Georgia registers civil marriages for foreign couples with no residency rule and no waiting period. You need your passports, two adult witnesses and one working day in Tbilisi together, and a registration without a ceremony is free. This guide covers who can marry, the documents, the day at the Public Service Hall, the apostille that makes your certificate count abroad, and what it all costs.
Quick summary
- Any two adults of the opposite sex can marry in Georgia, whatever their nationality or religion, with no residency requirement and no waiting period.
- You need valid passports, proof you are in Georgia legally, two adult witnesses with ID, and a legalized divorce or death certificate if either of you was married before.
- A passport showing your name in Latin letters needs no translation; other foreign documents need an apostille or legalization and a notarized Georgian translation.
- Registration without a ceremony at a Public Service Hall is free, and a ceremony costs GEL 75 at a Public Service Hall or GEL 135 to 225 at a Wedding House.
- Abroad, the certificate needs an apostille (GEL 30 to 150) or, for the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait, legalization plus embassy attestation.
- Both of you must attend in person: Georgia has no online or proxy marriage and does not register same-sex marriages.
On this page
Who Can Get Married in Georgia
Georgian law asks four things of a couple: both partners are 18 or older, they are a man and a woman, neither is already married, and they are not close relatives. It does not ask about nationality, religion or where you live, so two foreigners from different countries marry on exactly the same terms as two Georgians.
The one condition that applies only to foreigners is being in Georgia legally on the day. You prove it with the entry stamp, visa or residence permit that let you in. There is no minimum stay, so a couple can land in the morning and register the same afternoon.
The minimum age of 18 has no exceptions. Georgia removed the court-approved route for 16 and 17 year olds in 2016, and the last transitional cases lapsed on 1 January 2017.
Documents You Need to Marry in Georgia
The official list from the Public Service Development Agency (opens in a new tab) is short. You sign a joint application at the office, and everything else is identity documents and proof that nothing stands in the way.
| Document | Who brings it | Translation or legalization |
|---|---|---|
| Valid passport | Both partners | None if the passport shows your name in Latin letters; otherwise a notarized Georgian translation |
| Proof of lawful stay | Each foreign partner | The entry stamp, visa or residence permit you entered on |
| Identity document | Two adult witnesses | A foreign passport in Latin letters is accepted untranslated |
| Divorce certificate or decree, or the former spouse's death certificate | Anyone married before | An apostille or legalization from the issuing country, plus a notarized Georgian translation |
| Georgian ID card | A partner who is a Georgian citizen | None |
A certificate of no impediment from your home country is not on the list. Georgia relies on the application you sign, and the official explains the legal bars to marriage before you do. Some home countries still want one when you register the marriage back there, so check that side separately. A couple who want a prenuptial agreement in Georgia sign it before a notary, and one signed before the registration takes effect on the day you marry.
Before you book flights
- Both passports are valid and show your names in Latin letters
- If either of you was married before, the divorce or death certificate carries an apostille or legalization from the country that issued it
- Two adult witnesses are arranged, with their passports or ID cards
- You know whether you enter Georgia visa-free, on a residence permit or with an e-visa
- You know whether your home country takes an apostille or needs embassy legalization
Legalize a divorce decree before you fly
Only the country that issued a divorce decree or death certificate can apostille or legalize it. If it reaches Tbilisi without that stamp, the registry turns the application away, and nothing done in Georgia fixes it: you fly home, get the stamp and book the trip again.
How to Get Married in Georgia, Step by Step
- Check your documents at home. Go through the documents the registry asks for: passports, the witnesses' IDs, and a legalized divorce or death certificate if either of you was married before.
- Enter Georgia legally. Keep the entry stamp, visa or residence permit you came in on; it is your proof of lawful stay.
- Translate what needs translating. A Georgian translation of a foreign divorce decree, or of a passport without Latin letters, is certified by a notary in Tbilisi. The notary charges GEL 6 for a one-page document plus GEL 5 to register the act.
- Apply at a Public Service Hall. You both sign the joint application. You can register the same day or pick any day within 2 months, which is how long an application stays valid.
- Register. You, your partner and the two witnesses sit with the registrar, who explains the legal bars to marriage. Each of you reads the marriage record and signs it, and so do the witnesses.
- Collect the certificate. Marriage certificates have been issued electronically since 1 June 2021 and are published on the agency's system; a paper copy is issued on request.
- Legalize it for home. Order an apostille, or legalization for a country outside the Apostille Convention, at any Public Service Hall.
Same-day registration is the rule rather than a paid extra. An office can decline to fit you in on the day you apply when it is too busy, so an early application on a weekday gives you the best chance of walking out married.
From our Tbilisi team
We book couples in on a weekday morning. The free registration without a ceremony is not offered at weekends in Tbilisi, and a morning application leaves the rest of the day free if the office asks you to come back that afternoon.
Where to Register a Marriage in Tbilisi
Any Public Service Hall registers marriages, and Tbilisi has three branches: Central on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Embankment, Gldani and Varketili. A ceremony moves the same registration into a hall for it, at a state fee.
| Where | What happens | When | State fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Service Hall | Registration at the registrar's desk | Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 18:00 | Free |
| Public Service Hall | Registration with a short ceremony | Weekdays; Tbilisi Central also Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00 | GEL 75 |
| Wedding House No. 2 or No. 3 | Registration with a ceremony | No. 2 opens Monday, Tuesday and Friday to Sunday; No. 3 Wednesday to Sunday | GEL 135 on weekdays, GEL 225 at weekends |
| A place you choose | The registrar comes to you | Apply at least a day ahead | GEL 255 |
The legal result is the same whichever row you pick. A civil registration is the only thing that creates a marriage in Georgia; a church, mosque or synagogue ceremony can follow it, but it adds nothing in law.
Apostille or Legalization: Making the Certificate Count Abroad
A Georgian certificate is valid in Georgia the moment it is issued. To use it anywhere else, the certificate needs legalizing with a stamp that tells the other country it is genuine. Georgia has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2007, so for most countries that stamp is an apostille.
The apostille and legalization service (opens in a new tab) runs through the same agency and any Public Service Hall. The fee depends only on speed: GEL 30 for the 8th working day, GEL 60 for the 4th, GEL 120 for the 2nd and GEL 150 for the same day.
Countries outside the convention need legalization instead. It costs the same at the Public Service Hall, which also collects the Foreign Ministry's stamp for you, and then the destination country's embassy in Tbilisi certifies it. After that the certificate is valid in that one country.
| Country | Route | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Israel, India, the Philippines | Apostille | Long-standing members of the convention |
| Saudi Arabia | Apostille | Member since 7 December 2022 |
| Pakistan | Apostille | Member since 9 March 2023 |
| Canada | Apostille | Member since 11 January 2024 |
| Bahrain, Oman | Apostille | The two Gulf states in the convention before Saudi Arabia |
| United Arab Emirates | Legalization | Then the UAE Embassy in Tbilisi (USD 41 for a marriage document) and MOFA attestation in the UAE |
| Qatar, Kuwait | Legalization | Then the country's embassy |
| Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iran | Legalization | Then the country's embassy or the consulate covering Georgia |
Your home country decides what it does with the certificate once it arrives, from simply accepting it to asking you to register the marriage locally. Georgia does not issue multilingual certificates, so most countries also want a translation. The agency translates into English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Russian or Turkish for GEL 30 a page.
What It Costs to Get Married in Georgia
The state side of getting married is cheap. A couple who register without a ceremony and use their certificate in an apostille country pay the Georgian state about GEL 60 in total.
State fees for a marriage in Georgia
- Registration at a Public Service Hall, no ceremony
- Free
- Registration with a ceremony or away from the office
- GEL 75 to 255
- Apostille or legalization of the certificate
- GEL 30 to 150
- Agency translation of the certificate
- GEL 30 per page
- Notary certification of a one-page translation
- GEL 11
- No ceremony, apostille on the 8th working day, one translated page
- About GEL 60
Flights, the hotel, translators' own fees and any embassy fee come on top. The UAE Embassy in Tbilisi charges USD 41 to attest a marriage document.
What costs couples more than the fees is a wasted trip: a divorce decree without its stamp, a witness who cannot make it, or a certificate legalized for the wrong country. If you would rather hand all of that over, our two fixed-price packages cover it: $500 with an apostille, or $750 with embassy legalization for the Gulf.
Entering Georgia for Your Wedding
Citizens of 91 countries, including every EU state, the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Israel and the six Gulf states, enter Georgia without a visa and can stay a full year. Holders of a valid residence permit or visa from 50 listed places, among them the EU and Schengen states, the UK, the US and all six Gulf states, can enter visa-free for 90 days in any 180.
Everyone else applies for an electronic visa on the Georgian e-visa portal (opens in a new tab), which gives up to 90 days in any 180 depending on nationality.
From our Tbilisi team
If you live in the Gulf on a residence permit, check its expiry before you book. Since 16 May 2025, citizens of 17 countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh among them, need at least a year left on a Gulf permit to enter visa-free; with less than that, they apply for a visa instead.
Who Cannot Register a Marriage in Georgia
- Same-sex couples. The Constitution defines marriage as a union of a woman and a man, and a 2024 law bars registering or recognising same-sex marriages.
- Anyone under 18. No court or parent can consent to an earlier marriage.
- Anyone still married. The registry refuses the application until the earlier marriage has ended and there is a document to prove it.
- Close relatives. Georgian law bars marriage between close blood relatives and between an adoptive parent and child.
- A partner who is in Georgia unlawfully. Someone who has overstayed their permitted stay cannot prove lawful presence.
- A couple where one partner cannot travel. The application can be filed through a representative with a notarized power of attorney, but the registration itself needs both of you in the room.