Georgia immigration and residence options in 2026

Georgia's immigration system changed materially in 2026. From 1 March 2026, most foreigners without permanent residence who work for a Georgian employer or carry out local entrepreneurial or self-employed activity need a separate right to work in addition to the relevant visa or residence status.

Company registration, tax status, a visa, a residence permit and permission to perform economic activity are separate legal questions.

Current route map

• Work residence and right to work
• Freelancer and self-employed options
• IT residence permit
• Investment residence
• Property short-term residence
• Study residence
• Family reunification
• Permanent and indefinite residence
• Remote work and C5

The 2026 right-to-work reform

The Law on Labour Migration now requires most non-permanent-resident foreigners doing paid local work or local entrepreneurial/self-employed activity to obtain a right to work. A local employer normally applies for an employee; a self-employed foreigner applies personally.

After approval, a person outside Georgia generally has 30 calendar days to apply for a D1 immigration visa where required. A person already in Georgia generally has 10 calendar days to apply for a work residence permit or an IT residence permit unless a legal exception applies.

People with active registration in the former labour-migration database on 1 March 2026 have until 1 January 2027 to regularise under the new system.

Work residence is not just a visa

SDA currently asks for evidence of employment or entrepreneurial activity, income of at least five times the subsistence minimum for the average consumer, and qualifying employer/business turnover. The published turnover benchmark is GEL 50,000 per foreign applicant, or GEL 35,000 for education and medical institutions.

IT professionals have a dedicated residence route

Official guidance covers qualifying IT employees, qualifying individual entrepreneurs with small-business status in specified IT activities, and authorised representatives of qualifying international IT companies.

For the main employee/freelancer categories, official guidance requires at least 2 years of IT experience and at least USD 25,000 equivalent remuneration during the previous year. Government tech guidance describes a permit of up to 3 years, extendable subject to an overall 12-year maximum.

Property and investment thresholds are different

From 1 March 2026, the D5/short-term property route uses non-agricultural Georgian property with a market value exceeding USD 150,000 equivalent in GEL.

The separate investment residence route uses at least USD 300,000 equivalent investment or qualifying property exceeding USD 300,000.

Remote work now has a C5 category

Georgia's law contains a C5 short-term visa category for tourism where the visitor may also perform activity only for a non-resident person when that activity relates to the non-resident's activities outside Georgia.

This is different from the former pandemic-era Remotely from Georgia initiative.

Settlement takes longer than old guides may say

Current SDA guidance states that long-term permanent residence based on temporary residence generally requires 10 years of qualifying temporary residence. Investment residence has a separate route to an indefinite residence permit after the specified five-year compliance period.

Explore Asia, work visas, self-employment visas, digital nomad visas, entrepreneur visas, methodology, and the legal disclaimer.

Related published research: Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and United Kingdom.

Published pathways