How to apply to study in Georgia from Uzbekistan

Only holders of state certificates confirming full general education, or persons equalized with them, have the right to study in bachelor programmes.

The country page does not list the documents an applicant files, so the grade supplement is not named anywhere that could be read for this file. Send the attestat and its supplement together to ENIC-Georgia: the equivalence decision is made on the content of the education, and the supplement is what shows it.

The HCCH status table shows both countries as parties to the 1961 Apostille Convention — in force for Georgia on 14 May 2007 and for Uzbekistan on 15 April 2012 — so an Uzbek attestat is apostilled at home and needs no consular legalisation for Georgia.

The e-Visa portal sets the criteria for the travel document: its validity must extend at least three months beyond the validity period of the requested Georgian visa, it must contain not fewer than two free pages, it must not be damaged or carry unofficial remarks, and it must have been issued within the previous ten years.

For the visa application the portal is explicit: all documentation should be presented in English or Georgian. The portal speaks for the visa file only; ask ENIC-Georgia and the university in which language they want the education documents.

The photo must have been taken within six months of submitting the application and reflect your current appearance, you must face the camera directly, and your head must be between 50 and 70 per cent of the image height; a hat or head covering is allowed only if worn daily for religious purposes.

Sufficient financial means are proved by a bank statement of the past three months, a reference from your employer stating your position and income, a document proving possession of real estate, or a sponsor letter — dated and signed, naming the sponsor, the address and contact details, the relationship, the destination and duration, and the list of costs covered. No amount is published, so none is stated here.

The country page lists national language programmes among what higher education institutions may carry out, but it states no language test and no level for admission, and the Ministry's own pages could not be read for this file. Ask the university which language your programme runs in and what proof it wants.

The ENIC-NARIC country page for Georgia states that in order to continue studying at a higher education institute an individual must obtain a full general education certificate, and that full general education includes three levels and 12 years: primary grades I-VI, basic VII-IX and secondary X-XII. An Uzbek attestat certifies 11 years, so the gap is the thing to settle before anything else.

In higher education institutions, on bachelor and certified physician or dentist programmes, only those enrollees have a right to study who completed the respective Unified National Exams according to the rule defined by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia. The National Examinations Center, a legal entity of public law, is what runs those exams.

The page names the LEPL National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement as Georgia's national information centre, ENIC-Georgia, and gives its address in Tbilisi, its phone and its e-mail. It is the body that decides whether a foreign certificate is equalized with a Georgian full general education certificate, so write to it before you apply anywhere.

The purpose of travel is proved by an invitation, a letter from the nominating institute or organisation, or another document proving the purpose of the visit; at the Georgian border you must have the travel document, the document proving the purpose of travel, proof of accommodation, travel and health insurance and the document proving sufficient financial means.

Proof of accommodation means a hotel booking, or a copy of a rental agreement for the entire period of your stay, or a document proving real estate.

A person applying for a Georgian visa should possess travel or health insurance that will cover any cost related to his health condition and to death, and the insurance should be valid on the whole territory of Georgia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia launched the e-Visa portal so that short-term visitors can get a visa without visiting an embassy or consular office: apply, pay online, print the e-Visa. The portal states that an e-Visa grants the same right to enter Georgian territory as an ordinary sticker visa in the passport. A study stay is not a short-term visit, so ask a Georgian consular office which visa category covers your programme.

Higher education in Georgia has three stages — bachelor, master and doctorate — an academic year averages 60 credits, and a first-stage bachelor programme consists of no less than 240 credits.

The portal states the visa fee as 20 USD plus a 2 per cent service fee, payable by Visa or MasterCard within five hours of the notification e-mail, and says the fee is not refundable if the application is denied or if the visa is not used.

The Consular Department portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia carries the Visa information, Entering Georgia and Visa-free travel sections and the consular hotline; that is where an Uzbek applicant checks whether a visa is needed and which consular service to book. The portal itself says it is running in test mode.

After completing each stage of higher education a respective diploma is issued, and only bachelors or persons with degrees equalized with them have the right to study on master programmes — so the bachelor diploma is the document a master applicant files.

The country page does not list the documents an applicant files, so the grade supplement is not named anywhere that could be read for this file. Send the attestat and its supplement together to ENIC-Georgia: the equivalence decision is made on the content of the education, and the supplement is what shows it.

The HCCH status table shows both countries as parties to the 1961 Apostille Convention — in force for Georgia on 14 May 2007 and for Uzbekistan on 15 April 2012 — so an Uzbek attestat is apostilled at home and needs no consular legalisation for Georgia.

The e-Visa portal sets the criteria for the travel document: its validity must extend at least three months beyond the validity period of the requested Georgian visa, it must contain not fewer than two free pages, it must not be damaged or carry unofficial remarks, and it must have been issued within the previous ten years.

For the visa application the portal is explicit: all documentation should be presented in English or Georgian. The portal speaks for the visa file only; ask ENIC-Georgia and the university in which language they want the education documents.

The photo must have been taken within six months of submitting the application and reflect your current appearance, you must face the camera directly, and your head must be between 50 and 70 per cent of the image height; a hat or head covering is allowed only if worn daily for religious purposes.

Sufficient financial means are proved by a bank statement of the past three months, a reference from your employer stating your position and income, a document proving possession of real estate, or a sponsor letter — dated and signed, naming the sponsor, the address and contact details, the relationship, the destination and duration, and the list of costs covered. No amount is published, so none is stated here.

The country page lists national language programmes among what higher education institutions may carry out, but it states no language test and no level for admission, and the Ministry's own pages could not be read for this file. Ask the university which language your programme runs in and what proof it wants.

Only bachelors or persons with degrees equalized with them have the right to study in master programmes, and a master programme consists of no less than 120 credits.

The National Examinations Center, a legal entity of public law, ensures the execution of the Unified National and Joint Master Exams; the Joint Master Exams are the master-level counterpart of the bachelor entrance exams.

The right to study on a master programme belongs to bachelors or to persons with degrees equalized with them, and the body that establishes that equalization is the LEPL National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, Georgia's ENIC. Start with it, not with the university.

The purpose of travel is proved by an invitation, a letter from the nominating institute or organisation, or another document proving the purpose of the visit; at the Georgian border you must have the travel document, the document proving the purpose of travel, proof of accommodation, travel and health insurance and the document proving sufficient financial means.

Proof of accommodation means a hotel booking, or a copy of a rental agreement for the entire period of your stay, or a document proving real estate.

A person applying for a Georgian visa should possess travel or health insurance that will cover any cost related to his health condition and to death, and the insurance should be valid on the whole territory of Georgia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia launched the e-Visa portal so that short-term visitors can get a visa without visiting an embassy or consular office: apply, pay online, print the e-Visa. The portal states that an e-Visa grants the same right to enter Georgian territory as an ordinary sticker visa in the passport. A study stay is not a short-term visit, so ask a Georgian consular office which visa category covers your programme.

The portal states the visa fee as 20 USD plus a 2 per cent service fee, payable by Visa or MasterCard within five hours of the notification e-mail, and says the fee is not refundable if the application is denied or if the visa is not used.

The Consular Department portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia carries the Visa information, Entering Georgia and Visa-free travel sections and the consular hotline; that is where an Uzbek applicant checks whether a visa is needed and which consular service to book. The portal itself says it is running in test mode.