A translation bureau for Akhalkalaki - TARGMANEBI's service for a municipality where one family's documents are written in three states. Someone from Akhalkalaki who studied in Yerevan, worked in Russia and is retiring in Georgia brings documents from all three countries to a Georgian agency - and all three have to be submitted with notarized Georgian translations, under one and the same name, which is spelled three different ways across those three papers. In the other direction, Georgian documents go to Russian and Armenian authorities - for marriage, residence, inheritance, a pension - with an apostille and a translation. That two-way, three-language flow is the main subject of this page.
Beside the family flow, Akhalkalaki has two economic faces: the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars station, where freight moves between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and farm export - potatoes, cheese, meat - to Armenia and Russia. Tbilisi is three and a half hours from Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe one; the courier comes weekly.
Three countries of papers for one person
A typical Javakheti family's document package comes from three sources, and a Georgian authority accepts each on different terms:
From Armenia
- Birth, marriage and death certificates in Armenian and Russian
- Diplomas from Yerevan and Gyumri universities, for recognition
- Certificates of kinship for inheritance and citizenship
- Armenian notarial powers of attorney and renunciations of inheritance
- Armenian military and social documents
From Russia
- Work record book and service certificates for a Georgian pension
- Russian pension fund documents and a proof of life certificate
- Certificates and school records of children born in Russia
- Apartment papers and sale contracts in Russian cities
- Russian court decisions on divorce and maintenance
From Georgia to abroad
- Certificate of family status for marriage in Armenia or Russia
- Georgian certificates and records for residence and citizenship
- Registry extract and death certificate for an inheritance
- Proof of life certificate for the Russian pension fund
- Diploma and school certificate for a Yerevan university
The main difficulty with a three-language package is the name: in Armenian orthography in the Armenian document, in Russian form with a patronymic in the Russian one, in Latin transliteration in the Georgian passport - and all three have to be one person. In the translation we use the spelling of the valid Georgian identity card and keep the original forms in notes, while one translator handles a family's case from a table of names. Availability and timing for Armenian-language documents are confirmed after we see them - most papers from Armenian authorities also carry a Russian version, which is translated directly; for Russian documents we establish the recognition form - apostille or legalization - from the document type and the current rules before the order.
The station and export - railway, potatoes, cheese
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars station makes Akhalkalaki a point of railway logistics: freight documents move in Turkish, Azerbaijani, Russian and English, while local forwarders and warehouses need waybills, invoices and customs papers in Georgian - urgently, with the bureau stamp. Farm export - Javakheti potatoes, cheese, meat - goes to Armenia and Russia with contracts, invoices, phytosanitary and veterinary certificates translated into Russian, while Russian and Armenian buyers' claims and customs notices go into Georgian. Turkish and Azerbaijani documents are handled by a Turkish-direction translator; for Azerbaijani, call us first.
Schools, the 1+4 programme and the state language
Most schools in Akhalkalaki teach in Armenian, and that creates a documentary flow of its own. A pupil's papers - transcript, school certificate, character reference - are often bilingual, and an institution in Tbilisi or Europe needs a Georgian or English translation; entering university through the 1+4 programme or sitting the state language exam means an Armenian-speaking applicant's papers have to be submitted in Georgian. In the other direction, children going from Akhalkalaki to a boarding school or university in Yerevan take their Georgian school certificate and medical card in Russian or Armenian. Schools and kindergartens need translation themselves - ministry orders, curricula and instructions from Georgian for teachers, international programme material from English. Akhalkalaki's youth centres and donor projects funding Georgian language teaching produce their reports and questionnaires in English. Schools and centres that translate regularly are offered a shared glossary and monthly settlement.
Javakheti families today
Beyond the three countries, Akhalkalaki's families need present-day European papers too: young people work in Germany, Poland and the Baltic states, students go to universities in Tbilisi and Europe, children join parents abroad. Those documents - certificates, school records, consents, powers of attorney - are handled from the same table of names as a grandmother's Yerevan diploma, and come back to Akhalkalaki on one courier run.
Languages in orders from Akhalkalaki
Because of Javakheti's history, Russian outweighs every other language in Akhalkalaki in both directions - the shared language of Armenian and Russian documents. Turkish is the language of the station and its freight, English of logistics and universal documents, German and Polish of young people's employment in Europe. Ukrainian appears in freight and older papers; Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, Dutch, Czech, Arabic and Chinese are rare from Akhalkalaki. For Armenian documents we confirm availability after seeing them.
The process for a three-language package
Papers from every country, and the identity card
Photos of the Armenian, Russian and Georgian documents together, with a photo of the Georgian identity card - by WhatsApp or by email to info@targmanebi.ge. We build the table of names from the very first document.
Which authority - here, in Yerevan or in Russia
A Georgian agency, an Armenian or a Russian authority - that decides the language, whether an apostille or legalization is needed, and the form of the translation. Send us the authority's requirement.
Russian and Turkish direction translators, one table
Family and pension papers go to a Russian-direction translator, station documents to Turkish and English ones; names, dates and numbers are checked against the table with the editor.
Paper in Akhalkalaki
You receive the file at once; the certified package comes on the weekly courier visit to Akhalkalaki, or you collect it in Akhaltsikhe or at the Tbilisi office. The original travels only for an apostille.
Price and turnaround
An order from Akhalkalaki is at Tbilisi prices and the courier here runs weekly. A Russian-language certificate with notarization takes two to three days, a handwritten work record book is quoted after deciphering, a Yerevan diploma with its supplement three to four days, a full three-country package one to two weeks, a station invoice and certificate the same day; a Georgian document with an apostille for Armenia or Russia depends on the document type. Timing for an Armenian-language document is fixed after we see it. Forwarders and exporters have templates and a monthly invoice. The bureau is owned by Mariam Zumadze under a sole trader registration (ID 30601010853) - a lawyer, for whom the inheritance and pension terminology of three countries is a set of legal categories; a confirmed inaccuracy is corrected free of charge.
Do a Yerevan diploma, a Moscow work record book and a Georgian passport belong to one person whom the agency needs to see as one case? Want a Georgian certificate for an Armenian or Russian authority? Freight papers waiting at the station? Send us the photos from Akhalkalaki - we build the table of names from the first sheet.
Call: 501 113 200Frequently asked questions - translation in Akhalkalaki
I have a diploma from Yerevan Medical University and work in Georgia. What gets translated for recognition?
The diploma and supplement into Georgian, with notarization, from the apostilled Armenian original; subjects and grades in Georgian academic terminology. Recognition is carried out by the educational quality centre; if the diploma has a Russian version, translation is faster.
My father worked twenty years in Russia and now wants a pension in Akhalkalaki. The record book and certificates are in Russian.
The work record book with every completed page, and the archival certificates, into Georgian with notarization and with the handwritten entries deciphered. The name is written to match the Georgian identity card, and the Russian form with the patronymic stays in a note. We establish the recognition form for Russian pension fund documents before the order.
I am marrying an Armenian citizen in Yerevan. What language does the Georgian certificate need to be in?
The certificate of family status and the birth certificate with an apostille, translated into Armenian or Russian - most Armenian authorities accept a Russian translation as well. Send us the authority's requirement and we will match the language to it.
My grandmother died in Moscow, the flat is there and the heirs are in Akhalkalaki. What gets translated into Russian?
The Georgian death or kinship certificates, the passports and the declaration of acceptance of inheritance for the Russian notary - with an apostille and a Russian translation; the Russian notary's requirements into Georgian. We handle the case as one package from one table of surname spellings.
Turkish lorry papers are waiting at the station and customs needs them in Georgian. How long?
The invoice, waybill and certificate from Turkish into Georgian within working hours, normally the same day, with the bureau stamp, as a file. Regular forwarders have templates; for a document in Azerbaijani, call us first.
The document is only in Armenian, with no Russian version. Do you translate it?
Send us a photo - we will look and tell you the same day whether we can and how long it will take. Armenian authorities often issue a Russian duplicate too, which speeds translation up, and you can ask for one.
Translation bureau in the other cities of Samtskhe-Javakheti
Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda are Javakheti, Akhaltsikhe is the regional centre, Borjomi and Bakuriani are the resorts, and Vale, Adigeni and Abastumani have accents of their own. Choose your city.