Iran is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, and this one fact determines the whole logic of the Persian direction: a document moving between Tbilisi and Tehran needs two-stage consular legalisation instead of an apostille, and a translation that satisfies the bodies of both countries. We translate personal, educational, commercial and medical documents from Persian into Georgian and from Georgian into Persian, notarise them and coordinate legalisation through Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Embassy. This page describes how Iran's document system is organised, what the difference is between Persian, Dari and Tajik, and which details most often cause a body's refusal.
Without an apostille: the two stages of legalisation
Since Iran has not acceded to the 1961 Convention, a Georgian document goes through full consular legalisation to be submitted in Iran: first the Consular Department of Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the signature and seal on the document, then the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tbilisi confirms the ministry's certification. Only after that is the document valid for Iranian bodies. A notarised translation is either attached to this chain before legalisation or, at the Iranian body's request, the translation is done already in Iran, at an official translation bureau.
In the opposite direction, an Iranian document is first legalised at Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then at the Georgian Embassy in Tehran, or alternatively the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi confirms the document and Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the embassy's certification. Which route is faster depends on where the document's holder and the document are, and we plan both options together with the client.
Iran's official translation system: dar-ol-tarjomeh rasmi
In Iran the official status of a translation rests not on a notary but on the judiciary. An official translator (motarjem-e rasmi) is a person examined and licensed by the judiciary (qoveh-ye qazaiyeh) who heads an official translation bureau (dar-ol-tarjomeh rasmi); their translation is executed on a special form with a numbered seal. A translation to be submitted to an Iranian body often needs two more seals: confirmation by the judiciary and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ta'yid-e dadgostari va vezarat-e kharejeh).
This means that an Iranian state body does not always accept a Persian translation certified by a Georgian notary and often requires that the legalised Georgian original be translated in Iran at an official bureau. Our role in such cases is twofold: we prepare the Georgian original ready for legalisation and, at the client's wish, a working version of the Persian translation, which the Iranian bureau only transfers onto its official form. For a private organisation, a university or a business partner, our notarised translation is, as a rule, sufficient.
Persian, Dari and Tajik: three languages or one
Under "Persian" clients mean three different situations. Iranian Persian (Farsi) is written in the Arabic-Persian script and is the official language of Iran. Dari is one of the official languages of Afghanistan, in the same script but with different vocabulary, pronunciation and, most importantly for documents, entirely different administrative terminology: the Afghan identity document (tazkira) does not resemble the Iranian shenasnameh. Tajik is written in Cyrillic and is described on a separate page. Separate translators serve all three, and when ordering we clarify whether the document is from Iran, Afghanistan or Tajikistan, because the terminology and the system of bodies differ in all three.
Which documents move between Tbilisi and Tehran
Iranian citizens enter Georgia without a visa, and over the last decade a significant Iranian community has formed in Tbilisi: students, entrepreneurs, property owners. Accordingly, the list of typical documents is this:
- Shenasnameh (the birth and civil status document that accompanies an Iranian all their life) and the national card (kart-e melli)
- Marriage document (sanad-e ezdevaj) and divorce document (sanad-e talaq), executed in Iran at special notary offices
- Criminal record certificate (gavahi-ye adam-e su-e pishineh) for residence and citizenship matters
- Diploma (daneshnameh) and transcript (riznomarat) from Iranian universities
- Military service completion card (kart-e payan-e khedmat), which Iranian men present in many procedures
- Official deeds (sanad-e rasmi) for real estate and power of attorney (vekalatnameh)
- Company constitutional documents and the registration notice published in the official gazette (ruznameh-ye rasmi)
- Medical history and test results from Iranian clinics
The solar Hijri calendar: date conversion
All official Iranian documents use the solar Hijri calendar: the year 1404 begins in March 2025, the months are called Farvardin, Ordibehesht and so on, and the year changes at Nowruz, the spring equinox. In the translation we convert every date to the Gregorian calendar, with an exact algorithm and not approximately, and keep the original date in brackets. This is fundamentally important for the date of birth, which must match the passport, and for contract deadlines, where a one-day error has legal consequences. Iranian documents also use numerals in the Persian form (۱۴۰۴), which we render in the translation with ordinary Arabic numerals.
Script, names and transliteration
Persian is written from right to left, vowels are often not marked, and the same name can be written in Latin in several ways: Mohammad and Mohammed, Hossein and Hussein, Reza and Rezā. In an Iranian passport the name is given in Latin transliteration, and in the translation we use precisely the passport version; the Georgian transcription must be identical in all documents of one client, otherwise the Public Registry and the bank "see" two different people. The structure of an Iranian name also requires attention: in the shenasnameh the first name, surname and father's name are separate fields, and in the Georgian translation the father's name must not be merged with the surname, which happens regularly in unqualified translations.
Iranian students at Georgian universities
Tbilisi State Medical University, David Tvildiani Medical University, Caucasus International University and other private institutions admit Iranian students to English-language programmes, and in the enrolment package Iranian educational documents are translated into Georgian or English: the school diploma (diplom-e dabirestan), grades from a previous university, sometimes a certificate of military service status. Georgia's National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement recognises an Iranian diploma with legalisation and a notarised translation. In the opposite direction, the number of Georgian students at Iranian universities (the University of Tehran, Sharif University of Technology, the University of Tabriz) is small, but students and researchers of Persian philology regularly use Iranian academic scholarships, and their package is our work too.
Business and investment: working under sanctions
Iranian entrepreneurs register companies in Georgia in trade, tourism and real estate, and Georgian companies trade with Iran in food, timber and building materials. The background of this relationship is international sanctions, which complicate bank settlements and oblige banks to carry out enhanced checks of documents. For us this means that the translation of a company's constitutional documents, shareholder list and beneficial owner certificate must be especially accurate, because the compliance department of a Georgian bank makes its decision precisely on the basis of the translation. Iranian company forms (sherkat-e sahami-ye khas, a private joint-stock company; sherkat ba mas'uliyat-e mahdud, an LLC) are translated with the Georgian equivalent, while the registration number and the national identification code stay unchanged.
The Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi and the Georgian Embassy in Tehran
The consular section of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tbilisi handles legalisation, visas and the civil status acts of Iranian citizens, while the Georgian Embassy in Tehran serves Georgian citizens and the legalisation of Iranian documents. Both institutions have their own requirements for the form of a document: the embassy, as a rule, requires that the Persian translation already be bound and certified before legalisation, while on some documents first the seal of Georgia's foreign ministry and only then the translation. We clarify this sequence when ordering and spare the client from going twice in the wrong order.
The Georgian-Iranian cultural context: why it matters
Persian is not a foreign language for Georgia: a significant layer of Georgian vocabulary is of Persian origin, "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is in dialogue with the Persian epic, and in Iran's Fereydan region a Georgian-speaking community lives to this day, whose documents, family history and property papers are often needed in two languages. The Iranian studies department of Tbilisi State University and the Institute of Oriental Studies are the main source of Persian language specialists, and some of our translators come precisely from this school. This context is also useful in practice: an Iranian partner or official appreciates it when a translation observes the etiquette of Persian official style, while a Georgian translation correctly explains Iranian realities (Nowruz, mahr, the numbering of notary offices).
Residence, real estate and the bank: an Iranian citizen's papers in Georgia
The Iranian community that has formed in Tbilisi over the last decade deals with Georgian bodies daily, and every stage of this relationship requires translation. For a residence permit the Public Service Development Agency requires a legalised criminal record certificate, proof of income and, for family residence, the marriage document, all with a notarised Georgian translation. When buying real estate, the notary requires a translation of the passport and national card and, if the buyer is married, the spouse's consent or a document confirming marital status. When opening a bank account, the bank's compliance department assesses the documents on the source of income by their translation, and in the context of sanctions this check is especially detailed. We prepare these packages so that the Iranian citizen's name is written in every document with the same Georgian transcription and the same Latin form, otherwise one body reads the other's document as "a different person".
Tourism and localisation for the Iranian guest
Iranian tourists, especially during the two-week Nowruz holiday, are a significant audience for Georgia, and the materials of Georgian hotels, restaurants, medical centres and travel companies are localised into Persian. Localisation is work different from document translation: the text must sound natural in Persian, cultural realities must be carried over with explanation, and information about halal food, prayer space and alcohol must be formulated according to the Iranian guest's expectations. A website, a menu, hotel rules and a tour description go through a native copywriter, because advertising text that "sounds like a translation" does not work. Right-to-left script also changes a website's layout, and in localisation we advise the designer on text direction too.
What we cannot do and where we recommend another route
Honesty in this direction saves time especially, because legalisation is long. We cannot place an apostille on an Iranian document or one intended for Iran, because no such thing exists. We cannot promise that Georgian notarisation will be accepted at an Iranian state body, because the official bureau system operates there; instead, we will prepare the legalised original and a working version of the translation. We cannot translate a Dari or Tajik document with a Persian translator, and we cannot give you advice on sanctions compliance, which is a lawyer's job. In every such case we tell you exactly which route works, and where needed we coordinate the process on the Iranian side with a partner bureau ourselves.
Who translates and how quality is checked
At our agency a Persian translation to be notarised is performed only by a translator registered with a notary in the Persian-Georgian pair. A translation from Georgian into Persian is checked by a Persian-speaking editor, from Persian into Georgian by a Georgian-language editor, and date conversion, name transliteration and seal text are checked separately, at the format control stage. On medical and legal text an editor from the relevant field joins. This three-stage process takes a little more time than usual, but in the Persian direction, where legalisation is long, a rejected document loses far more time than an additional check.
Typical mistakes in Persian documents and how we avoid them
Experience accumulated over years lets us list the reasons for rejection in the Persian direction in advance: skipping one stage of legalisation, approximate conversion of a solar Hijri date, merging the father's name with the surname, translating only the first page of the shenasnameh, leaving the legalisation seals untranslated, misreading Persian numerals (especially ۴ and ۶, which resemble each other in handwriting), and submitting Georgian notarisation where a translation by Iran's official bureau was needed. For each of these mistakes there is a separate control point in our process: a legalisation chain checklist, algorithmic date conversion, a transliteration table, completeness control and clarification of the recipient's requirement when ordering. If your translation has already been rejected, we first establish the exact reason and correct only the defective link.
Deadlines and organisation
A Persian translation of a standard personal document with notarisation is ready in one working day, in express mode in 1-2 hours. Consular legalisation requires a separate deadline, which depends on the schedule of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy and is, as a rule, longer than an apostille; we tell you the exact deadline when the order is confirmed. You upload the document on the website, receive the translation electronically or by courier, and for legalisation we need the original physically, which we agree in advance. All documents are handled under a confidentiality agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Can an apostille be placed on an Iranian document in Georgia?
No. Iran is not a member of the Apostille Convention, so an apostille is placed neither on an Iranian document nor on a Georgian document intended for Iran. In both directions full consular legalisation is needed, which we coordinate.
Will an Iranian body accept a Persian translation certified in Georgia?
Private organisations and universities often do. State bodies, as a rule, require a translation by Iran's official translation bureau. We clarify when ordering and, where needed, prepare the legalised original for translation in Iran.
How are solar Hijri dates translated?
Every date is converted to the Gregorian calendar with an exact algorithm, and the original stays in brackets. The date of birth is always checked against the passport.
Do you also translate Dari and Tajik documents?
Yes, but with separate translators. An Afghan tazkira and a Tajik document written in Cyrillic are not given to a Persian translator. When ordering we clarify the document's country of origin.
What translation does an Iranian student need to enrol at a Georgian university?
The legalised original of the school diploma and grades and a notarised Georgian or English translation, depending on the university's requirement. Recognition is carried out by the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement.
How long does legalisation take?
The translation is ready in 1 working day or express in 1-2 hours; legalisation depends on the schedule of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy and usually takes several working days. We tell you the exact deadline when ordering.