How to Send a Power of Attorney from Abroad to Georgia (Consulate and Apostille Rules)

The most common scenario looks like this: an emigrant is selling a flat in Tbilisi, and the deal has to be signed by their mother or brother. Another frequent case is a foreign investor who is buying property in Batumi or setting up a company in Georgia and does not want to fly in for every appointment. In both cases the power of attorney has to be executed abroad in a way that a notary, the Public Registry or a bank in Georgia will accept.

In this article we explain both routes: executing the power of attorney at a Georgian consulate, and executing it before a local notary with an apostille and a translation. At the end you will find a checklist of what the power of attorney must say so that it is accepted the first time it is submitted.

Route 1: a power of attorney at a Georgian consulate

A consul at a Georgian consulate can perform notarial acts, including certifying a power of attorney. Such a power of attorney is drawn up in Georgian and is used in Georgia in the same way as a document executed before a Georgian notary: it needs neither an apostille nor a translation.

The consulate route is best when the consulate is nearby, an appointment slot is available soon and your deadline is not tight. Check the current rules, the documents required and how to book an appointment on the official page of the consulate you plan to visit.

Route 2: a local notary, an apostille and a translation in Georgia

The second route is more common, because a notary is close by almost everywhere. The process has four steps:

1. Executing the power of attorney before a local notary - in the language of that country or in two languages. The notary confirms your identity and your signature;
2. Apostille - if the country is a party to the 1961 Hague Convention, the competent authority of the same country places an apostille on the power of attorney. Georgia is also a party to the Convention. If the country is not a party, you need consular legalization instead of an apostille;
3. Sending the original to Georgia - the apostilled original, by courier. In the meantime you can send us a scan, so that we can start the translation before the original arrives;
4. Georgian translation and notarization - the text of the power of attorney, the foreign notary's certificate and the apostille are all translated, and the translation is notarized and attached to the original.

The translation in Georgia is ready the same or next day. More detail: translation of a power of attorney sent from abroad.

Which route to choose

• The consulate is nearby and you have time - the consulate. The document is in Georgian from the start;
• The consulate is far away or the waiting list for appointments is long - a local notary and an apostille;
• The country is not a party to the Hague Convention - compare the time legalization takes with the time it takes to get a consulate appointment. Legalization is often the slowest option;
• You need to use the power of attorney in several countries - a local notary, an apostille and whatever translation each country requires;
• The matter concerns a company - alongside the power of attorney, the company's registration documents often need an apostille and a translation too, so the local notary route is usually more practical.

What the power of attorney must say

Georgian authorities most often refuse a power of attorney not because of its form but because of its content. Before you sign, check that the power of attorney contains:

• The principal's details - full name as in the passport, date of birth, passport number and, if you have one, your Georgian personal number;
• The representative's details - first name, surname, personal number or passport number, exactly as they appear in the representative's own document;
• Identification of the asset - for real estate, the cadastral code and the address; for a car, the VIN and the registration number; for a company, its identification code;
• Each power listed separately - selling, setting the price, signing the contract, receiving the money, filing applications with the registry, collecting documents. "Management of property" does not include selling it;
• The right to delegate - if the representative may need to pass the matter on to a lawyer or another person;
• The term - with enough margin. Under Article 109 of the Civil Code, a power of attorney ends when its term expires, and a new power of attorney means another apostille and another courier.

If you need help drafting the text, see drafting a power of attorney. You can also send us a finished draft before you sign it, and we will check it from the point of view of how it will be used in Georgia.

Example: a power of attorney to sell a flat

Say an owner living in Germany wants to sell a flat in Tbilisi, and the deal will be signed by the owner's brother. Such a power of attorney usually states, item by item, that the representative may:

• sell the flat, identified by its address and cadastral code;
• choose the buyer and set the price as well as the payment terms;
• conclude and sign the preliminary and the main sale and purchase agreement;
• receive the purchase price, including to a bank account;
• file applications with the Public Registry, collect documents and remedy any deficiencies the registry identifies;
• transfer the utility accounts and sign the handover certificate for the flat.

If the representative must not perform one of these actions - for example, if the money must be paid into your account and not into theirs - state that restriction explicitly as well. Each of these items in the German text has its own matching item in the Georgian translation, in the same order.

How to plan the timing

Plan the timing backwards from the date of the deal. First find out how many days the apostille takes in your country and how long the courier needs to reach Georgia, then add one day for the translation and notarization - the translation is ready the same or next day. Leave a few days of margin as well, because a courier can be delayed at customs or by public holidays.

If the deal is next week and you do not have the apostille yet, write to us today: we will start translating from the scan before the original arrives, and on the day the original reaches us only the notarization will remain.

The most common mistakes

• the apostille was placed on a copy of the power of attorney, and the original was left without one;
• the name in the power of attorney is spelled differently in Latin letters than in the passport;
• the cadastral code is missing or differs by one digit from the registry record;
• the power of attorney covers "management", but the representative needs to sell;
• the right to receive the money is not included, so the buyer cannot pay the representative;
• only a scan was sent to Georgia, and the original stayed abroad;
• the apostille was not translated, and the authority considered the translation incomplete.

The last two mistakes are caught at our stage: we check that the original carries the apostille, and we translate the entire document, including every field of the apostille.

Step by step: the local notary route

Frequently asked questions

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