A birth certificate is the document that proves a person's identity, parents and origin, which is why almost every serious procedure abroad asks for it: applying for citizenship or residence, family reunification, registering a marriage abroad, inheritance cases, enrolling a child in a school or kindergarten, arranging a pension or social benefits. An authority will accept its translation only if every name, date and record number is carried over exactly and the certification and apostille were done in the right order. Our bureau in Tbilisi, on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, translates birth certificates every day and notarizes them within one day.
Which birth certificates exist and how their translation differs
New-format certificate
Certificates issued in recent years by the Public Service Hall and the Public Service Development Agency are bilingual, Georgian-English, on A4 security paper. English-speaking authorities often accept them without a translation, but the apostille stamp is in Georgian only, so a translation is still needed. For other languages (German, Italian, Spanish, French, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew) the certificate is translated in full.
Soviet-era and 1990s certificate
Certificates issued before 1991 are bilingual, Georgian-Russian, with many handwritten entries that have faded over time. A specialist in both languages works on such a document, and hard-to-read fields are checked with you or against other documents. If the certificate is damaged or the authority asks for an apostille, it is often faster to obtain a duplicate certificate or an extract from the civil status record at the Public Service Hall.
Extract and duplicate certificate
An extract from the birth record carries the same legal force and often contains fuller information (the parents' citizenship, ethnicity, the place where the record was drawn up). Some countries, Italy and Spain for example, require the document to have been issued within the last six months; in that case obtaining a fresh extract and translating it is the best route.
What must be flawless in the translation
Names according to the parents' passports
A birth certificate contains three people's names: the child's, the mother's and the father's. Each of them must be written in Latin letters exactly as in the corresponding passport. If the child has no passport yet, the name follows the transliteration rule of the parent's passport so that no conflict arises later. A woman's surname often changes after marriage; in that case the translation carries the surname as it appears in the certificate, and where necessary the marriage certificate is attached to prove the change of surname.
Places, authorities, dates
The place of birth is transliterated and, where needed, the modern name is added in brackets (for example for towns recorded under a Soviet-era name). The name of the issuing authority, the record number, the date the record was drawn up, the series and form number stay unchanged. Handwritten notes, seals and stamps (including those about citizenship, passport issuance or a change of name) are described separately, because those notes are exactly what authorities tend to ask about.
Apostille on a birth certificate: the correct order
For Hague Convention countries (the EU, the United Kingdom, the USA, Turkey, Israel and others) a birth certificate needs an apostille. In Georgia the apostille on civil status documents is issued by the Public Service Hall and the Public Service Development Agency. The order is this:
- 1. Apostille on the original. The original certificate or a fresh extract receives the apostille at the Public Service Hall. The standard term is a few working days, expedited is shorter.
- 2. Translation together with the apostille. Both the certificate and the apostille stamp are translated as one document.
- 3. Notarization. The notary certifies the translator's signature and binds the translation to the original or to its notarized copy.
- 4. A second apostille (for some countries). Italy, Spain, Portugal and some German authorities require an apostille on the notarized translation itself; it is issued by the Ministry of Justice.
The most common mistake is translating before the apostille: the apostille text is then missing from the translation and the authority treats the document as incomplete. So if you have not started the translation yet, arrange the apostille first or hand both to us as one package. For countries outside the Convention, consular legalization replaces the apostille, and we arrange that too.
Typical cases
- Family reunification in the EU. The child's birth certificate with apostille and translation, plus the parents' marriage certificate; a consent of the other parent to travel is often added.
- Citizenship by descent. Applications for Italian, Israeli, Polish or Lithuanian citizenship need the birth, marriage and death certificates of several generations with one consistent transliteration; one translator prepares these packages so the surnames match across every document.
- Marriage abroad. The birth certificate is attached to the certificate of marital status and the passport; both are certified on the same day.
- Registering a child born abroad in Georgia. A foreign certificate (a German Geburtsurkunde, a Turkish or an American one) is translated into Georgian together with the apostille and submitted to the Public Service Hall.
- School and kindergarten abroad. A simple certified translation without an apostille is often enough; we check the requirement in advance.
Translating a foreign birth certificate into Georgian
To arrange Georgian citizenship, a passport or registration for a child born abroad, the foreign certificate is translated into Georgian and notarized. Here we often see multilingual EU forms (Regulation 2016/1191), the differing forms of US states and documents written in non-Latin scripts. Names are rendered in Georgian so that they match the parents' Georgian documents, and the foreign apostille and any additional stamps are translated in full.
Mistakes that get a birth certificate rejected
- The child's name transliterated differently from the parent's. The mother's surname has "Kh" in the passport, the child's has "X" in the translation: the authority questions the relationship. We translate one family's documents with one transliteration.
- A skipped reverse side. The back of older certificates often carries stamps about citizenship, passport issuance or a change of name. If they are missing from the translation, the document counts as incomplete.
- An outdated extract. For Italian and Spanish authorities an extract older than 6 months is useless, even with a flawless translation.
- "Translating" the place of birth. The name of a village or town must be transliterated, not translated; "Tskaltubo" must not turn into a descriptive phrase.
- Translation before the apostille. The most frequent and the most serious mistake, which restarts the whole process.
That is why at the start of every order we ask for copies of the passports, check both sides of the certificate and confirm the destination country, so that both the format and the deadlines are right from the outset.
Turnaround
A one-page birth certificate translation with notarization is ready within one working day, urgently on the same day. If you translate certificates of several family members at once, we prepare them in one visit and with one terminology. You can send us the document as a scan through the website form or by email, and receive the finished translation at the office, by courier or as a scan.
Frequently asked questions
Should I get the apostille first or translate first?
The apostille first. It is placed on the original certificate at the Public Service Hall, then the certificate is translated together with the apostille and the translation is notarized.
Will an old Soviet birth certificate do, or should I obtain a new one?
Both can be translated. If an apostille is needed, it is often simpler to obtain a duplicate certificate at the Public Service Hall, which receives the apostille without any problem.
Does a birth certificate translation have an expiry date?
The translation does not expire, but some authorities, for example Italian and Spanish ones, require the certificate itself or its extract to have been issued within the last 6 months.
How long does the translation take?
One working day including notarization. Obtaining the apostille at the Public Service Hall takes a few extra working days, less under the expedited procedure.