Italy means several things to Georgia at once: a workplace for thousands of Georgian caregivers and workers, a major market for Georgian hazelnuts and wine, a destination for students through the Universitaly platform, and a country where a bureaucratic document matters as much as its content. The Italian Embassy operates in Tbilisi, and its consular section issues the "declaration of value" (dichiarazione di valore) and certifies the conformity of translations, while the requirements of CIMEA, Universitaly and the prefectures set a specific form for the Italian version of Georgian documents. This page describes how we work with Italian and which details determine whether the Questura, a university or an Italian partner accepts your translation.
Who orders Italian translation in Georgia
Italian-language orders with us fall into three large groups. The first and most numerous are Georgians working in Italy or preparing to go there: family reunification (ricongiungimento familiare), renewal of a residence permit, citizenship by marriage, enrolling a child in an Italian school, pension and medical matters. The second group are students and professionals who need a declaration of value for a diploma, a CIMEA comparability certificate or recognition of a doctor's or nurse's qualification. The third group is business: exporters of Georgian wine, hazelnuts and agricultural produce, importers of Italian machinery, and Italian companies registering an enterprise in Georgia. Italian citizens who live in Georgia, marry or buy property here and submit Italian documents to Georgian bodies stand apart.
The consular section of the Italian Embassy: what it does and what it requires
The consular section of the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi performs several functions that directly concern translation. First: the declaration of value (dichiarazione di valore in loco), a document that describes the "value" of a Georgian diploma or school certificate in the Italian system and which universities, ministries and employers require. To obtain it, the diploma must be apostilled and translated into Italian. Second: certification of the conformity of the translation (certificazione di conformità della traduzione), by which the consulate confirms that the Italian translation corresponds to the Georgian original; this certification is often mandatory for Italian bodies, especially the prefecture and the Questura. Third: the marriage clearance (nulla osta al matrimonio) for an Italian citizen marrying in Georgia. We prepare the translation in the format the consulate requires for conformity certification: complete, including seals and the apostille, in Italian administrative terminology.
Universitaly, CIMEA and university enrolment
A Georgian applicant wishing to enrol at an Italian university goes through pre-registration on the Universitaly platform, where the school certificate or diploma and the transcript are uploaded. Traditionally the university required the consulate's declaration of value, but in recent years most universities accept CIMEA's (the Information Centre on Academic Mobility and Equivalence) comparability certificate (attestato di comparabilità) and verification certificate (attestato di verifica), which are issued online on the Diplome platform and require no visit to the consulate. Both routes need an Italian translation of the diploma. The 12-year Georgian school system does not match the 13-year Italian one, and this difference must be reflected in the translation of the school certificate with a note, because the university sometimes requires proof of one year of university study. English-language medical programmes (with the IMAT exam) are especially popular among Georgian applicants.
Family reunification and the prefecture's requirements
A Georgian living legally in Italy applies to the prefecture's single immigration desk (Sportello Unico per l'Immigrazione) to bring a spouse, child or parent and requests clearance (nulla osta), after which the family member applies for a visa at the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi. In this procedure the Georgian marriage, birth and, where relevant, divorce certificates are submitted with an apostille and an Italian translation, and the translation requires conformity certification by the consulate, which the prefecture explicitly demands. This is the distinguishing feature of the Italian system: Georgian notarisation is not enough unless it is accompanied by the consulate's certification. We prepare the translation with precisely this chain in mind: apostille on the original, translation, notarisation, submission to the consulate.
Citizenship by marriage and the B1 level
Italian citizenship through marriage to an Italian citizen is possible after two years of living together in Italy or three years abroad, and since 2018 the applicant also needs a B1 certificate in Italian. The application is uploaded online, on the portal of the Ministry of the Interior, and includes the apostilled original and certified Italian translation of the Georgian birth certificate and criminal record certificate. There is one typical mistake here: in Georgia the criminal record certificate is one document, in Italy there are two (casellario giudiziale and carichi pendenti, that is criminal record and pending proceedings), and the Italian body sometimes asks for the "second" certificate too, which the Georgian system does not issue separately. In the translation we explain this with a note so that the official correctly understands the scope of the Georgian certificate.
Georgians working in Italy: contracts, INPS, pension
A large share of Georgians in Italy work in families as caregivers (badante) or housekeepers (colf), and this field has its own documentary logic: an employment contract with the family, registration with INPS (the social security institute), receipts for quarterly contributions (bollettini MAV), a residence permit for work purposes. These documents are translated into Georgian when pension service is calculated in Georgia, a bank considers a loan or a family matter is settled. In the opposite direction, the Georgian employment record book, certificate of service and documents of the Social Service Agency are translated into Italian for INPS, which takes foreign service into account under certain conditions. An Italian payslip (busta paga) and tax return (modello 730, CU) are translated for a Georgian body as proof of income.
Wine, hazelnuts and Italian business in Georgia
Italy is one of the main buyers of Georgian hazelnuts, and a subsidiary of the Italian confectionery industry runs its own plantations in Samegrelo; Georgian wine is presented every year at the international fair in Verona, and Italian production machinery (for wine, stone, furniture) works in Georgian factories. In this cooperation the most frequently translated documents are the chamber of commerce extract (visura camerale), the articles of association (statuto) and the deed of incorporation (atto costitutivo), supply contracts, phytosanitary certificates and machinery operating manuals. Italian company forms partly match Georgian ones: an S.r.l. is a limited liability company, an S.p.A. a joint-stock company, while the S.r.l.s. (simplified, with one euro of capital) and the S.a.s. do not exist as separate forms in the Georgian system and need a note. The Georgian "individual entrepreneur" corresponds to the Italian "ditta individuale", but the tax regime (for example the Italian "regime forfettario") is different.
Italians in Georgia: residence, marriage, property
Italian citizens living in Tbilisi and Batumi need translation in the opposite direction. For a residence permit the Public Service Development Agency requires a Georgian translation of the Italian criminal record certificate and proof of income; for marriage, the Public Service Hall requires the nulla osta issued by the consulate, which is translated into Georgian; when buying real estate, the Italian buyer often uses a power of attorney (procura speciale) drawn up before an Italian notary, which is valid with an apostille and a Georgian notarised translation. Italian documents often arrive in the form of an "autocertificazione" (self-declaration), which replaces an official certificate in Italy but does not count as a certificate for a Georgian body; in that case we advise the client in advance to obtain a "certificato" from the consulate or the Italian municipality.
Italian spelling and pronunciation of names
The Georgian passport transliterates names by the ICAO system, and this system contains several "traps" for Italian orthography: an Italian will read "Chavchavadze" as "Kavkavadze", because in Italian "ch" is /k/; "Giorgi" becomes "Jorji" in Italian, because "gi" is /ji/; the ending "shvili" contains the "sh" combination, unusual for an Italian. In an official translation we nevertheless keep the passport version, because the Italian body compares the name with the passport, and pronunciation is not a matter for the document. In the opposite direction, Italian names are written in Georgian in the established transcription (Giuseppe, Chiara, Gianluca), but the Latin spelling stays in the document. If the person already has a Georgian or Italian document with a particular spelling, we repeat exactly that variant.
Italian administrative style: bollo, timbro, autocertificazione
Italian bureaucracy attaches special importance to formal attributes: the revenue stamp (marca da bollo) affixed to official documents, seals (timbro) and legalisation of signatures. In the translation the presence, denomination and number of the revenue stamp are described, because the Italian official looks for them, and the Georgian seal with the coat of arms is rendered in Italian as "timbro tondo con stemma della Repubblica di Georgia". Italian administrative language uses standard formulas ("il sottoscritto", "consapevole delle sanzioni penali", "si rilascia per gli usi consentiti dalla legge"), which we use when translating from Georgian into Italian so that the document sounds in a form familiar to an Italian reader. The closing phrase of a Georgian certificate, "the certificate is issued for submission to...", is rendered in Italian with exactly this formula.
Italian in Tbilisi: Dante Alighieri, universities, CILS and CELI
Italian language certificates (CILS, CELI, PLIDA), needed for citizenship, university and some professional recognitions, are taken in Tbilisi through the committee of the Dante Alighieri Society and the language centres of universities. The certificates do not need translation, but a notarised copy of them is often needed for online applications. Diplomas of the Italian studies programmes of Tbilisi State University and Ilia State University, where the language of instruction is partly Italian, are prepared with a specific translation of the supplement, while an Italian university diploma (laurea triennale, laurea magistrale) is submitted for recognition in Georgia to the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement with a Georgian translation, where the Italian 110-point grading system ("110 e lode") is explained with a note.
Tourism, gastronomy and brand text
The flow of Italian tourists to Georgia grows every year, and travel companies, hotels and wine cellars order Italian versions of websites, menus and tour descriptions. An Italian reader expects professional vocabulary in gastronomic and wine text ("vitigno autoctono", "macerazione in anfora", "affinamento"), and a text that uses this vocabulary correctly "opens up" Georgian wine for an Italian sommelier. In the opposite direction, advertising text, product descriptions and consumer contracts of Italian brands are rendered into natural Georgian. Such texts do not need notarisation, but they do need a native editor, who works on the Italian version at our agency, while the brand's terminology base is built together with the client.
Decreto flussi and the work visa
Italy admits non-EU workers under an annual quota decree (decreto flussi), in which quotas for seasonal and non-seasonal work are distributed by country, and the Italian employer applies at the prefecture's single desk for clearance to bring in the worker (nulla osta al lavoro). After clearance is granted, the worker applies for a work visa at the Italian Embassy in Tbilisi, submitting the passport, the clearance, the draft employment contract (proposta di contratto di soggiorno) and, in some cases, documents confirming qualification or experience. A Georgian certificate of work experience, professional certificate or medical certificate is translated into Italian, and the draft Italian contract into Georgian, so that the worker fully understands the terms (salary, working hours, accommodation) before signing. Speed is decisive in this direction, because the quota window is limited.
Children in Italian schools and study documents
After family reunification, when a child is enrolled in an Italian school, the school administration requires an Italian translation of the Georgian school certificate, transcript and, where needed, the vaccination card in order to place the child in the right class. The Italian school system (scuola primaria five years, scuola secondaria di primo grado three years, scuola secondaria di secondo grado five years) differs structurally from the Georgian twelve-year system, and the Italian equivalent of the Georgian class must be reflected in the translation with a note. The vaccination card is especially important, because in Italy compulsory vaccinations are a condition of school admission, and the names of vaccines in the card must be rendered with international nomenclature. In the opposite direction, Italian school documents (pagella, attestato di frequenza) are translated into Georgian when the child returns to a Georgian school.
What we translate into Italian most often
- Diploma, school certificate and transcript for the declaration of value and CIMEA
- Marriage, birth and divorce certificates for family reunification and citizenship
- Criminal record certificate, bank statement, employment contract for visa and residence
- Qualification documents of doctors, nurses and caregivers for the Ministry of Health
- Extract from the Registry of Entrepreneurs, articles of association, power of attorney for work with Italian partners
- Discharge summary, medical report, disability documents for treatment in Italy and for INPS
- Italian visura camerale, casellario giudiziale, sentenza di divorzio, procura into Georgian
How the order proceeds
The process starts online: you upload the document on the website and indicate which Italian body you will submit it to. The same day you receive the deadline and information on whether the document needs an apostille and the consulate's conformity certification. A standard document is ready in one working day, in express mode in 1-2 hours. The translation is done by a translator registered with a notary in the Italian-Georgian pair, and an Italian-speaking editor checks the text through the eyes of an Italian official. You receive the finished document electronically and by courier, we arrange the apostille at the Public Service Hall ourselves, and for submission to the consulate we bind the package in the order the consulate requires. All documents are handled under a confidentiality agreement.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Georgian notarised translation enough for an Italian prefecture?
The prefecture and the Questura, as a rule, require a translation whose conformity has been certified by the consulate. We prepare the translation in the format the Italian consulate in Tbilisi accepts for certification and bind the package accordingly.
What is a dichiarazione di valore and who needs it?
It is a document issued by the consulate describing the value of a Georgian diploma in the Italian system. It is needed for professional recognition and for some universities; many universities accept a CIMEA certificate instead.
Does a CIMEA certificate replace the visit to the consulate?
For university enrolment often yes: the comparability certificate is issued online. For professional recognition (doctor, nurse) the declaration of value is still needed.
Is an Italian autocertificazione accepted in Georgia?
No, a Georgian body does not consider a self-declaration an official certificate. You must obtain a "certificato" from the consulate or the Italian municipality, which is submitted with an apostille and a Georgian translation.
How long does an Italian translation take?
A one-page document in one working day, express in 1-2 hours. The apostille and consular certification are separate deadlines, which we plan together when ordering.
Does the Georgian criminal record certificate cover both Italian certificates?
The Georgian certificate is one document, while the Italian system issues the criminal record and pending proceedings separately. In the translation we explain the scope of the Georgian certificate with a note, which usually satisfies the body.
Can you prepare materials for the Verona wine fair?
Yes, labels, technical sheets, presentations and catalogues are prepared in Italian with a native editor involved, and we can also provide interpreting at the fair.