A Norwegian translator in Tbilisi is needed in both directions: we translate Norwegian documents (Skatteetaten certificates, a vigselsattest, court and NAV decisions, diplomas) into Georgian, and Georgian papers for the UDI, HK-dir, Helsedirektoratet and employers into Norwegian (Bokmål) or English. The translation is done by a registered translator and the notary certifies that translator's signature; a standard personal document is ready in one working day, and an express notarized translation received during working hours in one to two hours. The key rule: both countries are parties to the Apostille Convention, the apostille is placed on the Georgian original at the Public Service Hall, then the document is translated including the apostille, and no apostille is placed on the notarized translation. In Norway there is practically no state-authorised translator for the Georgian-Norwegian pair, so an English translation is often the shortest route. Upload a scan of the document on the website or send it by messenger, from Norway as well.
Norway is not in the EU, and this shows in the documents
Norway is not a member of the European Union, but it is a member of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen area. A Georgian citizen travels to Norway visa-free for short stays and needs no translation; for work, study or family reunification, however, a residence permit is required, issued by the Directorate of Immigration (UDI), and it is this application that brings a package of translations. EU directives apply in Norway through the EEA Agreement, but for Norway a Georgian diploma is a third-country diploma and goes through a full assessment.
Bokmål and Nynorsk: one language, two written standards
Norwegian has two written forms of equal status: Bokmål, written by the large majority of the population, and Nynorsk, used in municipalities of Western Norway and in some courts and authorities. A municipal decision or school certificate in Nynorsk is "almost understandable" to someone who knows Bokmål, but in an official translation "almost" is not enough: terminology, forms and the names of authorities differ. In a translator's note we state which standard the original uses. From Georgian into Norwegian we write in Bokmål unless the recipient asks otherwise, because the UDI, universities and most companies use it.
Authorised translators and English as a working language
Norway still has a system of state-authorised translators (statsautorisert translatør): authorisation is granted by the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) through an exam for a specific language pair, and an authorised translator has a personal seal. Under the UDI's rules, a document in a language other than Norwegian or English must be translated by an authorised translator, but for Georgian this rule cannot naturally be met, because there is practically no such translator for the Georgian-Norwegian pair. That is why English is a full working language in the Norwegian direction: the UDI, HK-dir, universities and most companies accept an English document just as they accept a Norwegian one. Norwegian is mandatory where the recipient clearly asks for it: in court proceedings, in the social and child services of municipalities, with some employers, and when the Norwegian side offers a contract in its own language. In the opposite direction an English "intermediate" makes no sense: a Norwegian document is translated directly into Georgian.
Notarized translation into and from Norwegian
What the Georgian notary confirms
A Georgian notarial certification confirms the authenticity of the translator's signature: the notary checks that the translation was made by a person registered with them as a translator for the Georgian-Norwegian pair who has taken responsibility for its accuracy by signing. The notary does not assess the content of the translation and does not check the lawfulness of the original; the notary binds the translation to the original or a copy and makes them one document with a seal. In Georgia no apostille is placed on such a certification, because under the rules of the Public Service Development Agency the notarial certification of a translation or of a copy is not among the documents that can be apostilled.
The Norwegian side: the notary at the court, the apostille at Statsforvalteren
In Norway a notary (notarius publicus) is not a separate profession: notarial acts are performed by staff of the district court (tingrett). The notary certifies signatures and copies, while apostilles are issued by the Office of the County Governor (Statsforvalteren, called Fylkesmannen until 2021). Norway joined the Convention in 1983. A Norwegian public document (a Skatteetaten certificate, a court decision, a diploma) goes straight to Statsforvalteren for the apostille without a notary, while a private document, including a translation made in Norway or a power of attorney, goes first to the court notary and then to Statsforvalteren: two visits or two mailings.
Apostille on the original: the correct order and the UDI
A Georgian document for Norway is prepared like this: an apostille on the Georgian original, then a translation that also covers the text of the apostille, and finally the notary certifies the translator's signature; the translation itself receives no apostille. No apostille is placed on an identity document or its copy (except a copy of a Georgian passport certified by the issuing body), on a driving licence, or on a private company's document, other than those of medical and educational institutions. In practice the UDI and HK-dir are often satisfied with an apostilled original and an English or Norwegian translation certified in Georgia, but some authorities, a court for example, may ask for a translation by a statsautorisert translatør. If the recipient insists on official certification of the translation as well, the options are for the Agency to translate its own document and apostille that translation, or a Norwegian authorised translator. So check with the receiving authority before ordering (document route).
Digital certificates and the paper apostille
Norwegians handle almost all dealings with the state online: identification with BankID, correspondence through the Altinn portal, official letters in Digipost. Skatteetaten, which also keeps the population register (Folkeregisteret), issues certificates of birth, residence and marital status as PDFs. A Georgian notary, however, will as a rule not bind a translation to a printed foreign PDF without an apostille, and Statsforvalteren does not apostille digital or scanned documents. The correct route: ask Skatteetaten for a signed and stamped version, Statsforvalteren will apostille it, and in the translation we also reflect the electronic origin and the verification code. We explain this sequence to the client while they are still in Norway, so that they do not have to travel there a second time.
Typical documents in both directions
- From Georgia for family immigration: marriage certificate, child's birth certificate, certificate of marital status, divorce documents, criminal record certificate
- From Georgia for work and study: diploma with transcript, certificates of work experience, school certificate, bank statement on financial means
- From Norway: Skatteetaten certificates and extracts from the population register, vigselsattest, Statsforvalteren's separation and divorce permits (separasjonsbevilling, skilsmissebevilling)
- From Norway: probate certificate (skifteattest) and certificate of undivided estate (uskifteattest), police certificate of criminal record (politiattest)
- From Norway: diploma (vitnemål) and transcript (karakterutskrift), firmaattest and articles (vedtekter), NAV decisions and pension statements
Validity and reasons for rejection
Norwegian authorities want certificates to be "recent": criminal record and marital status certificates are as a rule accepted within three to six months of issue, and documents submitted for a prøvingsattest must fit into a four-month window. So we translate the diploma and marriage certificate, which do not expire, first, and the certificates last. The reasons for rejection are almost always the same: the original lacks an apostille or it is not reflected in the translation; a digital certificate was translated without the printed, apostilled version; a name differs from the passport by one letter; the transcript or study programme was missing; the middle name was merged with the surname; the appeal section of a NAV decision was left out; or the Norwegian translation was made by someone not registered with a Georgian notary. If the translation is correct in content and only the form of certification is missing, it does not need to be translated again.
Translation in both directions
From Norwegian into Georgian: for Georgian authorities
This direction is mostly ordered by Georgians living in Norway and follows the stages of life: the certificate of a child born in Norway and the marriage certificate for registration in Georgia; separation and divorce permits; NAV pension statements, employment contracts and tax documents (skattemelding, lønnsslipp) to prove length of service and income; a tingrett probate certificate. The Norwegian 11-digit personal number (fødselsnummer) and the D-number for foreigners remain unchanged in the translation, with an explanation. The names of authorities are translated into Georgian, while the abbreviation (NAV, UDI, HK-dir) stays in brackets. In NAV and Statsforvalteren decisions the appeal deadline and procedure are part of the document and remain in full in the translation, because this is exactly the part a Georgian lawyer needs.
From Georgian into Norwegian: Bokmål, not "Scandinavian"
The market has many "Scandinavian" translators offering Norwegian, Danish and Swedish together. In an official document this is a risk: Norwegian authorities have their own names, the concepts of social and labour legislation are unique, and Danish or Swedish do not cover Nynorsk at all. Norwegian administrative language uses short sentences, fewer formulas and direct vocabulary, so a word-for-word translation of a Georgian certificate looks heavy to a Norwegian official; we keep the structure of the document and every fact, but arrange the sentences according to the Norwegian norm. The translation into the target language is done by someone for whom it is the native language or at native level, and a second specialist compares it with the original.
Transliteration, middle names and formats
Norwegian names are rendered into Georgian by pronunciation: Kjell becomes "Shel", Bjørn "Biorn", Øystein "Oistain", Solveig "Sulvai", Tromsø "Trumso". Once chosen, the form stays the same in all documents of that person. The Norwegian naming system also has a middle name (mellomnavn), often the mother's surname; in the translation we keep the full name in the order of the original and explain it in a note. A Georgian name goes into Norwegian only in the Latin spelling of the passport, however strange it may look to a Norwegian. A Norwegian date is written day.month.year, and in an English translation we write the month as a word so that no ambiguity arises; Norwegian decimals use a comma and thousands a space, and the amount and currency (NOK) remain unchanged in the translation and are never converted into lari.
One fact in two registers: birth, marriage, citizenship
The certificate of a child born in Norway from Skatteetaten, with Statsforvalteren's apostille and a Georgian translation, is used to obtain a Georgian birth certificate at the Public Service Hall. Before marrying in Norway a couple obtains a certificate from Skatteetaten that there is no impediment to the marriage (prøvingsattest), valid for four months; for this the Georgian partner submits a birth certificate, a certificate of marital status and, if needed, a divorce document, with an apostille and a translation. Since 2018 civil marriages have been performed by municipalities, and the marriage certificate (vigselsattest) is issued by Skatteetaten and prepared with an apostille and a Georgian translation for registration in Georgia (marriage certificate translation). Since January 2020 Norway has allowed dual citizenship, and the citizenship package includes the Georgian birth certificate and name-related documents with translation. The name must be recorded the same way in both registers, so before translating we ask which form already exists.
Education and healthcare authorisation
Norwegian education has two grading scales: universities grade from A to F, where E is the lowest pass, and schools from 1 to 6, where 6 is the best and 2 the pass; credits (studiepoeng) match ECTS. A Norwegian diploma is translated into Georgian with an explanation of these scales. Since 2023 recognition of Georgian diplomas has been handled by HK-dir, which took over this function from NOKUT; it accepts documents in Norwegian or English and also asks for a description of the study programme. We do not "convert" Georgian 100-point grades into Norwegian letters: that is the assessor's job, and we explain the logic of the scale.
Authorisation of a doctor, nurse or pharmacist at the Norwegian Directorate of Health (Helsedirektoratet) goes through several stages: assessment of documents, proof of Norwegian, a course in national subjects and a professional exam (fagprøve). The directorate asks for the diploma, the transcript, a description of the study programme with subjects, hours and the extent of practical training (syllabus translation), and certificates of specialisation and practice. Terminological consistency is decisive here: "internal medicine" translated one way in the diploma and another way in the programme is two different subjects for the assessor. So we prepare a table of subjects in advance and translate every document with it, and we advise the client to request the study programme from the university as one signed document.
Legal and medical translation
Scandinavian law and contracts
Norwegian law has no single civil code: separate statutes apply, including the Contracts Act (avtaleloven) of 1918, the Limited Liability Companies Act (aksjeloven), the Working Environment Act (arbeidsmiljøloven), the Children Act (barneloven) and, since 2021, a new Inheritance Act (arveloven). Most civil disputes go through the conciliation board (forliksrådet) before court, and the court system has three tiers (tingrett, lagmannsrett, Høyesterett). We translate the name of a statute into Georgian and keep the short Norwegian name in brackets. A Norwegian commercial contract is short because many terms are filled in by non-mandatory law; we warn the Georgian lawyer that this is not a gap but Norwegian style, and indicate in a note which statute applies. In a Norwegian employment contract, too, many terms on pay and leave are in the collective agreement (tariffavtale) and in the law.
AS, firmaattest and signing authority
The main corporate form is the limited company (AS), the public version is the ASA, and a branch of a foreign company is an NUF. An AS is the functional analogue of a Georgian LLC, but it always has a board of directors, while the managing director (daglig leder) is a separate figure. An extract from the Brønnøysund registers (firmaattest) shows the nine-digit organisation number, signing authority (signatur) and procuration (prokura) as separate lines; for a Georgian notary these two concepts mean different limits, and the translation explains them separately. For a Georgian notary the extract goes as a stamped version with Statsforvalteren's apostille, not as an automatic Altinn PDF (extract from the registry). A power of attorney from Norway for Georgia is most reliably prepared like this: we draft the text in advance to Georgian requirements, in two languages, the client signs it in Norway before the tingrett notary, Statsforvalteren apostilles it, and in Georgia the translation is notarized (translation of powers of attorney).
Family law, barnevernet and inheritance
In Norway divorce usually does not go through a court: the couple first obtains a separation permit from Statsforvalteren and a year later a divorce permit, and only in case of dispute does the case go to the tingrett. This administrative document performs the function of a court decision, and in the translation we explain its status. The Children Act treats parental responsibility (foreldreansvar), residence and contact (samvær) as separate concepts, and maintenance is often administered by NAV. In documents of the child welfare service (barnevernet) and, since 2023, of the Child Welfare and Health Board (barneverns- og helsenemnda) every wording carries legal meaning: we translate as written, without softening or hardening, and assign the case to one translator. In inheritance, a tingrett probate certificate (skifteattest) gives the heirs the right to dispose of the estate, while under undivided possession (uskifte) the surviving spouse manages the estate without distribution, which directly affects a child from a first marriage. Real estate is registered with Kartverket; in a housing cooperative (borettslag) the owner holds not the flat but a share and a right of use, and in a Georgian court this difference changes the outcome of the case.
NAV, medical documents and patient injury
Norwegian healthcare is built on the regular GP (fastlege) system, and a hospital discharge summary (epikrise) is addressed to the GP, in collegial language with abbreviations, Latin diagnoses and ICD-10 codes. For a Georgian doctor we translate it into Georgian clinical language directly from Norwegian, adding the international non-proprietary name to Norwegian brand names of medicines (discharge summary translation). A sick note (sykmelding), work assessment allowance (arbeidsavklaringspenger) and disability benefit (uføretrygd) are translated together, because a medical opinion is incomprehensible without the NAV decision. In Norway injury caused by a medical error is examined without a court by the Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation (NPE), and its decisions and expert opinions are translated for a Georgian patient and their lawyer. Legal and medical texts are handled by a translator with training in the field, and an editor compares them with the original so that "ruling" and "decision", or "ruled out" and "confirmed", are not mixed up.
Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting
When a Norwegian interpreter is needed
A business meeting or technical presentation with a Norwegian partner usually goes smoothly in English, and we tell the client so honestly. A Norwegian interpreter becomes necessary in three cases: legal (a notary, a court, an administrative procedure where the party must understand every word in the native language), personal (an elderly person, a child, a patient or witness under stress) and protocol (official delegations and public events). Norwegian has no official spoken standard: people speak dialect in parliament, in court and at university, and the dialects of Trøndelag, Western Norway, the North and Oslo differ in pronunciation, intonation and vocabulary. So when ordering we ask where the Norwegian participant is from.
Notary, court, video call and clinic
- At a notary: the interpreter reads the document aloud in Norwegian to the Norwegian party and signs the notarial act, confirming the interpretation is complete
- In court: the interpreter is warned of liability, interprets every word, adds nothing and leaves nothing out, and studies the case documents in advance
- On a video call with a Norwegian authority: a UDI interview, a NAV meeting, a child welfare meeting; Norway's 2022 Interpreters Act (tolkeloven) obliges authorities to use qualified interpreters, but there are hardly any for Georgian there, so the applicant can ask for their own interpreter, informing the authority in advance
- At a clinic: diagnosis, risk and informed consent; the interpreter softens nothing, neither the risk nor the prognosis
- In negotiations: the Norwegian side says "no" directly and does not consider it rude, while the Georgian side expresses refusal indirectly; the interpreter renders both in a form the recipient will read correctly
Formats, preparation and booking
Simultaneous interpreting in a booth is needed at energy, maritime, humanitarian and academic forums; two interpreters take turns every 20-30 minutes, and for two or three listeners whispered interpreting or a portable system is enough. A Norwegian speaker often mixes English terms into a Norwegian sentence, so we ask for presentations, the agenda and a glossary at least two days in advance, and please tell us beforehand about an emotionally difficult conversation (child welfare, illness). A Norwegian interpreter is a scarce resource: book two to three days ahead for a meeting at a notary, a week ahead for a court or clinic, and two to three weeks ahead for a conference or a multi-day visit. In an emergency we work by phone or video the same day, if an interpreter is available. Recording an event requires the interpreter's consent and a separate clause in the contract. For other languages see the list of all languages.
Official sources
- Public Service Development Agency: apostille and legalisation: which Georgian documents receive an apostille, which do not, and in what time
- Hague Conference: parties to the Apostille Convention: the current list of countries: apostille or consular legalisation
- Official page of the County Governor of Norway (Statsforvalteren): apostilles on Norwegian documents and which documents cannot be apostilled
Frequently asked questions
Should documents for the UDI be translated into Norwegian or English?
The UDI accepts both languages, and English is often the smoother route. In Norway there is practically no authorised translator for the Georgian-Norwegian pair, so the apostilled original is accompanied by an English or Norwegian translation certified in Georgia; we check the specific requirement before ordering.
Do I need the apostille on the original or on the translation?
On the original: in Georgia no apostille is placed on a notarized translation, and the translation also renders the apostille of the original. If a Norwegian authority asks for certification by a statsautorisert translatør, check this before ordering.
Do I need Bokmål or Nynorsk?
Bokmål, unless the authority or partner clearly asks for Nynorsk. Such a request is rare and mainly concerns municipalities in Western Norway.
I only have a Norwegian certificate as a PDF in Digipost or Altinn. Will it be accepted in Georgia?
Not without an apostille. Ask Skatteetaten for a signed version, which Statsforvalteren will apostille; after that we translate it and have it notarized.
Who issues apostilles in Norway?
Statsforvalteren, formerly Fylkesmannen, in every region. A private document, including a translation made in Norway, is first certified by the notary of the district court (tingrett).
Whom do I ask to recognise a Georgian diploma, NOKUT?
No, since 2023 HK-dir; older instructions still name NOKUT. Documents are submitted in English or Norwegian, and for a Georgian diploma also with a description of the study programme.
What must be translated for a doctor's authorisation?
The diploma, the transcript, a description of the study programme with subjects, hours and the extent of practical training, certificates of specialisation and practice, with an apostille and a certified translation. Subject names must be translated identically in all documents.
Which Georgian documents do I need to marry in Norway?
A birth certificate, a certificate of marital status and, after a previous marriage, a divorce document, with an apostille and a translation, to obtain a prøvingsattest. That certificate is valid for four months, so we plan the timing together.
My Norwegian divorce document is not from a court. Will it be accepted in Georgia?
Yes: Statsforvalteren's divorce permit performs the function of a court decision in Norway. It needs an apostille and a notarized translation, and in the translation we explain the document's status.
How is a Norwegian name written in Georgian?
By Norwegian pronunciation: Kjell becomes "Shel", Bjørn "Biorn", Tromsø "Trumso". The middle name (mellomnavn) is not merged with the surname, stays in the order of the original and is explained in a note.
My Norwegian partner speaks good English. Do I still need an interpreter?
For a business meeting often not. At a notary, in court and for medical decisions yes, because there the native language is a legal and ethical requirement.
How long does a Norwegian translation take?
A personal document takes one working day, and a notarized translation received during working hours can be done by express in one to two hours. The apostille on the original follows the Public Service Hall's timelines, and authorisation and corporate packages are planned according to volume.
Send us a scan of your Norwegian document, or the Georgian paper you need for the UDI, HK-dir, Helsedirektoratet or a Norwegian employer, and before you order we will tell you which language, which certification and which sequence it needs. Our office is in Tbilisi, 115 Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue; call us on +995 500 09 11 68 or upload the document on the website.