Greek translation with notarised certification

On the Greek direction notarisation stands between two different systems: the Georgian one, where the notary gives the translation its official status, and the Greek one, where since 2021 the same function is performed by a certified translator entered in the register of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by a lawyer. Tens of thousands of Georgians live in Greece, and a certified translation follows every stage of their life: residence, marriage, the birth of a child, study, pension, confirmation of Greek origin. On this page we explain what a Georgian notary certifies on a Greek translation, how the Greek system works after the reform, who issues the apostille in both countries, how the ELOT 743 transliteration problem is solved and on which detail a package is most often returned.

What the Georgian notary certifies

The notary does not check the Greek text; they certify that the translation was made and signed by a translator who is registered in their register in the Greek-Georgian language pair and whose qualification has been checked in advance. There are few registered Greek translators in Georgia, compared with English, and the translation cannot be made by "an acquaintance who worked in Greece" unless they are registered with the notary. The procedure is standard: the translation is bound to a copy of the original or to the original, the translator signs in the presence of the notary, the notary stamps and assigns a register number by which the authenticity of the document can later be checked. This form is valid in every Georgian authority, is necessary for submitting a Greek document in Georgia and, in our experience, a significant part of Greek authorities accept it directly with an apostille.

The Greek system: the register of certified translators and lawyer's certification

Until September 2021 official translation in Greece was made by the Translation Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Georgians living in Greece know it well. Under the new law (4781/2021) this service was abolished and the Register of Certified Translators was created: a translator entered in the register, after an examination and registration, certifies the translation with their own stamp, signature and register number, and an electronic platform provides verification of the translation. In parallel a Greek lawyer has the right under the Code of Lawyers to certify a translation from a language they command, and this route is widely used in practice, especially for court and notarial cases.

Register translators in the Georgian-Greek pair exist in Greece, though they are few, and the practice of Greek authorities differs: the lixiarchio of municipalities, the Decentralised Administration and DOATAP often accept a Georgian apostilled notarised translation, some courts and the migration service require a register translator's or lawyer's certification. When taking the order we find out who the recipient is, and when needed we cooperate with a partner in Greece who transfers our translation onto the register letterhead or executes it with a lawyer's certification.

The apostille in Greece: the Decentralised Administration and the Court of First Instance

Greece has been a member of the Hague Convention since 1985, and the body issuing the apostille depends on the type of document:

• On civil status extracts (ληξιαρχική πράξη), the family status certificate, diplomas, the criminal record certificate and other administrative documents the apostille is put by the Decentralised Administration (Αποκεντρωμένη Διοίκηση), by the region where the document was issued
• On court judgments, notarial deeds and a translation certified by a lawyer, by the Court of First Instance (Πρωτοδικείο)
• On church documents (baptism, church marriage certificate) the apostille is put only after the relevant metropolis or the lixiarchio confirms it in administrative form

A frequent mistake is when a marriage certificate or diploma brought from Greece has no apostille and the client tries to "fix" it in Georgia. This is impossible: the apostille is put only by the issuing country. For a relative living in Greece this is one visit, for someone who has arrived in Georgia weeks of sending it back.

The apostille in Georgia: on the original or on the translation

A Georgian document intended for Greece receives its apostille at the Public Service Hall, and two sequences exist: the apostille on the original, after which the whole package, including the apostille, is translated, or the apostille on the already certified translation, to confirm the notary's signature. Greek authorities, as a rule, require the apostille on the original and evaluate the translation separately, and the Greek translation of the apostille is included in the package, because a Greek official also checks the content of the apostille fields. When working with a partner in Greece the apostilled original and the working version of our translation go together. We clarify the recipient's requirement in advance, because a double apostille is an unnecessary expense, and one put in the wrong place is a reason for refusal.

The most frequently certified documents on the Greek direction

• Marriage and birth certificates for family reunification and registration at a Greek lixiarchio
• Criminal record certificate for a residence permit and citizenship
• Greek lixiarchio extract and family status certificate for civil status registration in Georgia
• Diploma, transcript and school certificate for DOATAP and enrolment
• The package proving Greek origin: birth certificates, a copy of the Soviet passport, church and archival records
• Greek court divorce judgment for recognition in Georgia
• EFKA pension certificates and extract of insurance periods for the Pension Agency of Georgia
• GEMI extract, charter and power of attorney for business and real estate
• Seafarer's certificates and crewing contract for Greek shipping companies
• Church documents: baptism certificate, wedding certificate

ELOT 743 and the passport: a double transliteration system

The most frequent reason for refusal on the Greek direction is a mismatch in the spelling of a name, and its source is the Greek state's transliteration standard ELOT 743. A Greek authority first writes a Georgian's name in Greek letters, then derives the Latin form from this Greek form under ELOT 743, and the result often does not match the Latin line of the Georgian passport: Giorgi Beridze may appear on a Greek residence card as Gkiorgki Mperitze. In a notarised translation we record both forms: when translating from Georgian into Greek we write the name in Greek letters and indicate the Latin form from the Georgian passport unchanged; when translating from Greek into Georgian we write the Georgian transcription, the Latin form of the passport in brackets, and the ELOT form of the Greek card in a note. If the difference between the two forms is substantial and the authority regards it as a problem, a certificate of identity of name is needed, which we also translate. We share the transliteration table with the client so that one rule remains for future documents too.

The gender form of the surname, the father's name and cases

A Greek surname changes by gender (Παπαδόπουλος and Παπαδοπούλου are the man and the woman of one family), the father's name is an obligatory field in Greek documents and is written in the genitive case, and foreign names too appear in case forms. In a notarised Georgian translation the female form of a Greek surname goes across as it is in the specific person's document, with the gender form preserved, and a note is attached to the translation that this is the gender form of one surname, otherwise a Georgian authority perceives the spouses as bearers of "different surnames"; the father's name is reduced from the genitive to the nominative and written in the corresponding field of the Georgian document; the case forms of a Georgian name are reduced to the passport form. Greek titles (Δρ., καθηγητής) go into Georgian with an explanation.

Lixiarchio, dimotologio and double registration

For a Georgian living in Greece every family event is registered in two countries, and the Greek system uses two separate registers: the lixiarchio (Ληξιαρχείο), the civil status office, where births, marriages and deaths are registered, and the dimotologio (Δημοτολόγιο), the municipal register, where the family status certificate (πιστοποιητικό οικογενειακής κατάστασης) is issued, a concept of the Greek system with no direct Georgian analogue. A Greek lixiarchio extract is submitted to the Public Service Hall of Georgia with an apostille and a notarised Georgian translation, while a Georgian marriage or birth certificate goes to a Greek lixiarchio with an apostille and a Greek translation. The family status certificate goes into the Georgian translation with an explanation, because it goes beyond the function of a Georgian certificate and unites all members of the family in one document.

The Greek origin package: old, handwritten, in Russian

The procedure of confirming Greek origin and the EDTO requires the most difficult package of documents: birth certificates of several generations, a copy of the Soviet-period passport with the "nationality" entry, church records, archival certificates, often in Russian, handwritten and damaged. Notarising these documents requires two or three language pairs (Russian, Georgian, Greek), and the translation notes which fragment is from which language; an illegible place is marked with a note and is not filled in by guesswork. The transliteration of names is especially sensitive here, because the same Greek surname is written in a Russian form in a Soviet document, in a Georgian form in a Georgian document and in a Greek form in a Greek document, and the translation must link all three to one person. We have prepared these packages for years and know the requirements of the Greek consulate.

Notarised, agency-stamped, register-translator and lawyer's certification

By "certification" clients on the Greek direction mean four different procedures. Certification by a Georgian notary is confirmation of the translator's signature, is valid in Georgian authorities and is enough, with an apostille, for some Greek authorities. Certification with the agency stamp is our stamp and the translator's signature, which is enough for clinics, some employers, shipping companies and business partners. A register translator's certification is done in Greece, by a person in the register of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a lawyer's certification by a Greek lawyer, and both are valid in every Greek authority. When taking the order we ask who the recipient of the document is, and choose the right one of the four.

Certifying a copy of the original and the double package

In the procedures of DOATAP, the maritime administration and the pension body the same document is often needed by several authorities at the same time, and letting the original out of your hands is unthinkable. In such a case the package requires a double notarial act: certification of a copy of the original, by which the notary confirms that the copy matches the original, and certification of the translation, which is bound to the already certified copy. For certifying a copy the original must be brought physically, which we tell you in advance; for the translation a clear scan is enough. In Greece a copy is certified by a lawyer, a police station or a Citizens' Service Centre (KEP), and a Greek "ακριβές αντίγραφο" is accepted in Georgia with an apostille and translation just like an original, provided the certification clause is translated in full.

Power of attorney for Greece

A power of attorney issued from Georgia to manage property, conduct an inheritance case, manage a company or represent someone in court in Greece must follow the standard wording of a Greek notary (συμβολαιογράφος): the Greek Civil Code clearly distinguishes the forms of representation, and a power of attorney for a real estate transaction in Greece must be in notarial form and carry exact powers, with the cadastre data of the property indicated. So we first prepare the text of a power of attorney intended for Greece by the logic of Greek notarial practice, then it is executed in Georgian with a Georgian notary, translated into Greek and the apostille is attached. For a Georgian living in Greece an alternative is executing the power of attorney at the Georgian embassy in Athens, which shortens the chain, and we offer this variant too.

Validity of certificates and calendar planning

Greek authorities accept some certificates with a limited validity period: the criminal record certificate and the family status certificate are, as a rule, valid for several months from issue, and if the certified translation reaches the authority after this period, the package is returned. So we advise obtaining the certificate shortly before submission and fitting the translation, apostille and certification into one week. Our express mode exists precisely for this. A calendar detail must be taken into account: Greek authorities practically do not work during Easter week, in mid-August and on national holidays, and Greek Easter does not always coincide with Georgian Easter, which we take into account when planning the deadline.

Electronic certification: gov.gr and Georgia's electronic apostille

Greece has moved sharply ahead in electronic administration in recent years: the gov.gr portal issues certificates, extracts and solemn declarations (υπεύθυνη δήλωση) electronically, with a verification code, and a register translator's translation is certified on an electronic platform. In Georgia too the electronic apostille is developing. A Georgian notary certifies a gov.gr document in printed form, the verification code stays unchanged in the translation and is marked with a note; the apostille on a gov.gr document is put in Greece, and we clarify this question with the client in advance, because the practice of apostilling an electronic certificate varies between authorities.

Deadlines and organisation

A translation with notarisation is ready within one working day, in express mode within 1-2 hours. The apostille is added within the Public Service Hall deadlines; when cooperating with a register translator or a lawyer in Greece the deadline is calculated separately and communicated in advance. You upload the document on the website, your presence at the notary is not needed, you receive the finished package electronically or by courier, and for sending to Greece we arrange the international courier ourselves. All documents are processed under a confidentiality agreement.

Typical mistakes that get a package returned

On the Greek direction the reasons for refusal are usually the same: a mismatch between the ELOT 743 form and the passport form, wrong conveyance of the gender form of the surname, merging the father's name with the surname, no apostille on the Greek original, omitting the text of a seal, expiry of a certificate, or submitting Georgian notarisation to a court where a lawyer's or register translator's certification was required. If your translation has already been refused, we first establish the exact reason, often from the authority's written answer, and correct only the faulty link.

Frequently asked questions