You need at least 2 witnesses to get married in Georgia. Every marriage registration takes place in front of them, whether you sign at a Public Service Hall desk or hold a ceremony at a Wedding House. The rules on who qualifies are short. The harder part is language, because the whole registration runs in Georgian. Here is who can be your witness, what they bring, and how to follow a registration held in Georgian.
Quick summary
- Georgian law requires at least 2 witnesses at every marriage registration, and without them the registrar cannot register the marriage.
- A witness must be 18 or older with full legal capacity; the law sets no nationality, residence or relationship rule, so relatives, friends and people you met in Tbilisi all qualify.
- Each witness brings a passport or Georgian ID card, and a foreign passport showing their name in Latin letters needs no translation.
- Witnesses sit with you at the registration and sign the marriage record themselves, so they have to be in the room on the day.
- You do not need to speak Georgian and no official rule requires an interpreter, but the registration is conducted in Georgian, so bring someone who can translate.
On this page
Do You Need Witnesses to Get Married in Georgia?
Yes, always. Georgia's Law on Civil Status Acts (opens in a new tab) says a marriage is registered in the presence of the couple and at least 2 witnesses of full age with legal capacity (Article 52(4)). The rule is the same for foreigners and Georgians, and it applies wherever you register: a Public Service Hall, a Wedding House or a place you choose.
Witnesses are the one part of marrying in Georgia as a foreign couple that depends on other people turning up. The registrar explains the legal bars to marriage, then each of you and both witnesses read the marriage record and sign it personally. Without 2 witnesses in the room, the registrar cannot go ahead.
Who Can Be a Witness at a Marriage in Georgia
The law asks 2 things of a witness: full age, which the Civil Code sets at 18, and full legal capacity, which every adult has unless a court has limited it. It says nothing about who they are to you, so parents and siblings qualify as readily as friends.
| Condition | Required | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Aged 18 or older | Yes | The passport or ID card shows it |
| Full legal capacity | Yes | Only a court can limit it |
| Present at the registration | Yes | Both witnesses sign the record in person |
| Identity document | Yes | A passport or Georgian ID card |
| Georgian citizenship | No | No official source sets a nationality rule |
| Living in Georgia | No | No residence rule applies to witnesses |
| Knowing the couple | No | Relatives, friends and people you just met all qualify |
From our Tbilisi team
We ask couples to pick witnesses who are already in Tbilisi the day before the registration. A witness landing on the morning flight is one delay away from holding up the whole appointment.
Documents Your Witnesses Bring
Your witnesses' papers are the lightest part of the documents a registration needs: each brings an identity document and nothing else, with no certificates and no apostilles.
The Public Service Development Agency (opens in a new tab) accepts a foreign passport without a Georgian translation if it shows the holder's details in Latin letters, as most do, and that covers witnesses too. A passport written only in another script needs a notarized Georgian translation. A Georgian witness brings their ID card or passport.
Check with each witness before the day
- Their passport or Georgian ID card will be with them on the day
- Their passport shows their name in Latin letters, or a notarized Georgian translation is ready
- They know the date, the time and the address, whether a Public Service Hall branch or a Wedding House
- They can stay for the whole appointment, including signing the record
- You have their full names and passport details for the application
When Your Witnesses Need to Be There
The law ties the witnesses to the registration itself, when the record is read and signed, not to the application. The registry's document list still includes their identity documents, so have their details ready when you apply.
Registration can take place the same day you apply or on any day you pick within 2 months, which is how long an application stays valid. With a same-day plan, bring your witnesses along from the start. With a later date, confirm they are free for that one appointment.
A missing witness stops the registration
The registrar needs both witnesses in the room before anyone signs. If one is stuck in traffic or has left their passport at the hotel, the registration waits, and on a short trip that can mean flying home unmarried. The application stays valid for 2 months; your flights may not.
Finding Witnesses If You Travel Alone
Coming to Tbilisi with no guests does not change the rule. Anyone who meets the conditions above can stand in, so a friend or colleague who lives in Georgia, or witnesses arranged by whoever prepares your paperwork, count the same in law as family. Both of our packages include 2 witnesses and an interpreter, booked with your registry appointment.
Do You Need to Speak Georgian to Get Married in Georgia?
No. Neither of you has to speak Georgian, and neither the law nor the registry's document lists require an interpreter. The registration is conducted in Georgian, though, because the law makes Georgian the language of the civil registry and of administrative proceedings.
That matters at the desk, where the registrar's explanation of the bars to marriage and the record you sign are both in Georgian. Unless one of you speaks it, bring someone who can translate.
From our Tbilisi team
Before you sign, we have the interpreter check how both names are spelled in the record against your passports. A misspelling in the record carries onto the certificate, and from there onto every apostilled copy you send home.
Georgia has no sworn-interpreter system, and we found no rule on who interprets at a registration. Certification applies to written documents instead: a foreign divorce decree, for example, needs a Georgian translation certified by a notary.
| Stage | Language | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| The joint application | Georgian | Someone to take you through it |
| The registrar's explanation of the bars to marriage | Georgian | An interpreter beside you |
| The marriage record you sign | Georgian | A translation, including how your names are spelled |
| Your passports | Any, if names are in Latin letters | Nothing, or a notarized Georgian translation if they are not |
| A foreign divorce decree or death certificate | Any | An apostille or legalization, plus a notarized Georgian translation |
| The marriage certificate | Georgian | A translation before you use it abroad |
State and notary fees for witnesses and translations
- Witnesses at the registration
- No state fee
- Registration without a ceremony at a Public Service Hall
- Free
- Notary certification of a one-page translation
- GEL 11 plus VAT
- Agency translation of the marriage certificate
- GEL 30 per page
The notary charges GEL 6 per translator's signature on a one-page document plus GEL 5 to register the act. Translators and interpreters charge their own fees on top.