Supreme Court of Georgia
Office of Bar Admissions

Instructions for Foreign-Educated Applicants

Foreign-educated applicants must first file a Petition for Admission of Foreign-Educated Applicants prior to following the two-step admission process required of all applicants who wish to sit for the Georgia Bar Exam. To access this Petition, the applicant must register and then go to the Application Forms page of this website. From there, the applicant will click the "Apply" button under the "Foreign-Educated Applicants" heading near the bottom of the page.

After completing the Petition for Admission of Foreign-Educated Applicants, the applicant will see an Application for Certification of Fitness to Practice Law in Georgia that the applicant will complete and submit online simultaneously with their Petition for Admission of Foreign-Educated Applicants. Once the applicant's Petition is approved based on the criteria set forth in Part B, Section 4(c) of the Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law in Georgia, the Fitness Application will be reviewed in the same manner as with all other applicants.

Please read Part B, Section 4(c) of the Rules prior to the submission of the Petition to determine if you are eligible for approval as a foreign-educated applicant. The Rule requires that:

1. You have graduated from a foreign law school (a law school located outside the United States and its territories) that:

   • is government sanctioned or recognized by the appropriate authority;
   • is recognized or approved by an evaluation body pursuant to applicable law; or
   • is chartered to award the first professional degree in law by the appropriate authority within the country;

2. You are authorized to practice law in the foreign jurisdiction; and

3. You are currently enrolled at (or have been awarded an LL.M. degree from) a law school fully approved by the American Bar Association, in the program leading to an LL.M. degree that meets the requirements set forth in the Curricular Criteria for LL.M. Program for the Practice of Law in the United States adopted by the Georgia Board of Bar Examiners, and which includes a Professional Responsibility course with an emphasis on the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.

Documentation proving that all of the above requirements have been met is required.

¹ Due to the extra time that it may take for foreign-educated applicants to gather the supporting documentation to show that their Petition for Admission of Foreign-Educated Applicants meets the requirements of Part B, Section 4(c), eligible applicants are strongly encouraged to file the Petition and Application for Certification of Fitness by the regular filing deadline for fitness applications.

² "Authorized to practice law" means that you have the ability to engage in activities that would be recognized in the United States as the practice of law and are presently in good standing in the foreign jurisdiction.

³ After the applicant files the Petition, they must (1) upload proof of authorization to practice law in the foreign jurisdiction (in a duly authenticated translation, if not in English), consisting of official documentation (certificate, letter of good standing, or the like) issued by the licensing authority of the foreign jurisdiction; (2) provide a certification letter from their LL.M. school showing that the LL.M. program leads to (or that the applicant has been awarded) an LL.M. degree that meets the requirements of Part B, Section 4(c)(3); and (3) cause their foreign law school transcript to be submitted to the Office of Bar Admissions directly from either the foreign law school or their LL.M. school. Instructions for submitting transcripts can be found here.