Ellington, Presiding Judge.
Lemcon USA Corporation appeals from an order denying its motion to set aside a foreign judgment that the judgment creditor, Icon Technology Consulting, Inc., filed in the State Court of Fulton County. For the reasons explained below, we dismiss this appeal.
1. As a threshold matter, we note that Lemcon filed a notice of direct appeal; it did not follow the procedure for filing an application for a discretionary appeal, which is required where the judgment appealed is an order denying a motion to set aside pursuant to OCGA § 9-11-60 (d).
The record shows the following relevant facts. Icon filed an action against Lemcon for breach of a contract for professional services in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County, Missouri. The Missouri court entered a default judgment in Icon's favor on January 27, 2015. On May 7, 2015, Icon filed in the State Court of Fulton County a "Suit for [Enforcement] of Foreign Judgment," attaching a "Notice of Filing of Foreign Judgment" and an "Affidavit of Foreign Judgment" executed by an executive of Icon. The notice indicated that the Missouri judgment had been entered in the records of the State Court of Fulton County "pursuant to the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment [Law], OCGA § 9-12-130 et seq." The clerk of court verified that the attachments to the suit complied "with the law as regards to the [enforcement] of foreign judgments pursuant to the provisions of ... OCGA § 9-12-132." On July 3, 2015, Lemcon filed a motion to set aside the default judgment, arguing, inter alia, that its motion was filed in the same term of court in which the judgment was rendered and that it was therefore within the inherent power of the State Court of Fulton County, in the exercise of the trial judge's discretion, to vacate the judgment.
A new term of court for the State Court of Fulton County begins on the first Monday in
Lemcon disputes this conclusion, arguing that the default judgment was entered on May 7, 2015, during the May term of court for the State Court of Fulton County, when the Missouri default judgment was "entered of record" in the Georgia court. As adopted in Georgia, the Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgment Law, OCGA § 9-12-130 et seq., provides that, when the statutory procedure is followed, a judgment that was entered in a sister state will have the same effect as if the judgment had been originally entered in the Georgia court in which it is filed. Arrowhead Alternator, Inc. v. CIT Communications Finance Corp., 268 Ga.App. 464, 465, 602 S.E.2d 231 (2004).
Because Lemcon filed its motion to vacate the default judgment after the end of the term of court as the term in which the judgment was rendered, it failed to invoke the trial court's inherent power to set aside the judgment for any meritorious reason. Accordingly, we must construe the trial court's order denying Lemcon's motion to vacate as addressing the merits of Lemcon's alternative theory, which invoked the trial court's more limited authority to set aside the default judgment under OCGA § 9-11-60 (d). See Piggly Wiggly Southern v. McCook, 216 Ga.App. 335, 336, 454 S.E.2d 203 (1995) (contrasting limited power to rule on post-term motions under OCGA § 9-11-60 (d) with inherent discretion during same term of court to set aside judgment for any meritorious reason).
2. Because the trial court was authorized only to address the merits of Lemcon's motion to set aside the default judgment under OCGA § 9-11-60 (d), and because Lemcon failed to file an application for discretionary appeal, we conclude that we lack jurisdiction to consider this direct appeal. Noaha, LLC v. Vista Antiques & Persian Rugs, Inc., 306 Ga.App. at 326 (1), 702 S.E.2d 660; Arrowhead Alternator, Inc. v. CIT Communications Finance Corp., 268 Ga.App. at 466, 602 S.E.2d 231; Georgia Receivables, Inc. v. Murray, 240 Ga.App. at 677, 524 S.E.2d 518; OCGA § 5-6-35 (a) (8). Accordingly, this appeal is hereby DISMISSED.
Appeal dismissed.
Mercier, J., concurs and Branch, J., concurs in judgment only.