Translation of the Polish language with notarisation

The exchange of documents between Poland and Georgia is marked by one strict rule: Polish authorities require a sworn translator's (tłumacz przysięgły) seal on the translation of a foreign document and, as a rule, do not accept a notarised translation prepared in Georgia. This strictness has two ways out: a sworn translator of the Georgian language registered in Poland, who are few and busy, or Poland's consul in Tbilisi, who has the right to certify a translation and whose certification has the force of a sworn translation in Poland. In the opposite direction, for a Polish document for Georgia, the Georgian notarial system and the apostille apply, from three different Polish authorities. On this page we explain how we combine these elements into one package that is accepted at the very first submission both in Warsaw and in Tbilisi.

Georgian notarisation in the Polish pair

When certifying a translation a Georgian notary confirms that the document is signed by a translator entered in their register, whose qualification in the Polish-Georgian pair has been checked in advance and whose specimen signature is on file. The notary does not read the Polish text; responsibility for the accuracy of the translation lies with the translator. The translation is bound to the original or its copy, certified with a seal and a register number, and in this form any authority, court, bank, the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement and the Public Registry of Georgia accept it as an official document. Translators registered in the Polish pair are more numerous in Georgia than for other Slavic languages, because of the scale of the Georgian diaspora, and our team works with exactly this status, which completes the translation and the certification in one chain, within hours.

Tłumacz przysięgły: the Polish regime and its strictness

In Poland a sworn translator is entered in the Ministry of Justice's register after passing a state examination and certifies the translation with a round seal, a repertory number and a formula ("Repertorium nr..."); their translation (tłumaczenie przysięgłe, officially tłumaczenie poświadczone) is accepted unconditionally at every authority in Poland. Voivodeship offices (urząd wojewódzki), the civil registry service (USC), courts, ZUS, the NFZ and labour offices require exactly this seal on the translation of a Georgian document, and a Georgian notary's stamp, even with an apostille, is for them a foreign translation that must be certified again. Sworn translators for the Georgian language exist in Poland, a few dozen in the register, but compared with the scale of the diaspora they are few and the deadlines are weeks. So for a Georgian client two routes exist, and we plan both.

The Polish consul's certification in Tbilisi: an alternative to the sworn translator

Under the consular act a Polish consul has the right to attach a certification of the conformity of a translation (poświadczenie zgodności tłumaczenia) to a foreign document's Polish translation, and a translation certified by a consul has the force of a sworn translator's translation in Poland. In Tbilisi the consular section of the Polish embassy provides this service by appointment. This means that a Georgian document, a birth certificate, a criminal record certificate, a diploma, with the Georgian apostille, is translated by us into Polish to the consul's format requirements, the client or their representative presents it at the embassy, and the consul certifies the translation, which is accepted at any authority in Poland. Our Polish translation is prepared specially for this procedure: a full translation of every element of the original, the translation of the apostille, the unchanged Latin form of the names, the Polish format of dates, and we give the client the package for the embassy with instructions. Notarisation on this route is, as a rule, no longer needed, unless the consul requires it separately.

A Polish document in Georgia: the apostille from three authorities

Poland is a party to the Hague Convention, and a Polish document needs an apostille for Georgia, not consular legalisation. The apostille in Poland is issued by different authorities according to the type of document: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ) on civil status, court, notarial and most state documents, the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) since 2018 on higher education diplomas, the education superintendents (kuratorium oświaty) on school certificates, the Ministry of Culture on the documents of art schools. This detail is often unclear to a Georgian client, especially in the case of diplomas, and we advise the relative or attorney in Poland on the right authority. After the apostille the document is translated in Georgia and notarised; reversing the order starts the process again. On court documents the certification of the court's president (uwierzytelnienie) is often needed before the apostille, and this intermediate step must be taken into account too.

Which Polish documents are certified most often

• Odpis skrócony / zupełny aktu urodzenia, małżeństwa, zgonu: extracts of civil acts for marriage, child registration and inheritance matters in Georgia; the EU multilingual form is of no use for Georgia;
• Zaświadczenie o niekaralności z KRK: a criminal record certificate, in residence, employment or adoption procedures in Georgia;
• Wyrok and postanowienie: a judgment and a ruling, in a divorce, maintenance or commercial dispute case, with the court's certification and an apostille;
• Dyplom, suplement do dyplomu, świadectwo dojrzałości: a diploma, supplement and school certificate, with NAWA's or the kuratorium's apostille;
• Odpis z KRS, umowa spółki, uchwała o powołaniu zarządu: the companies register extract, the founding agreement and the decision appointing the management board, for registering a company in Georgia;
• Pełnomocnictwo: a power of attorney, in the form of a Polish notary's (notariusz) notarial deed or certification of a signature;
• Prawo jazdy: a driving licence, for exchange in Georgia.

Georgian papers for Poland: the voivodeship office, the USC, the university

The flow of Georgian documents towards Poland concerns three authorities. The voivodeship office requires, in an application for a work permit and a residence card, a criminal record certificate, birth and marriage certificates, documents confirming qualification, since the December 2025 changes in particular detail, and a document confirming accommodation, all with an apostille and a sworn or consular translation. The USC, when registering a marriage or birth concluded abroad (transkrypcja), requires the apostilled originals of the Georgian certificates and a sworn translation. Universities and NAWA require the diploma, the supplement and the description of the curriculum, where an English translation is often acceptable too. In all three cases the Georgian document first receives the apostille at the House of Justice, then is translated into Polish, and then either the consul certifies it in Tbilisi or a sworn translator certifies it again in Poland; notarisation and an apostille on the notary's signature are needed if the document is also to be used in a third country or the authority requires this separately.

The work permit package after December 2025

For a Georgian worker the move to the full work permit (zezwolenie na pracę typu A) regime has changed the package of documents substantially. The employer files the application at the voivodeship office with the candidate's documents, and the voivode checks the correspondence of the qualification with the vacancy: the diploma or professional certificate, certificates of work experience, in some professions a licence or proof of language knowledge, a criminal record certificate, health insurance. Every document must be submitted with an apostille and a Polish translation, with a sworn translator's or a consul's certification, and the employer often asks for the package quickly so that the vacancy is not lost. We prepare these packages in express mode, formatted for the consul's certification, send the employer the scanned version in advance, and check the validity of the criminal record certificate separately, because the voivodeship office does not accept an expired certificate.

Names, PESEL and diacritics in a certified translation

A translation certified before a notary or a consul cannot contain a name written "approximately". A Georgian name in a Polish translation is written in the passport's Latin form, without case endings in the identification fields, and a woman's surname stays unchanged, without adding the "-ska" form, because Polish applies that rule only to Polish adjectival surnames. Polish names pass into Georgian on a phonetic principle, Wojciech as "Voitsekhi", Małgorzata as "Malgozhata", Krzysztof as "Kshishtofi", Szczepański as "Shchepanski", and a form fixed once is repeated in every document; the Latin original, including the diacritics, is kept in brackets. The Polish PESEL (the 11-digit identification number) and NIP (tax number) stay unchanged and receive an explanation. Dates pass from the Polish format ("15 marca 2026 r." or "15.03.2026 r.") into Georgian, while in document numbers they are unchanged.

Electronic documents: ePUAP, mObywatel and e-KRK

Poland's electronic government systems (ePUAP, mObywatel, e-Urząd Skarbowy, e-KRK) issue many documents online, with an electronic signature or a qualified seal: criminal record certificates, KRS extracts, extracts of civil acts, certificates. A Georgian notary accepts the printed version of such a document as an original only if a Polish apostille is attached to it, which in the case of an electronic document means that in Poland it must first be certified in paper form, before a notary or at the issuing authority, and then apostilled. In the case of the KRS the court register also issues a paper extract, and for Georgia it is exactly that which you should request. For the translation a high-quality scan or a clear photo is entirely sufficient; bringing the original physically to Tbilisi is needed only if the notary requires binding to the original or the embassy's consul requires the original to be presented.

Family matters: marriage, child, divorce, inheritance

For the registration of a Georgian-Polish marriage in Georgia the Polish spouse needs an odpis aktu urodzenia and a certificate of marital status (zaświadczenie o stanie cywilnym), with an apostille and a Georgian notarised translation, while for the transcription of the same marriage in Poland the Georgian marriage certificate is translated into Polish, apostilled and receives the certification of a consul or a sworn translator. For the registration in Georgia of a child born in Poland the odpis zupełny aktu urodzenia is translated, where the Georgian and Latin forms of the child's name must correspond to both parents' documents; Polish law sets certain restrictions on a child's name, and when registering a Georgian name this must be taken into account in advance. A Polish divorce judgment (wyrok rozwodowy) is translated in full for recognition in Georgia, with the terminology of parental authority (władza rodzicielska) and maintenance (alimenty). In inheritance cases Polish succession proceedings take place in court (stwierdzenie nabycia spadku) or before a notary (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia), and a document of either form is translated with an explanation for a Georgian heir.

Registering a Polish company in Georgia and a Georgian one in Poland

To register a Polish spółka z o.o.'s or S.A.'s branch or subsidiary in Georgia the Public Registry requires the KRS extract, the founding agreement or articles and the decision appointing the management board, with an apostille and a Georgian notarised translation. The Polish organs, the zarząd (management board), prezes zarządu (chair of the management board), prokurent (procurator), zgromadzenie wspólników (meeting of partners), rada nadzorcza (supervisory board), must be linked to the concepts of Georgian company legislation so that the registry employee clearly understands the power of signature (reprezentacja). When a Georgian company is presented in Poland, the extract of the register of entrepreneurs, the articles and the document confirming the director's authority are translated into Polish, at the request of a Polish bank, the KRS or a partner, with a sworn or consular certification and an apostille.

Academic documents and the driving licence

A Polish diploma and supplement are presented in Georgia for recognition or employment with a notarised translation, with NAWA's apostille; the Polish marking system and the ECTS credits stay unchanged in the translation, with an explanatory note. Polish academic titles, licencjat, inżynier, magister, magister inżynier, lekarz, doktor, pass into Georgian with an equivalent and with the original kept, because "inżynier" is an engineering degree at bachelor level and "magister inżynier" at master level, and confusing them delays recognition. A Polish driving licence, in the uniform EU format, needs a notarised translation for the Service Agency when exchanged in Georgia; in the opposite direction a Georgian driving licence is subject to compulsory exchange in Poland after six months, with a sworn translation and sometimes a theory examination.

Who performs a Polish translation to be notarised

A Polish translation to be notarised can be done only by a translator registered with a notary in the Polish-Georgian pair, with documents confirming qualification and a specimen signature. Our Polish translators work with exactly this status, educated in Poland or specialists in Polish philology, and they prepare a translation intended for the consul's certification with the same exactness, because the consul checks the translation's conformity personally and refuses certification in case of inaccuracy. A translation certified by a sworn translator in Poland needs separate notarisation in Georgia, because a Polish seal is a foreign signature for a Georgian notary, which needs an apostille and a local translator's confirmation.

Deadlines and logistics

A notarised Polish translation of a standard personal document is ready in one working day, in express mode in 1-2 hours; the apostille at the House of Justice needs an additional period, while the consul's certification needs the embassy's appointment time, which we clarify when ordering and where we offer the client help with the embassy's online booking system. A package to be sent to Poland is prepared for an international courier, while the scanned version is sent electronically in advance so that the employer, the voivodeship office or the university can check the content beforehand. The direct flights of LOT and Wizz Air make handing over a physical package easier. Within Georgia a courier will bring it to you in any city; your presence at the notary is not needed.

Why a Polish translation is rejected and how we correct it

The typical reasons with which a client comes to us with a rejected document: presenting a Georgian notarised translation at the voivodeship office without a sworn or consular certification; an apostille on a diploma from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs instead of NAWA; an apostille on a court document without the court's prior certification; the printed version of an electronic document without Polish certification; the EU multilingual form, which is of no use for Georgia; the loss of diacritics in names; an abridged extract (odpis skrócony) where the full one (odpis zupełny) was needed; and an expired criminal record certificate. In every case we first establish the specific reason, then correct exactly that defect; in the case of mistakes of legalisation we give the client precise instructions on the steps needed in Poland.

The procedure step by step

• Upload: a scan or photo of the document on the site, with the destination authority stated.
• Assessment: we check whether the original has the right apostille, whether the paper form is needed, and which route of certification the recipient requires, a Georgian notary, Poland's consul or a sworn translator in Poland; we tell you the deadline in advance.
• Translation and editing: a registered Polish translator translates, the editor compares the names, diacritics, dates, seals and false friends with the original.
• Certification: notarisation and the apostille at the House of Justice, or a package formatted for the consul's certification at the embassy, with instructions.
• Delivery: a scan electronically, the physical package by courier in Georgia or prepared for international dispatch.

Frequently asked questions