registration without a ceremony | Ceremony at a Public Service Hall | Wedding House |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Free, any Public Service Hall | GEL 75 | No. 2, GEL 135 |
| Tuesday | Free, any Public Service Hall | GEL 75 | No. 2, GEL 135 |
| Wednesday | Free, any Public Service Hall | GEL 75 | No. 3, GEL 135 |
| Thursday | Free, any Public Service Hall | GEL 75 | No. 3, GEL 135 |
| Friday | Free, any Public Service Hall | GEL 75 | No. 2 or No. 3, GEL 135 |
| Saturday | Not offered | Tbilisi Central only, GEL 75 | No. 2 or No. 3, GEL 225 |
| Sunday | Not offered | Tbilisi Central only, GEL 75 | No. 2 or No. 3, GEL 225 |
A registration at a place you choose costs GEL 255 on any day; for a weekend date, apply at least 1 day ahead.
A ceremony slot can be booked online. You pay 50% within 1 hour of the confirmation and the rest when the application is registered, so a couple flying in on a Friday night can hold a Saturday date before they land.
From our Tbilisi team
When a couple is set on a weekend date, we book the ceremony slot before anyone books a flight. A flight is the easier of the two to move.
Public Holidays When the Registry Is Closed
Public Service Halls treat every public holiday set by Georgian labor law as a rest day for their staff, and their weekend service does not run when a Saturday or Sunday falls on one. Wedding Houses keep working on most holidays, which makes them the fallback for a date that lands on one.
| Holiday dates | Wedding Houses |
|---|---|
| 1 and 2 January | Closed |
| 7 January | Closed |
| 19 January | Open on their usual days |
| 3 and 8 March | Open on their usual days |
| 9 April | Open on their usual days |
| Orthodox Easter, Good Friday to Easter Monday | Closed |
| 9, 12, 17 and 26 May | Open on their usual days |
| 28 August | Open on their usual days |
| 14 October | Open on their usual days |
| 23 November | Open on their usual days |
Orthodox Easter moves each year. The government can also add days off for public offices, as it did for 5 and 6 January 2026.
How Long the Apostille Takes
The apostille on your marriage certificate is the one step with paid speed tiers, and the tier you pick decides how long you stay. You order it at any Public Service Hall, and the Public Service Development Agency (opens in a new tab) prices it by route and by how fast you need it.
| Route | Ready | Fee per document |
|---|---|---|
| In person in Georgia | The same day | GEL 150 |
| In person in Georgia | On the 2nd working day | GEL 120 |
| In person in Georgia | On the 4th working day | GEL 60 |
| In person in Georgia | On the 8th working day | GEL 30 |
| From abroad by video call, or an e-apostille on an electronic document | Within 3 working days | GEL 55 |
| E-apostille applied for online with a qualified electronic signature | Within 3 working days | GEL 50 |
| At a Georgian consulate abroad | Within 8 working days | USD 10 |
The remote routes let you apply after you have left Georgia, so the apostille need not hold up your flight home.
Countries outside the Apostille Convention, among them the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, need legalization instead. The Georgian stage costs the same and runs on the same tiers, and the agency collects the Foreign Ministry's stamp for you. The destination's embassy then attests the certificate on its own clock. The UAE Embassy in Tbilisi charges USD 41 for a marriage document and publishes no processing time, and the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs then attests the original in the UAE for AED 150.
What speed adds to the state fees
- Weekday registration, apostille on the 8th working day
- GEL 30
- Weekday registration, same-day apostille
- GEL 150
- Saturday ceremony at Tbilisi Central, same-day apostille
- GEL 225
- Saturday at a Wedding House, same-day apostille
- GEL 375
Per certificate. An agency translation adds GEL 30 a page, and flights and hotel nights come on top.
How Many Days to Plan in Tbilisi
Count 1 weekday for the registration, then add the apostille tier you choose. A trip usually takes one of these shapes.
| Plan | How it runs | Time in Tbilisi | State fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fastest, apostille country | Register on a weekday, order a same-day apostille the next working day | 2 working days | GEL 150 |
| Weekend | Ceremony at Tbilisi Central on Saturday, same-day apostille on Monday | Saturday to Monday | GEL 225 |
| Shortest stay | Register on a weekday, fly home, apply for the apostille by video call | 1 working day | GEL 55 |
| UAE | Register on a weekday, same-day legalization the next working day, then the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi | 2 working days plus the embassy's time | GEL 150 and USD 41, then AED 150 in the UAE |
From our Tbilisi team
We plan 1 spare working day between the registration and the flight home. If the office cannot fit you in on the day you apply, the spare day absorbs the move and the apostille is still ready before you leave.
What Delays a Marriage in Georgia
- A passport without Latin letters. It needs a Georgian translation certified by a notary, an extra stop before the registry.
- A visa. If your passport is not on the visa-free list, the e-visa decision takes about 5 working days and costs USD 20 plus a 2% service fee.
- A Gulf residence permit near its expiry. Since 16 May 2025, citizens of 17 countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh among them, need at least 1 year left on a Gulf permit to enter visa-free.
- A missing witness. The registration needs 2 adult witnesses with ID in the room, so a witness who drops out stops it until you find another.
- A public holiday or a weekend. Either one takes the free registration off the calendar, so a Friday arrival before a Monday holiday means waiting until Tuesday or paying for a ceremony.
Apostille the divorce decree before you book
A foreign divorce decree or death certificate is accepted only with an apostille or legalization from the country that issued it. Nobody in Tbilisi can add that stamp, so a decree that arrives without it means flying home and coming back.