Portuguese translator in Tbilisi

Last reviewed: 13 November 2026 · facts checked against official sources

We translate personal, educational, legal, corporate and medical documents from Portuguese into Georgian and from Georgian into Portuguese, to either the European (Portugal) or the Brazilian standard, and we certify the translation with a notary. A standard personal document is ready in 1 working day, and a notarised translation received during working hours can be done in 1-2 hours in express mode. The key rule: the apostille goes on the Georgian original and is translated together with it, while in Georgia no apostille is placed on a notarised translation; for Brazil the final translation is, as a rule, made by a local sworn translator (tradutor juramentado). You upload a scan or a clear photo of the document on the website, tell us the country and the authority, and receive the finished translation electronically, by courier or at our office at 115 Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue. We also provide consecutive, simultaneous and remote interpreting in the Portuguese-Georgian pair.

Why Portuguese became relevant for Georgia

Over the last decade Portugal has become one of the main Western European destinations for Georgian emigrants. The Georgian community in the Lisbon, Porto and Algarve regions has grown so much that Georgia opened an embassy in Lisbon, and Georgian papers have become a daily flow at Portugal's immigration authority. A residence permit, family reunification or a citizenship application all require Portuguese translations of the birth certificate, criminal record certificate, marriage document and diploma.

On the other side is Brazil: a Brazilian embassy operates in Tbilisi, Georgian wine is entering the Brazilian market, and Brazilian students choose Georgian medical universities. From the Portuguese-speaking countries of Africa, Angola and Mozambique, documents arrive rarely but steadily, mostly educational and medical.

European and Brazilian Portuguese: one language, two standards

The first question we ask when you order: in which country will you submit the document? The 1990 Orthographic Agreement (Acordo Ortográfico) largely unified spelling, but vocabulary, syntax and official style still differ. In Portugal a train is a comboio, in Brazil a trem; a bus is autocarro or ônibus; a Portuguese writer uses the form a fazer, a Brazilian fazendo. In a legal text a term from the other country immediately tells the reader that the translation was not prepared for their system.

The more substantial difference lies in the names of institutions. In Portugal the civil registry is the Conservatória do Registo Civil, in Brazil the Cartório de Registro Civil; the Portuguese tax number is the NIF, the Brazilian one is the CPF for individuals and the CNPJ for companies; the tax office is Finanças in Portugal and Receita Federal in Brazil. That is why we keep two separate terminology bases and prepare every translation for a specific country. If you need one official document in both countries, we recommend two versions; for an informational text a single neutral version is enough.

Notarised translation into and from Portuguese

What a Georgian notary certifies

In Georgia the notary does not check the content of the translation: the notary confirms that the translator's signature is genuine. The translator shows the notary a document proving their qualification, binds the translation to the original or a copy and signs in the notary's presence, and the notary completes the act with a seal, signature and registration number. Translators working in the Portuguese-Georgian pair are part of our team, so the procedure runs without intermediaries.

Portugal: there is no sworn translator

Portugal has no institution of sworn translators. A certified translation (certificação de tradução) is a translation accompanied by the translator's statement that it is faithful to the original, and the signature on that statement is confirmed by a notary (notário), a lawyer (advogado), a solicitador, a civil registry office or a chamber of commerce. This logic is very close to Georgian notarial certification, so Portuguese authorities often accept a notarised translation of an apostilled original made in Georgia. Some authorities, however, ask for the translation to be certified in Portugal (by a notary, lawyer or solicitador) or at a Portuguese consulate, so check with the receiving authority before ordering which form it needs (document route).

Brazil: the sworn translator's monopoly

In Brazil a tradutor público e intérprete comercial (popularly tradutor juramentado) is selected by state examination and registered with the state commercial board (Junta Comercial), and the law gives their translations public faith. A Brazilian state authority, court, university or bank in principle requires the translation of a foreign document from such a translator, and a translation certified in Georgia often keeps only informational status there. So for Brazil our main task is to prepare the original correctly with an apostille and, if you wish, to provide a Portuguese translation that speeds up the Brazilian sworn translator's work. Georgian-Portuguese sworn translators are rare in Brazil, so sometimes an English intermediate version is used: the original with an apostille plus our notarised English translation, which an English-Portuguese sworn translator then translates there. This route must be agreed with the receiving authority in advance.

The correct apostille sequence

Both Portugal and Brazil are parties to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, so a Georgian public document goes there with an apostille and needs no consular legalization. In Georgia the apostille is issued by the Public Service Development Agency (through the Public Service Hall), and we handle this step as part of the order. The sequence is: first the apostille on the Georgian original, then the translation of the original together with the apostille, and finally the notary certifies the translator's signature. No apostille is placed on a notarised translation, on a notarial certification of a copy, on identity documents and their copies (except a copy of a Georgian passport certified by the issuing body), on driving licences, on documents of private companies (except medical and educational institutions) or on customs and commercial documents (apostille). If the receiving authority insists on a translation certified by the state, the alternatives are a translation made and apostilled by the Agency itself (the MIA Service Agency does the same for its own documents), or the services of a Portuguese consulate or a Brazilian sworn translator.

In Portugal apostilles are issued by the Prosecutor General's Office (Procuradoria-Geral da República) in Lisbon, Porto and other regional offices. In Brazil the apostille came into force in August 2016 and is issued by notary offices (cartórios); a Brazilian document legalized before that date is still valid, but a new one needs an apostille.

Step by step: a Georgian document for Portugal

A typical case: a Georgian applies for a residence permit in Lisbon and needs a criminal record certificate and a birth certificate.

1. Obtain the certificate and, if the old birth certificate is damaged or dates from the Soviet period, request a new copy.
2. Have the apostille placed on the original; we do this for you.
3. Full translation of the original and the apostille into European Portuguese, with notarial certification.
4. If the receiving authority requires additional certification of the translation, it is done in Portugal or at the consulate.
5. Delivery by courier, or an electronic version for advance submission.

A Soviet-era certificate is written in Russian and is often handwritten, so getting a new copy is almost always the faster and safer route (birth certificate translation).

The Brazilian certidão and electronic documents

A Brazilian civil status document is often several pages long: one certidão may contain entries on birth, a change of surname, marriage and its dissolution, with handwritten annotations (averbações) and several stamps. A Georgian authority requires a full translation of every averbação, otherwise the translation is considered incomplete. Many certidões are now issued electronically with a verification code, and the Portuguese civil registry extract and the company certidão permanente are available through an online code. In such cases we keep the code and the verification link unchanged in the translation and note that the original is electronic, so the Georgian authority can check authenticity itself.

Power of attorney

A Georgian living in Portugal sells property or manages an account in Georgia through a power of attorney, while a person in Georgia arranges an NIF or the purchase of a flat in Portugal through a representative. The formulas of a Portuguese procuração (com poderes para, podendo substabelecer) must be translated into Georgian notarial language with exact equivalents. Conversely, the general Georgian phrase "the right to perform all necessary actions" is not enough for a Portuguese notary and needs a list of specific powers, so before translating we often advise on the wording itself (power of attorney translation).

Why translations get rejected

The most frequent reasons are: the original had no apostille or the apostille was not reflected in the translation; the translation was done in the Brazilian variant for a Portuguese authority or vice versa; registo and registro are mixed in one document; a name was written differently from the Latin spelling in the passport; the criminal record certificate was already too old at submission; the transcript had no explanation of the grading system. In Brazil a refusal almost always has one reason: the authority needed a local sworn translator's version. If you bring us another provider's rejected translation, we first establish the exact reason and, where possible, correct only the problematic part.

Translation in both directions

From Georgian into Portuguese

The main users of this direction are Georgians who live in Portugal or plan to move there: visa applications (D7, D8, D2), residence applications at AIMA, family reunification, citizenship, university admission. Since October 2023 immigration matters in Portugal have been handled by AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo), which replaced the former SEF. Towards Brazil, Georgian texts are mostly commercial: wine certificates, company documents, distribution agreements.

A Georgian document is full of realities unfamiliar to a Portuguese reader: the Public Service Hall, the Public Registry, the personal number, the national exams. We translate the name of an authority by meaning and, where useful, give the functional analogue in brackets; for example, the Georgian personal number combines the functions of the Portuguese NIF and the Cartão de Cidadão number. Peculiarities of the most common papers:

• Birth certificate: following the logic of the Portuguese assento, the parents' details are essential and must be reproduced in full.
• Criminal record certificate: the Georgian wording must be rendered in registo criminal terminology so that AIMA reads it as the equivalent of a local certificado (criminal record certificate translation).
• Diploma: the Georgian qualification is rendered exactly and is not "equated" with a Licenciatura; that comparison is the job of DGES.
• Employment record: Portuguese social security asks for Georgian work history with exact dates and the employer's details.

From Portuguese into Georgian

The reverse flow comes from two sources: Brazilian citizens who study, live or do business in Georgia, and Georgians living in Portugal who need a Portuguese document in Georgia. The birth certificate of a child born in Portugal, for Georgian citizenship, is prepared with an apostille from the Portuguese Prosecutor General's Office and our notarised Georgian translation. A Brazilian marriage certidão often states the matrimonial property regime (regime de bens), a category foreign to Georgian law that needs a short explanation. The Brazilian three-year ensino médio corresponds to the final stage of Georgian school education, and this explanation accompanies the translation for the admissions committee.

A Brazilian criminal record certificate is often issued online on the Federal Police website and contains only a verification code, while a Georgian authority asks for a version apostilled in Brazil. That is why we advise students to sort this out while they are still in Brazil.

Names, dates and numbers

A Portuguese-language name often has four or five words, for example Maria Fernanda de Souza Oliveira. The Georgian system expects one first name and one surname, so we keep the full name in the exact order, including the particles (de, da, dos, das), and where needed add a note showing which part is the surname. The Georgian transliteration follows Portuguese pronunciation (Oliveira keeps its "ei" sound in Georgian letters rather than becoming "Olivera"). In the opposite direction, a Georgian name is written exactly as in the Latin line of the passport: a Portuguese officer compares the document precisely against that form.

In Brazilian documents a date is sometimes written as a full phrase (aos vinte dias do mês de março); in a legal text we keep both forms. In Portuguese 1.500,00 means one thousand five hundred, and in the Georgian translation the thousands separator and decimal comma must be written so that no ambiguity remains. The Georgian 10-point grading scale does not match the Portuguese 20-point scale: we do not convert the grades, but we add a note that 10 is the top mark, so a Georgian "7" is not read as a fail.

Dual registration and other Portuguese-speaking countries

When the same fact, a child's birth, a marriage or a divorce, must be recorded in the registries of both countries, the spelling of names and places must match exactly in both languages. If a child's name is spelled one way in the Portuguese certificate and with a different transliteration in the passport, the mismatch surfaces years later in a university admission or an inheritance case, so we offer such families a single transliteration scheme. Documents from Angola, Mozambique and Cape Verde are close to European Portuguese but have their own terminology and certification rules, so before translating we establish what certification the document carries and whether it is sufficient for the Georgian authority.

Legal and medical translation

Contracts and corporate documents

The Portuguese Civil Code of 1966 and the Brazilian one of 2002 belong to the continental law tradition, like the Georgian code, so obligations, sale and power of attorney exist on both sides. The difficulty is in the institutions: a Brazilian cartório is at the same time a civil registry, a notary and a signature-authentication service, and reconhecimento de firma confirms only that a signature is genuine, not the content of the act, so it cannot simply be translated into Georgian as "notarially certified". The Brazilian contrato social is the functional analogue of a Georgian charter, but it also contains the founders' agreement.

We most often translate sale, service and distribution agreements, extracts from the business registry, charters, meeting minutes, CNPJ extracts and trademark applications for the Brazilian INPI or INPI Portugal (contract translation). In a bilingual two-column contract the clauses are numbered in parallel, a term stays the same everywhere (if "supplier" is fornecedor, it never becomes vendedor), and we translate the prevailing-language clause with particular care and recommend agreeing it with a lawyer. Registering a branch of a Georgian company in Portugal (Registo Comercial) requires certified translations of the extract and the charter; we translate one package with one terminology and certify it with the notary in one visit.

Court, real estate and employment

The documents that most often come from Portugal to Georgia are court decisions: divorce, maintenance, parental responsibilities (responsabilidades parentais). Tribunal de Família e Menores, sentença, acórdão and trânsito em julgado are translated with Georgian procedural terms; the last one, entry into legal force, is decisive for recognition. A Brazilian case number follows a standardised twenty-digit format, documents often come from the PJe system with a digital signature, and these elements stay unchanged.

A Portuguese escritura de compra e venda resembles a Georgian notarial contract, but it includes the caderneta predial (property tax record), the certidão de teor (full registry extract) and the licença de utilização (occupancy permit); each comes with a functional explanation so that a Georgian bank or notary can correctly assess the document's force. In inheritance, the habilitação de herdeiros is the analogue of a Georgian certificate of inheritance, while in Brazil the inventário is processed in court or at a cartório and can run to dozens of pages; we first establish which part is needed in Georgia, then build a case-level terminology base. In employment papers, subsídio de férias and subsídio de Natal (the so-called thirteenth salary) do not exist in the Georgian system and need explaining.

Medical documents

Medical translation has three main groups of users: Brazilian students at Georgian universities, Georgians in Portugal who need a discharge summary or a disability status document for the Portuguese health system (SNS), and doctors planning registration with the Ordem dos Médicos in Portugal or the Revalida exam in Brazil. The Portuguese nota de alta and the Brazilian relatório médico resemble a Georgian discharge summary, but Brazilian drug brands are often not sold in Georgia: we keep the brand and add the international non-proprietary name (INN) in brackets. Reference ranges stay unchanged. We also watch for false friends: constipação means a cold in Portugal and constipation in Brazil (discharge summary translation).

In pharmaceutical documentation (bula in Brazil, folheto informativo in Portugal) we follow the terminology of ANVISA and Infarmed and work with the client's glossary. For recognition of a doctor's qualification, the diploma, transcript, programme with hours and practice certificates are translated with one terminology, because the committee checks exactly the consistency of course titles. For a Brazilian student this is a full cycle: at admission the school certificate and histórico escolar are translated into Georgian, during studies bank and medical papers for residence renewals, and at graduation the Georgian diploma and programme into Portuguese for Revalida. Medical texts are checked by an editor with a medical background, and all documents are handled confidentially.

Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting

Where a Portuguese interpreter is needed

• Business negotiations with a Brazilian importer on wine, mineral water or hazelnut exports, and tastings at a winery
• Meetings of a Portuguese investor on real estate or tourism projects
• Visits by a Brazilian student's parents to the university, the bank, the clinic (an accompanying interpreter for the whole day)
• A transaction at a notary, a court hearing or an immigration interview
• A conference, forum or hybrid event with a Portuguese-speaking speaker

At the notary, in court and at the clinic

If a party to a transaction does not speak the state language, the notary acts with an interpreter: the interpreter translates the full text of the act for the party, and the interpreter's identity and signature are recorded in the act. Our interpreters know legal terminology in both variants, so the explanation is equally clear to a Brazilian (used to a cartório) and to a Portuguese client (used to a notário). In court and in investigations the interpreter translates everything without summarising and asks for clarification of an unclear term rather than rendering it approximately. At a clinic we assign an interpreter with medical experience who also conveys the wording of informed consent precisely.

European or Brazilian interpreter

In interpreting the variant is even more noticeable: European Portuguese is fast and "swallows" vowels, Brazilian is more open and melodic. An interpreter used to Brazilian Portuguese may not fully catch a Portuguese speaker in simultaneous mode, so we ask where your partners are from. We also take cultural differences into account: in Brazil a direct refusal is rare and "let's see" often means a polite no, while Portuguese partners are more formal; the interpreter translates the words precisely and does not advise either side, and this neutrality is the basis of both parties' trust.

Formats, booking and preparation

Consecutive interpreting is booked for at least one hour, simultaneous for at least half a day. In simultaneous interpreting two interpreters alternate at 20-30 minute intervals; equipment, booth, receivers and a technician are arranged as part of the order, and for groups of up to 15-20 people a portable system also works. A Portuguese-Georgian simultaneous pair is rare, so at a large event relay through English is kept only as a backup. Remote interpreting works on any common platform; the time difference with Brazil (Brasília, São Paulo) is 7 hours, with Portugal 3-4 hours depending on the season. Book a consecutive interpreter 2-3 working days ahead and simultaneous with equipment one week ahead; in urgent cases we try to find someone the same day. Send us the agenda, presentations, the draft contract and the list of wines in advance: this directly improves quality. Work outside Tbilisi, in Batumi, Kutaisi or Kvareli, is planned by prior arrangement.

Settling in Portugal: which procedure needs which paper

To get an NIF at Finanças a passport and proof of address are usually enough, but if you get an NIF through a representative, a power of attorney signed in Georgia needs an apostille and a translation. For an NISS an employment contract and, for family members, marriage and birth certificates are required (marriage certificate translation). In a residence application the Portuguese side asks for a criminal record certificate from the country of origin and from every country where the applicant lived for more than a year, with an apostille and translation. A Georgian certificate is valid for 15 calendar days from issue, while Portuguese authorities assess freshness by their own rules, so we plan the timing so that the document is still valid at submission.

In family reunification (reagrupamento familiar) the package is the largest: marriage certificate, children's birth certificates, the other parent's consent, sometimes a court decision on guardianship. AIMA establishes family ties by cross-checking these documents, so everything is translated with one terminology and one spelling of names. Citizenship and permanent residence usually require A2 language level (CAPLE's CIPLE or a state course certificate), which does not involve translation but affects planning.

Educational documents

The universities of Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and NOVA are an accessible European choice for Georgian applicants; admission requires translations of the school certificate, diploma and transcript, and recognition of foreign degrees is handled by DGES (Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior) (diploma and supplement translation). For recognition of a Brazilian diploma in Georgia, or revalidation (revalidação) of a Georgian diploma in Brazil, exact and consistent course titles are what matters, because the programme content is what gets compared. Brazilian schools use a 0-10 scale, percentages or descriptive grades, so we add a note on the specific school's system. For recognition of foreign education in Georgia, the Georgian translation of any foreign-language document must be notarised (foreign diploma recognition). In Brazil a similar role is played by Celpe-Bras, required for admission and some professional recognitions.

Technical, marketing and web translation

Besides official documents we translate texts where naturalness matters more: a tour company website for Brazilian visitors, a winery presentation, an app interface, an academic article following the ABNT citation standard. Brazilian readers find European Portuguese cold, Portuguese readers find Brazilian informal, so the text is checked by a native editor of the target variant. Technical documentation and safety data sheets (FISPQ in Brazil, FDS in Portugal) are translated with the client's glossary. Labels and marketing texts need no certification; some importers ask for a notarised translation of certain certificates, although in Georgia customs and commercial documents cannot be apostilled.

Official sources

• Public Service Development Agency: apostille and legalization: which Georgian documents can be apostilled, which cannot, and the processing times
• Hague Conference: Apostille Convention status table: the current list of countries - apostille or consular legalization
• Hague Conference: the Portuguese authorities that issue apostilles on Portuguese documents

Frequently asked questions

Send us a scan of the document and tell us whether you will submit it in Portugal, Brazil or Georgia: we will tell you whether an apostille is needed, which variant to translate into and when it will be ready.