О консульском сборе

LAW OF GEORGIA

ON CONSULAR FEES

Article 1 - General provisions

1. This Law defines the structure of a consular fee, the procedure for paying a consular fee and its amount, as well as the grounds for release from the payment of a consular fee.

2. A consular fee is an amount determined by law for the performance of a consular operation or the provision of a consular service by a diplomatic mission or a consular office of Georgia abroad, which reflects the political significance and economic values of a consular operation.

Article 2 - Procedure for paying a consular fee

1. A consular fee is payable for the performance of a consular operation or the provision of a consular service by a diplomatic mission and/or a consular office of Georgia abroad.

1¹. If Georgia’s interests section is established at the diplomatic mission of a third state in the case provided for by the Law of Georgia on Diplomatic Service, a consular fee shall be payable for the performance of a consular operation or the provision of a consular service by the Georgia’s interests section, in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia.

2. A consular fee shall be payable on the basis of the legislation of Georgia, including this Law and the treaties and international agreements of Georgia, and shall be based on the principle of reciprocity.

3. A consular fee shall be payable based on the principle of reciprocity where a respective state applies to a citizen of Georgia a procedure different from the general one, except where expressly provided for by legislation.

Law of Georgia No 2376 of 2 May 2014 – website, 16.5.2014

Article 3 - General principle of determining a consular fee rate

1. As a rule, a consular fee is payable in advance, in accordance with the rates established by Article 4 of this Law, both in cash and by non-cash payment.

2. In accordance with this Law, the amount of a consular fee shall be determined in US dollar. A consular fee is paid in US dollar and/or in the currency of a host country, in accordance with the procedure established by a subordinate normative act of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. The fixed exchange rate for the conversion of the currency of a host country into US dollar shall be the highest market exchange rate of the host country in relation to US dollar before 1 December of the previous financial year. The National Bank of Georgia shall, no later than 10 December of every financial year, provide the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia with the exchange rates of the currencies of host countries to be used for the following year.

2¹. In the case of the conversion provided for by paragraph 2 of this article, the amount to be paid as a consular fee, received as a result of the conversion, is rounded up to the nearest integer.

3. A stateless person shall pay a consular fee in the amount that is determined for citizens of the country in which the stateless person has a permanent place of residence.

Law of Georgia No 2376 of 2 May 2014 – website, 16.5.2014

Law of Georgia No 4059 of 17 July 2015 – website, 29.7.2015

Article 4 - Types and rates of consular fees

1. A consular fee for the performance of a consular operation and/or the provision of a consular service by a diplomatic mission and a consular office of Georgia abroad shall be payable according to the following rates:

a) the review of an issue relating to the issuance of a certificate for returning to Georgia - USD 35;

b) the review of an issue relating to the issuance of a Georgian visa - USD 20;

c) the review of an issue relating to carrying out a consular legalisation of a document - USD 15 per document;

d) on the basis of a request of a citizen of Georgia, the sending of an application requesting documents or information from competent bodies of Georgia - USD 10 per document;

e) the issuance of different types of references - USD 25;

f) the confirmation of the fact of issuance of a document by an administrative body of Georgia - USD 25;

g) the performance of a translation and/or the verification of the accuracy of a translation by a consular official of a reference, a civil registration certificate, a diploma, a transcript, a school leaving certificate, a certificate, an identity identification document, a driving licence, a decision/opinion on the issue of citizenship of Georgia and a residence permit in Georgia - USD 10 per page;

h) (deleted – 2.5.2014, No 2376);

i) (deleted – 2.5.2014, No 2376);

j) the performance of a notarial action;

j.a) certifying a will - USD 10;

j.b) setting aside a will - USD 5;

j.c) verifying the genuineness of a signature on a document - USD 5 per person and per signature;

j.d) certifying a power of attorney/a letter of trust - USD 10;

j.e) annulling a power of attorney/a letter of trust - USD 5;

j.f) verifying the accuracy of a translation from one language to another - USD 5 per page;

j.g) verifying a copy of a document and/or an extract from a document, and/or issuing a copy of a document protected as a result of the performance of a notarial action - USD 3 per page;

j.h) confirming that a person is alive, confirming that a person is at a certain place, confirming that a person is the same as the one in their photograph, confirming the time of the submission of a document - USD 15;

j.i) executing a sea protest - USD 150;

k) (deleted - 12.6.2012, No 6439).

2. In the case provided for by paragraph 1(e) of this article, if a reference is issued in one of the languages permissible in the record keeping of a host country, an additional fee for the performance of its translation shall not be payable.

3. If the issuance of a reference under paragraph 1(e) of this article and the confirmation of the fact of the issuance of a document by an administrative body of Georgia under paragraph 1(f) of this article is carried out on the basis of a request for the provision of information, an additional consular fee for requesting information shall not be payable.

Law of Georgia No 6439 of 12 June 2012 - website, 22.6.2012

Law of Georgia No 2050 of 5 March 2014 – website, 17.3.2014

Law of Georgia No 2376 of 2 May 2014 – website, 16.5.2014

Law of Georgia No 4059 of 17 July 2015 – website, 29.7.2015

Article 5 - Privileges on the payment of a consular fee

1. The following persons shall be released from the payment of a consular fee:

a) persons in the cases provided for by the treaties and international agreements of Georgia;

b) the employees of charity organisations as defined in the Tax Code of Georgia, and the employees of organisations providing assistance within the framework of agreements on humanitarian and/or technical assistance, signed on behalf of Georgia or the Government of Georgia, in the line of their duties;

c) foreign members of families of citizens of Georgia in respect of the processing of their visas;

d) members of an official delegation in respect of the processing of their Georgian visas;

e) persons in respect of the processing of their diplomatic and special Georgian visas;

f) honourable citizens and Honorary Consuls of Georgia in respect of the processing of their Georgian visas;

g) persons in respect of the performance of operations related to repatriation issues;

h) participants of World War II;

i) citizens of Georgia disabled in combat for the territorial integrity, freedom and independence of Georgia;

j) persons under the age of 18, in the case provided for by Article 4(1)(a) of this Law;

k) persons in respect of the legalisation and translation of documents necessary for the transfer of remains to Georgia;

l) persons in respect of the processing of their certificates for returning to Georgia, in the case of emergency situations posing a threat to their health and life in the host country;

m) persons in respect of the processing of their certificates for returning to Georgia, if there is a request from a relevant body of Georgia;

n) diplomatic officials and administrative personnel sent on business trips, by rotation, to a diplomatic mission or a consular office of Georgia abroad, or Georgia’s interests section, and their family members, in respect of the performance of consular functions for them;

o) persons where a mistake made, due to the fault of a consular official while formalising acts during the performance of different consular functions, is corrected;

p) citizens of Georgia and stateless persons having status in Georgia, when receiving a certificate of conviction in a diplomatic mission or a consular office of Georgia abroad;

q) persons to whom certificates for returning to Georgia are issued on the basis of an application submitted by a relevant body of a foreign country by means of an electronic readmission management system.

2. The following citizens of Georgia shall be released from the payment of 50 % of a consular fee:

a) persons known as internally displaced persons;

b) persons with severe or significant disabilities;

c) veterans of war and defence forces, except for the persons provided for by paragraph 1(h) and (i) of this article.

3. A person can be released from the payment of a consular fee in special cases by a decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia or the head of a diplomatic mission or a consular office of Georgia abroad.

Law of Georgia No 6439 of 12 June 2012 – website, 22.6.2012

Law of Georgia No 2376 of 2 May 2014 – website, 16.5.2014

Law of Georgia No 4059 of 17 July 2015 – website, 29.7.2015

Law of Georgia No 3612 of 31 October 2018 – website, 21.11.2018

Law of Georgia No 4143 of 26 December 2018 – website, 10.1.2019

Article 5¹ – Procedure for and cases of refunding a consular fee

The procedure for and the cases of refunding a consular fee shall be determined by an order of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.

Law of Georgia No 4059 of 17 July 2015 – website, 29.7.2015

Article 6 - Final provisions

1. The Law of Georgia on Consular Fees of 27 June 1997 (the Parliamentary Gazette, No 33, 31 July 1997, p. 47) shall be repealed.

2. This Law shall enter into force on 15 October 2010.

President of Georgi                                                                                                                                                        M. Saakashvili

Tbilisi

1 October 2010

No 3655 - IIს