A university wants your diploma but will not take the original. A bank needs your passport on file. An employer abroad asks for certified copies of everything. A notarized copy solves this, provided the right pages are covered and the original is in hand.
Short answer: a notarized copy is the notary's confirmation that the copy corresponds to the original document presented. Because of that, the original is normally required for the act itself, and a photo or PDF is only enough for the preliminary assessment and quotation. Every page that forms part of the document has to be included, and for use abroad a translation and often an apostille are added in a specific order. Send a scan on WhatsApp and you will be told what is needed before you travel to 118 David Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Tbilisi.
When a notary certifies a copy, the notary is confirming one specific thing: that the copy corresponds to the original document presented at that moment. It is a statement about two pieces of paper matching each other.
It is not a statement that the content of the original is true. It is not confirmation that a diploma was legitimately awarded, that a contract is still in force, that a certificate has not been superseded, or that the issuing body still exists. Those are separate questions, and where an institution needs an answer to them it asks for something else entirely, such as verification from the issuing authority or an apostille.
This distinction matters because clients sometimes arrive expecting a notarized copy to solve a credibility problem. It will not. What it solves is a logistics problem: you need to give a document to five institutions and you only have one original that you cannot part with.
University diplomas, school certificates, transcripts and supplements, for employers, foreign universities, credential evaluation bodies and immigration files. Usually requested together with a translation.
Birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates, for family procedures, inheritance matters, visa applications and residence files abroad.
For banks, embassies, employers and company registration files. Confirm with the receiving institution which pages they need before the copy is made.
Employment contracts, lease agreements, sale contracts and commercial agreements where the counterparty or an authority needs a copy on file.
Registry extracts, charters, decisions and licences, for banks, tenders, foreign partners and branch registration procedures.
Criminal record certificates, property extracts, bank statements, medical and employment certificates, where a copy rather than the original is to be submitted.
The logic follows directly from what the act is. The notary certifies correspondence with the original, so the original has to be in front of the notary to be compared. A photograph of a document, however clear, does not allow that comparison, and it does not show whether the paper carries security features, stamps on the reverse, or an attached apostille.
Practical consequences worth knowing before you plan your day:
A recurring source of rejected submissions is a copy that covers less than the whole document. A diploma supplement runs to several pages; a contract has annexes; a passport has pages with stamps that the receiving institution may or may not need; a registry extract can be six sides long.
Two questions decide this. First, what forms part of the document itself - a contract without its signed annexes is not the whole contract. Second, what the receiving institution asked for - some want only the data page of a passport, others want every page carrying a stamp.
Ask the receiving institution and tell us the answer. If you do not have a written requirement, bring the complete original and we will cover what the document actually comprises rather than guessing at a subset. Making one copy too many costs a small amount; making one too few costs a second appointment.
Georgian document going abroad. A notarized copy of a Georgian document submitted to a foreign authority usually needs a translation and, in most cases, an apostille. Georgia is party to the Hague Convention, so the apostille is the relevant route for most destinations rather than full consular legalisation. The order matters: in the general pattern the document is certified first, then apostilled, then translated, so the apostille is captured in the translation. Some authorities specify differently. Send us their written requirement. See apostille and legalisation.
Foreign document used in Georgia. Whether a document issued in another country can be copied and certified here depends on the document and the requirements that apply to it. For official use, foreign documents commonly need an apostille or legalisation from the issuing country and a notarized translation into Georgian. A document that has not been through that chain may not be usable as it stands, regardless of how official it looks. Send us a scan and you will get a straight answer before anything is scheduled.
One practical note for people moving to Georgia: get your home country documents apostilled before you leave, if you can. Doing it remotely afterwards is possible but slower and more expensive than doing it while you are still there.
These are two different acts, and institutions often need both, which is why the quoted price sometimes surprises people.
A notarized copy answers: is this piece of paper the same as the original? A notarized translation answers: does this text in another language correspond to the original document? If your diploma is in Georgian and a German university needs it, a certified copy alone tells them nothing they can read.
The terms used by receiving institutions do not map neatly either. "Certified copy", "true copy", "attested copy", "certified translation", "sworn translation" and "official translation" mean different things in different jurisdictions, and some of them describe procedures that do not exist in the same form in Georgia. The only reliable method is to send us what the institution wrote and let the requirement be matched to the Georgian procedure that satisfies it. See notarized translation and document certification.
Photograph or scan every page, including reverse sides and any apostille, and tell us where the copy is going.
We confirm whether a copy, a translation or both are needed, how many copies, and whether the document is usable as it stands.
You come with the complete original and a valid ID, and the copy is compared against it by the notary.
The copy is certified, and translation or an apostille is arranged afterwards in the order the receiving authority requires.
Send a scan of the document and tell us where it is going. You will get the list of what to bring, how many copies you need and the cost in one reply.
Send the document on WhatsAppThis is the least expensive category of notarial act on this site. The figure is driven by the number of pages and the number of copies, with translation priced separately if required and an apostille adding its own fee and processing step.
A useful habit: order more copies than you need in the same visit. The marginal cost of an extra copy made at the same time is small, while coming back next month for one more copy means the full trip again, with the original in hand. Applicants to several universities or embassies almost always underestimate this.
On timing, a straightforward copy with the original present is usually quick. Translation depends on length and language, and an apostille has its own processing time. If you have a submission deadline, say so at the first message. For general orientation see translation and document service prices; the exact figure is confirmed once the document is seen.
The Notary Chamber of Georgia states that on the citizen's request the notary must provide an account setting out the cost of the service and the amount paid.
On a simple copy the value is not in the act itself, it is in the five minutes before it. Checking whether the document is complete and usable, confirming whether a translation is also needed, working out how many copies the applicant will actually require across their whole application, and setting the apostille in the right order. That is what turns one visit into one visit.
Send a scan and find out whether the document is usable, complete and correctly sequenced before you leave the house.
Both acts handled in the same conversation, in the order the receiving institution requires.
We ask how many institutions you are applying to, so you leave with the right number of copies rather than one.
Our office is at 118 David Aghmashenebeli Avenue, Tbilisi. Contact us on +995 501 11 32 00 or send a scan on WhatsApp before coming, so the document can be assessed and the notary's availability confirmed. Bring the complete original and a valid identity document.
That the copy corresponds to the original presented. It is not confirmation that the content of the original is true, valid or still in force.
As a rule yes. A photo or PDF is enough for the preliminary assessment and quotation, but the notary compares the copy against the original for the act itself.
It depends on the document and the requirements that apply to it. For official use, foreign documents commonly need an apostille or legalisation from the issuing country and a translation. Send a scan for an assessment.
Notarized copies of identity documents are commonly requested by banks, embassies and employers. Check with the receiving institution which pages they need before the copy is made.
No. They are separate acts with separate costs, and institutions frequently need both.
One per institution you are submitting to, plus a spare. Extra copies made in the same visit cost little; a second trip costs a whole morning.
The certification carries no expiry date, but receiving institutions often ask for a copy issued within the last three or six months.
Generally the notary works from the original. Where only a previously certified copy exists, the case has to be assessed individually.
It can be. What cannot be read clearly cannot be certified as matching, and privately applied lamination sometimes raises questions. Send a photo in advance.
Driven by the number of pages and copies, with translation and any apostille priced separately. It is one of the least expensive notarial acts.
This page was updated on 13 September 2026 and prepared with reference to the rules in force in Georgia and official explanations. The main sources are the instruction on the procedure for performing notarial acts, the Law of Georgia on Notary and the answers of the Notary Chamber of Georgia on current topics.
Notarial rules, fees and the documents required in a particular case may change or depend on individual circumstances. This page is a general informational and organisational guide and does not constitute individual legal advice. The final decision on whether a notarial act can be performed, and on its form and requirements, is taken by the authorised notary.
Need certified copies for an application? Send a scan and get the full list of what to bring and how many copies to order.
Call: +995 501 11 32 00