German Translator and Interpreter in Tbilisi

Beglaubigte Übersetzung: what German authorities accept from Georgia

In Germany, a "beglaubigte Übersetzung" is a translation made and certified by a translator sworn before a German regional court (ermächtigter or beeidigter Übersetzer). Many German authorities (registry offices, Ausländerbehörden, courts, some universities) require exactly that for foreign documents. A Georgian notarized translation is a different thing: a Georgian notary certifying a Georgian translator's signature. Whether it is accepted depends on the recipient. The German Embassy in Tbilisi accepts notarized German translations from Georgian bureaus for visa applications in most categories; uni-assist and most universities accept them for admission; anabin and ZAB comparability statements accept certified translations; but registry offices (Standesamt) for marriage and civil registration, and some Ausländerbehörden for residence permits, often insist on a German sworn translator.

Our practice is to tell you what your specific recipient is known to require. For visa files, admission and recognition, our notarized translation with an apostille on the Georgian original is usually right. For a Standesamt or a court, we advise having the apostilled original translated by a sworn translator in Germany, or we prepare our translation in a form that a German sworn translator can certify quickly. Austria and Switzerland have similar systems (gerichtlich beeidete Dolmetscher in Austria; cantonal rules in Switzerland) and similar acceptance patterns.

Study, Ausbildung, nursing and skilled worker files

Georgian applicants to German universities send their atestati and annex, unified national exam results, diplomas and transcripts (for master's applicants) and language certificates to uni-assist or directly to the university, and later to the embassy for the student visa; Studienkolleg applicants send the same set. The translations must render Georgian degree titles and the grading scale exactly, because uni-assist converts grades under the modified Bavarian formula and checks the qualification against anabin. Our diploma page explains how we handle titles and scales.

Nursing and healthcare recruitment to Germany is now one of the largest flows: nursing diplomas, transcripts, professional licenses, work experience certificates, criminal record certificates, medical fitness certificates and birth certificates are translated for the Anerkennung procedure at the state recognition authority and for the visa. Ausbildung (vocational training) applicants send school certificates, CVs and training contracts. Skilled worker and EU Blue Card applicants send diplomas for ZAB or anabin, employment contracts, references and criminal record certificates. Each of these files has a known structure, and we prepare them as a set with consistent name spellings and the apostilles in the right place.

Family reunification, marriage and civil status

Spouse visas (Familiennachzug) require the marriage certificate, the Georgian spouse's birth certificate, sometimes a certificate of marital status, and a criminal record certificate, apostilled and translated into German, plus the A1 German language certificate. Parents joining children, and children joining parents, need birth certificates and custody documents. Couples marrying in Germany face the Standesamt's stricter requirements: an apostilled Georgian certificate of marital status (Ehefähigkeitszeugnis equivalent) and birth certificate, typically translated by a German sworn translator, and often a legalization or verification step through the embassy. Couples who marry in Georgia instead need the Georgian marriage certificate apostilled and translated for registration in Germany, as described on our marriage certificate page.

For Germans, Austrians and Swiss in Georgia, we translate passports, birth and marriage certificates, Führungszeugnisse, Handelsregisterauszüge and powers of attorney into Georgian, notarized in Tbilisi, for marriage registration, residence permits, company registration and property purchases.

Business, legal and technical translation

German-speaking companies are active in Georgian energy, engineering, pharmaceuticals, automotive supply, logistics and tourism, and Georgian companies export wine, hazelnuts, textiles and IT services to German-speaking markets. We translate contracts, corporate documents, tender packages, technical documentation, product information and marketing materials between German and Georgian, with terminology managed for companies that send work regularly. German legal drafting and Georgian legal drafting are structurally close (Georgian civil law drew on the German model), which makes contract translation cleaner than into English but no less demanding of precision.

Medical translation into and from German is frequent: Georgian patients travel to German and Austrian clinics with epicrises, imaging and laboratory reports, and German clinics send treatment plans and cost estimates back. We translate with clinical terminology and can interpret remote consultations.

German interpreters

Our German interpreters work at business negotiations and board meetings, at audits and certification visits by German bodies, at notarial signings where a German-speaking party needs the act read to them (required by law in Georgia), at PSDA marriage registrations, at medical consultations, on technical sites during commissioning by German engineers, and at conferences, trainings and cultural events in consecutive and simultaneous mode. Remote interpretation is available for calls with German authorities, universities, employers and clinics. Assignments are briefed in advance and can be arranged in Tbilisi on short notice for consecutive work; details are on our interpretation page.

German translations are done by native or near-native German translators and reviewed by a second linguist; Georgian names follow the passport spelling, and German umlauts and ß are handled correctly in Georgian renderings. Standard documents are usually ready within one working day once the original is available for the notarized copy; complete visa or recognition files are quoted as a set with a firm date, and additional sets are cheaper than the first.

A typical timeline for a study or nursing file

For a bachelor's applicant, the atestati is issued in June or July; the EQE apostille on the atestati and annex should be requested immediately, because uni-assist deadlines for the winter semester fall in mid-July for many universities and the education apostille takes longer than a civil one. Translation into German follows the apostille, so that the apostille page is included, and the notarized set is scanned and uploaded to uni-assist, with the paper set kept for the embassy. The embassy appointment for the student visa comes after the admission letter, and by then the file also needs proof of financing (a blocked account confirmation or a sponsor's documents, the latter sometimes requiring translated Georgian bank and income documents) and health insurance. We prepare the education documents first and the financing documents when the admission arrives.

For a nurse recruited to Germany, the Anerkennung application goes to the recognition authority of the state where the employer is located, and each state has its own document list; the common core is the nursing diploma and transcript, the professional license, proof of work experience, a certificate of good standing from the Georgian regulator, a criminal record certificate, a medical certificate and a birth certificate, apostilled and translated, plus the B1 or B2 German certificate. The recognition decision usually precedes the visa, and the visa file then reuses the same translations. Because criminal record and medical certificates expire, we time them for the visa stage rather than the recognition stage, and we prepare the education documents as early as the recruiter allows. A complete nursing file typically involves eight to twelve documents, and preparing them as one set with consistent names saves weeks of back-and-forth with the authority.

What to send for a German translation

Send every page of the document, tell us the exact institution in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and the procedure (visa category, university, recognition body, Standesamt), and forward their document checklist. Send the passport data page so that names match. Tell us whether the Georgian original already has an apostille.