Georgia IT residence permit in 2026

Georgia has a dedicated temporary residence permit for qualifying information-technology professionals and certain IT entrepreneurs. It is more specific than a generic work residence permit and should not be described as an automatic digital-nomad visa.

Who can qualify

Current SDA guidance covers three principal profiles:

  • a foreign labour migrant employed in qualifying IT work;
  • a Georgian entrepreneurial natural person with Small Business Status carrying out specified IT activities; and
  • a person authorised to administer or represent a qualifying International Company operating in the IT sector.

Qualifying family members can also obtain residence on the statutory basis linked to the main holder.

Experience requirement

For the employee and qualifying small-business entrepreneur profiles, SDA requires evidence of at least 2 years of IT work or economic-activity experience.

For employees, SDA ties the occupational definition to ISCO-08 code 25 and corresponding subcodes. For entrepreneurs, the agency publishes specified Georgian economic-activity classifications.

Prior-year income requirement

For the main employee and qualifying entrepreneur profiles, SDA requires evidence that remuneration from IT work or economic activity during the previous year was at least USD 25,000 equivalent in GEL.

The evidence must show at least two relevant receipts during the previous year, separated by at least 30 days.

This is a historical-income test, not simply a promise that future earnings will reach the threshold.

Right to work remains separate

A qualifying IT employee normally needs the Georgian right to work granted through the State Employment Support Agency before the residence application, unless a legal exception applies. SDA's application list expressly refers to the right-to-work decision or electronic verification of it.

A Georgian Small Business registration or tax status does not automatically replace this immigration or labour requirement.

See the right-to-work guide and freelancer/self-employed guide.

Permit duration

Government tech guidance describes the IT residence permit as valid for up to 3 years at a time. The Legal Status of Aliens law permits repeated three-year extensions subject to an overall 12-year maximum for this temporary residence category.

Physical-presence safeguard

The current legal framework contains a safeguard linked to absence from Georgia: spending 183 days or more outside Georgia during a continuous 12-month period can affect the IT residence status.

This makes the permit different from a purely offshore tax registration or a visa-free travel privilege.

Family members

The statutory route also covers qualifying family members. Family status does not automatically give every accompanying person identical employment rights, so their own work position should be checked separately.

IT residence versus ordinary work residence

The ordinary work residence route uses different income and employer/business turnover evidence. The IT route instead adds IT-specific experience and prior remuneration tests.

A person should not assume that meeting the IT income threshold automatically satisfies all labour, visa, tax or business rules.

Related resources

Editorial note: The IT permit is a residence category with technical eligibility rules. It is not a general residence entitlement for anyone who works online.

Official and supporting sources

Related routes in Georgia