A Power of Attorney is the single document that makes it possible to register a Georgian company without ever visiting Georgia. It is also the single most common source of delay in that whole process, and almost never because of anything dramatic. A queried Power of Attorney is nearly always a scope problem: a document that does not say, in enough detail, exactly what the person holding it is allowed to do. Here is what it has to cover, how signing and notarising it abroad actually works, and the specific ways we see them get rejected.
What this Power of Attorney actually is
A Power of Attorney, or PoA, is a signed document naming a representative and describing exactly what that person can do on your behalf. For Georgian company registration it authorises someone, usually the agent handling your filing, to act in front of the National Agency of Public Registry and the Revenue Service as if you were standing there yourself.
It is not a generic legal form. Georgian registry staff and notaries read the document for what it specifically authorises, and a PoA drafted for one purpose does not automatically cover another. A document that lets your representative register an Individual Entrepreneur does not, on its own, let them open a bank account or sign a shareholder agreement six months later. Scope is the entire point of the document, which is why it deserves more attention than most people give it before they sign.
Under the Civil Code of Georgia, a Power of Attorney does not need to take the exact form of the transaction it authorises unless a special form is required for that transaction. In practice, a Georgian notary, the registry and the Revenue Service all expect a registration PoA to be notarised regardless, because that is what makes the signature and the person's identity verifiable once the document has crossed a border.
What the Power of Attorney has to say
A vague PoA is the number one reason a filing gets queried, and the fix is almost always the same: be specific about the acts, not just the topic. The document needs to name, plainly, each thing your representative is authorised to do, which typically includes:
- Registering an Individual Entrepreneur or an LLC in your name
- Signing the founding agreement or the activity declaration on your behalf
- Applying for a tax regime, including Small Business Status
- Registering with the Revenue Service and obtaining a tax identification number
- Collecting the resulting certificates and any registry extracts
- Signing supporting documents the registry or the Revenue Service requests during the filing
A PoA that says "to represent me in all matters in Georgia" reads as broad rather than specific, and broad is exactly what gets sent back for clarification. Georgian registry staff and notaries want to see the acts spelled out, not implied by a general grant of authority. If there is more than one shareholder or director involved, each person needs their own PoA covering their own acts, since one person's authority cannot be inferred from another's document.
Drafting it: template or bespoke
Most registration PoAs are built from a template that gets adapted to your specific structure, your specific representative, and the specific filings you need done. That is not a shortcut. A well-built template already contains the acts a Georgian notary and the registry expect to see, and adapting it correctly is a smaller job than writing one from scratch, with a much lower chance of a clause getting missed.
Where it goes wrong is when the template is not actually adapted: a name spelled differently from the passport, an IE-specific PoA reused for what turns out to be an LLC registration, or a document that names an old representative because nobody updated it before the notary appointment. We draft the PoA as part of our remote company registration service specifically so it matches the structure you are registering and the representative actually filing it, rather than handing over a generic form and hoping it fits.
Signing and notarising it abroad
This is the one part of the whole remote registration process that genuinely has to happen in person, and it happens wherever you already are. You sign the PoA in front of a notary in your own country, and the notary certifies that the signature is genuinely yours.
What a notary appointment for this actually looks like varies by country, but the shape is consistent: you bring valid identification, the notary confirms your identity and witnesses the signature, and the notary applies their own seal and signature to the document. In the UK, for example, this step is usually done by a solicitor acting as a notary public, whose certification is what the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office then legalises with an apostille. In the US, it is typically a regular notary public, and the document then goes to the relevant state authority for the apostille itself. The notary step almost never causes problems on its own. What causes problems is treating it as the finish line, when it is actually step one of a three-step chain: notarise, then apostille or legalise, then translate.
Getting it recognised in Georgia: apostille or legalisation
A document notarised in your own country is not automatically valid in Georgia. It has to be certified again, and which certification applies depends entirely on whether your country belongs to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, which Georgia has been a party to since 2007.
If your country is a member, a single apostille certificate from the designated authority in that country is all that is needed, and Georgian authorities accept it without any further step. If your country has never joined, the document instead needs full consular legalisation: authentication by your own foreign ministry, then by the Georgian embassy or the nearest one covering your country. That route takes longer and involves more offices, and it is worth planning for early rather than discovering partway through a registration. We go through the Hague-versus-non-Hague distinction, including which countries currently sit on each side and realistic timelines for each, in apostille for Georgia documents.
Getting it into Georgian: certified translation
Once the PoA is apostilled or legalised, it still is not usable at the Public Service Hall until it exists in Georgian. Registry staff, notaries and the Revenue Service work from the Georgian text, not the original language, and an apostille certifies the underlying signature, not the translation.
The translation has to be certified and is typically bound to the original or a copy of it, then notarised in Georgia so the document reads as one continuous, verifiable chain: your signature, the apostille confirming it is genuine, and a certified Georgian translation a notary has attached to it. Getting this sequence right, in the right order, is largely a logistics problem rather than a legal one, and it is the part of the process we handle directly for clients rather than leaving them to coordinate translators and notaries across two countries themselves.
The rejections we actually see
Almost everything that goes wrong with a registration PoA falls into a short list, and every item on it is avoidable with the document checked properly before it is signed.
- Scope too vague. A general grant of authority instead of the specific acts the registry expects to see named.
- The wrong PoA for the wrong structure. A document drafted for an Individual Entrepreneur used to try to register an LLC, or one covering registration only, produced later to try to open a bank account.
- Name mismatches. The name on the PoA does not match the passport exactly, including transliteration differences that seem trivial but are not treated that way by a notary comparing documents.
- Apostille missing or attached incorrectly. The apostille has to be affixed to, or bound with, the actual document it certifies, not filed as a loose, separate page.
- Translation and original do not visibly correspond. A Georgian notary certifying a translation needs to be able to bind it to the source document being translated, and a mismatch in page count or a missing stamp on the original breaks that chain.
- Using consular legalisation when an apostille would have done, or the reverse. Getting this wrong wastes the time of an extra step, or produces a document Georgian authorities will not accept because the wrong certification was used for a Hague member country.
- The representative named has changed. A PoA naming someone who is no longer available to file it needs to be redone, not patched.
Every one of these is a drafting or sequencing failure, not a legal obstacle, which is exactly why we check the document before it goes to a notary rather than after it comes back apostilled and translated, when a mistake costs weeks instead of a phone call.
How long a Power of Attorney lasts, and how it ends
Georgian law does not set a fixed maximum duration for a Power of Attorney, so the document itself decides how long it runs, whether that is a stated term or until a specific task is completed. Under the Civil Code, a grant of authority ends when its stated term expires, when the person holding it renounces it, when the person who granted it revokes it, on the grantor's death, or once the authorised acts have actually been performed.
For a registration PoA, the practical answer is to scope it to the task rather than leave it open-ended. A document that authorises "registering the company and completing tax registration" naturally ends once those things are done, which is exactly what most clients want: a representative with real authority for as long as the filing takes, and none afterward unless a new document is signed for the next thing.
Registration PoA versus a banking or ongoing-operations PoA
A Power of Attorney written for company registration is a different document from one written to let someone operate your bank account or sign contracts on an ongoing basis, and treating them as interchangeable is a mistake we see often enough to flag directly.
A registration PoA authorises specific, one-time acts: filing at the registry, applying for a tax regime, collecting certificates. It is not a general licence to run your company. If you want someone to sign contracts, manage banking, or make ongoing decisions on your behalf after registration, that needs its own PoA, scoped to those acts and usually with different safeguards attached, because the stakes of an ongoing authority are considerably higher than a one-time filing.
Georgian banks in particular scrutinise banking authority closely, and a bank will generally want to see the account signatory in person regardless of what a PoA says, which is a separate question from registration entirely. What is and is not possible to do remotely on the banking side, including where a PoA does and does not help, is covered in opening a business bank account.
What this actually costs
The Power of Attorney itself is a drafting cost, not a government fee. The state charges nothing extra to accept a properly certified PoA at the registry, and the government registration fee that applies is the same one you would pay in person: 26 GEL for an Individual Entrepreneur at standard processing, or 200 GEL for an LLC, with faster same-day options available at a higher fee. What the PoA route adds is the drafting, notarisation, apostille or legalisation, and certified translation, which is where the real cost difference between an in-person and a remote registration actually sits. We break down every one of those lines, with realistic ranges rather than one invented total, in company registration cost in Georgia.
We draft the Power of Attorney scoped to exactly what you need, tell your notary what to certify, and file the moment the apostilled document reaches us. No flight, no guessing at the wording.
See what it costs
If you are still deciding between an Individual Entrepreneur and an LLC before any of this starts, that decision changes what the PoA needs to authorise, and it is worth settling first. Individual Entrepreneur versus an LLC goes through the trade-off in full, and the mistakes that show up most often once a PoA has already been filed are catalogued in company registration mistakes in Georgia.
Key takeaways
- A Power of Attorney for Georgian company registration has to name the specific acts your representative can perform. Vague, general wording is the most common reason a filing gets queried.
- The document has to be notarised in your own country, then apostilled if your country is a Hague Convention member, or fully legalised if it is not, then translated into certified Georgian.
- Common rejections trace to scope, name mismatches, an apostille attached incorrectly, or a translation that does not visibly correspond to the original.
- Georgian law sets no maximum duration for a PoA. Scoping it to the registration task, rather than leaving it open-ended, is the practical default.
- A registration PoA and a banking or ongoing-operations PoA are different documents. Do not expect one to cover the other.
- The government fee is unaffected by using a PoA. The real added cost is drafting, apostille or legalisation, and certified translation.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does a Power of Attorney for company registration let someone do?
It authorises a named representative to perform specific acts on your behalf: registering an Individual Entrepreneur or LLC, signing the founding documents, applying for a tax regime such as Small Business Status, registering with the Revenue Service, and collecting the resulting certificates. It should not be read as a general licence to act for you in Georgia beyond what it names.
Does my Power of Attorney need to be notarised?
Yes. You sign it in front of a notary in your own country, who certifies your identity and witnesses the signature. This is the one step in remote registration that has to happen in person, wherever you already are.
What happens after the PoA is notarised?
It needs an apostille if your country is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, or full consular legalisation if it is not. After that, it needs a certified Georgian translation, bound to the original and notarised in Georgia, before the registry or the Revenue Service will accept it.
Why do Power of Attorney filings get rejected?
Almost always because the scope is too vague, the document was drafted for a different structure than the one being registered, a name does not match the passport exactly, the apostille is attached incorrectly, or the translation does not visibly correspond to the source document. All of these are drafting or sequencing issues, not legal obstacles.
How long is a Power of Attorney valid for in Georgia?
Georgian law sets no fixed maximum duration. A PoA ends on its stated term, when the holder renounces it, when the grantor revokes it, on the grantor's death, or once the authorised acts are complete. Most registration PoAs are scoped to the filing itself, so they end naturally once registration and tax setup are done.
Can one Power of Attorney cover both registration and my bank account?
Generally no, and we recommend against trying to make it do both. Georgian banks scrutinise account authority separately and usually still want the signatory present in person, so a registration PoA and a banking PoA should be treated and drafted as different documents with different scopes.
What is the difference between an apostille and legalisation?
An apostille is a single certificate, issued by a designated authority in a Hague Convention member country, confirming a notary's signature is genuine. Legalisation is a longer chain used for non-member countries: authentication by your own foreign ministry, then by the Georgian embassy or the nearest one covering your country.
Do I need a separate Power of Attorney for each shareholder or director?
Yes, if there is more than one. Authority under a PoA belongs to the person who signed it, so each shareholder or director involved in the registration needs their own document covering their own acts, rather than one person's PoA being assumed to cover another's.
Can I use a Power of Attorney I already had drafted for something else?
Only if it actually names the acts a Georgian registration requires, which is rare for a document drafted for a different purpose. Reusing an unrelated PoA is one of the more common causes of a rejected filing, because the specific authority the registry needs to see simply is not in it.
How much does drafting a Power of Attorney for registration cost?
The document itself is a drafting cost bundled into a remote registration service rather than a standalone government fee. The government registration fee is unaffected by using a PoA; what adds cost is the drafting, notarisation, apostille or legalisation, and certified translation, which we cover in full in our company registration cost breakdown.
Can the Power of Attorney be revoked once it has been sent?
Yes. Revocation is one of the grounds under Georgian law that ends a grant of authority, alongside expiry of its term, renunciation, the grantor's death, or completion of the authorised acts. Third parties, including the registry, need to be notified of a revocation for it to take effect against them.