Everything a West or Central African student needs to know about the Georgian D3 long-stay study visa: documents, fees, processing time, which embassy to apply through, and the first steps once you land in Tbilisi. Compiled by Georgia Office from the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our consular partners.
D3 long-stay study visa — single or multiple entry, valid for the duration of the academic program.
10 – 30 calendar days from a complete file. Plan 6 – 8 weeks end-to-end including apostille and translation.
USD 80 – 120 in embassy fees, plus USD 100 – 200 for translation, apostille and courier.
The Georgian D3 visa is intentionally documentary: once you have an admission letter and tuition receipt from an accredited university, the rest is paperwork that any well-organised applicant can assemble. The hardest steps are usually the apostille and translation, not the embassy interview.
Georgian authorities accept documents in Georgian or English. For applicants from francophone Africa, plan for sworn translations of birth certificates, criminal records, medical certificates and bank statements.
Georgia operates three embassies on the African continent, each covering a regional cluster. Pick the closest accredited mission or, where eligible, use the e-Visa portal at evisa.gov.ge.
Covers North Africa and most of West/Central Africa: Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Mauritania.
Covers East Africa and the Horn: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia.
Covers Southern Africa and part of Central Africa: DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana.
Obtain the official admission letter from a Georgian university. Georgia Office handles this for the students we enrol.
Wire tuition for at least the first semester and request a paid invoice — the embassy will not accept a pro-forma alone.
Collect passport, bank statement, criminal record, medical certificate, photos, insurance and the completed visa form.
Apostille civil documents in your country of origin and have them translated into English or Georgian by a sworn translator.
Book an appointment at the relevant embassy (Cairo, Addis Ababa or Pretoria) or apply via the e-Visa portal where eligible.
Fly to Tbilisi, register with the university, and apply for the one-year student residence permit within 45 days of arrival.
Embassies want proof tuition was actually wired. Pay the first semester before booking the appointment.
Criminal records older than 3 months are routinely rejected. Request yours late in the process, not first.
Educational certificates must be apostilled in the country of origin. A simple notarised copy is not enough.
From admission to landing in Tbilisi, we coordinate the university, the embassy, the apostille and the translation. One adviser, one contract, no agency chain.
