Foreign Police Certificate Translation into Georgian

TARGMANEBI translates police and criminal record certificates into Georgian from English, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, Polish, Arabic, Persian, Chinese and other languages. The translation is ready the same or the next day, with notarization.

With a foreign certificate, the translation is the last stage of the process. Before that, you have to obtain the certificate in the issuing country and have it certified there with an apostille or legalization. Below we describe who needs what, what has to be sorted out abroad and what a Georgian authority checks in the translation.

Who this service is for

• Foreigners who are obtaining or extending a residence permit in Georgia;
• Foreign employees and self-employed people who submit documents under the work permit system in force since 1 March 2026;
• Citizens returning to Georgia who lived abroad for years, when a Georgian employer or authority also asks for a certificate from that country;
• Companies: documents of a foreign director, partner or employee for a bank, a licence, a tender or the HR department.

If the certificate was issued in Georgia and has to be submitted abroad, that is a different procedure. It is described on the page criminal record certificate translation.

The Public Service Hall and the temporary residence permit

Georgian law does not list a police certificate among the mandatory documents for a temporary residence permit. However, the Public Service Hall may request an additional document while reviewing an application, and in practice such a request is often exactly a police certificate from the country of citizenship or of last residence. In autumn 2025 this requirement was actively applied to citizens of several countries and was then suspended.

In other words, the practice changes. If you prepare the certificate in advance, submitting it after a request takes days rather than weeks. Requesting a certificate from abroad often takes more than a month, and the review period for your application does not stop in the meantime.

A Georgian authority accepts a foreign certificate only in complete form:

• the certificate is issued by the competent authority of the country;
• the certificate has an apostille or consular legalization, unless a bilateral or multilateral treaty provides otherwise;
• the certificate comes with a Georgian translation on which the translator's signature is notarized.

What has to be done in the issuing country

After that, we do the rest: the translation, the check and the notarization.

Details a Georgian authority checks

• The Georgian spelling of your name and surname. If you already have a Georgian document (a residence card, a Public Registry extract, an earlier translation), send it to us. We use the same spelling so that your name is written identically in every document. "Jonathan" spelled ჯონათანი in one document and ჯონატანი in another becomes a reason for additional questions;
• Date format. US documents write dates as month/day/year, European ones as day/month/year. In the translation we write the date without ambiguity, with the name of the month;
• Legal wording. Entries such as "No Record", "No Live Trace" or "Adli sicil kaydı yoktur" are translated with the exact Georgian equivalent, not a loose paraphrase;
• The apostille, seals and online verification. We translate the apostille text, seals and stamps in full. If the certificate has an online verification code or a QR code, we note this in the translation.

If the certificate contains an entry, it is translated in full and unchanged: the article, the date of the judgment, the type of sentence. Softening or omitting an entry makes the translation unusable. We handle such documents in strict confidence.

My certificate is in English. Do I still need a translation?

Often, yes. In Georgian administrative proceedings documents are submitted in the state language, so the Public Service Hall and other public authorities ask for a Georgian translation even of an English-language certificate. Banks and private employers have their own rules: some accept English directly, others ask for a Georgian translation for their internal records.

If the certificate is bilingual, for example in the local language and in English, we translate the whole text and not just one part: the notary certifies a translation that reflects the document in full. If you are not sure whether a translation is needed, ask the recipient first and request the answer in writing.

For citizens returning to Georgia

People who have lived in Europe, the USA or another country for years are often surprised that a Georgian certificate turns out not to be enough. The certificate from the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA Service Agency) is based on records held in Georgia. If an employer or authority also needs confirmation for the period when you lived abroad, they will ask for a certificate from that country as well. Such a request is especially common for work with children, in education and in healthcare.

Some countries let you request a certificate remotely. For example, an ACRO application is submitted online, and the FBI accepts fingerprint cards from abroad. But the remote route is almost always slower, and the apostille is still placed in the issuing country. So the easiest way is to obtain the certificate before you leave and have it apostilled there.

Banks and corporate accounts

When opening a corporate account, Georgian banks carry out customer due diligence (KYC/AML), and the compliance department may request additional documents from a foreign director or beneficial owner. In some cases a police certificate is on that list. The language and form of the translation are set by the bank's requirement: Georgian, English or both. Send us the bank's letter before ordering, so that no unnecessary work is done.

For companies:

• we translate the documents of several founders or employees as one package;
• names are written identically in every document and every language;
• we handle the documents confidentially;
• you have one contact person for the whole package. Details: for companies.

Together with the certificate, clients often have their passport, bank statement and company documents translated. When everything is translated as one package, all names and titles are written the same way.

How recent the certificate must be

There is no single rule on the "age" of a certificate for Georgian authorities and banks. If the request states a period, the certificate must have been issued within that period as of the day you submit it. If no period is stated, it is better for the certificate to be recent: a certificate issued several months ago may become a reason for an additional question.

Translation and notarization do not extend the validity of the certificate. The period is counted from the date the certificate was issued, not from the day it was translated.

Turnaround

A police certificate is usually 1-2 pages long, and the translation, including the apostille page, is ready the same or the next day. Obtaining the certificate and the apostille take longer, since they happen in the issuing country, so plan those stages first. If the Public Service Hall or a bank has set you a deadline for submitting the document, tell us from the start.

How ordering works

Frequently asked questions

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