GlobeQuest

Georgia visas and residency

Who can visit Georgia without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Georgia, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United StatesVisa-free · 360 daysUnited KingdomVisa-free · 360 daysIndiaVisa requiredCanadaVisa-free · 360 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 360 daysGermanyVisa-free · 360 daysFranceVisa-free · 360 daysNetherlandsVisa-free · 360 daysIrelandVisa-free · 360 daysSpainVisa-free · 360 daysItalyVisa-free · 360 daysPortugalVisa-free · 360 daysPolandVisa-free · 360 daysSwedenVisa-free · 360 daysSwitzerlandVisa-free · 360 daysSouth AfricaVisa-free · 360 days
Long stay

How you actually move to Georgia

Digital nomadHigh confidenceVerified August 2026

The 365-day visa-free stay (what most people actually use)

Citizens of roughly 98 countries, who may enter and remain in Georgia for a full year without any visa or permit. Remote workers, in practice.

What you need
  • Nationality of one of the ~98 eligible countries
  • A passport valid for the duration of stay
  • Nothing else — no application, no fee, no registration
How long it lasts
365 days per entry. Leaving and re-entering starts a fresh year.
Path to permanent residence
None, and this is the catch. Visa-free days are not legal residence, so they build nothing toward permanent residence (10 continuous years holding a residence permit) or citizenship (10 years, and Georgia generally does not permit dual nationality without a presidential exception).
Cost
Nothing.
Processing time
None — it applies on arrival.
Worth knowing
  • This is the most generous visa-free regime of any country in this dataset by a wide margin, and it is why Tbilisi filled with remote workers without any nomad-visa programme.
  • Because it is entry rather than residence, it gives you no residence card — which complicates long leases, some banking, and anything requiring proof of address.
  • You become a Georgian tax resident after 183 days regardless of your immigration status. Georgia's 1% small-business regime is the reason many people register locally anyway — but it is conditional: you register as an Individual Entrepreneur, then apply for Small Business Status, which taxes turnover at 1% up to GEL 500,000 a year (3% above that, and the status is revoked to the standard 20% if you exceed the cap two years running). Consulting, legal, medical and other licensed professional services are expressly excluded and taxed at 20%.
  • The 'Remotely from Georgia' programme launched in 2020 was a pandemic-era entry scheme, not a residence permit, and should not be relied on today — confirm current arrangements with the MFA.
Sources:Georgian MFA — visa and migration
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Short-term residence permit (property ownership)

Foreigners who own Georgian property and want actual legal residence rather than visa-free days.

What you need
  • Ownership of Georgian real estate with a market value of at least USD 150,000, confirmed by an accredited valuation — the threshold rose from USD 100,000 with effect from 1 March 2026
  • The property registered in your name at the public registry
  • Clean record and standard documentation
How long it lasts
1 year, renewable annually while you own the property.
Path to permanent residence
Counts as legal residence toward permanent residence after 10 continuous years — unlike visa-free days, which count for nothing.
Cost
Modest application fees; the valuation and the property purchase are the real costs.
Processing time
Around 30 days at PSDA.
Worth knowing
  • The valuation, not the purchase price, is what must clear USD 150,000. Buy near the line and an appraisal can sink the application.
  • The bar more than doubled on 1 March 2026. Any guide still quoting USD 100,000 is describing the pre-2026 rule.
  • Foreigners cannot own agricultural land in Georgia. This route is residential and commercial property only.
  • If your nationality already gets 365 visa-free days, the only reason to take this permit is to start the clock toward permanence.
Sources:Public Service Development Agency — residence permits
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Work residence permit

People employed by a Georgian company, or running a registered Georgian entrepreneurial activity.

What you need
  • Employment with a Georgian-registered entity, or your own registered business activity
  • Evidence the business or employer meets minimum turnover requirements per foreign employee
  • Documented income at the level required for the permit category
How long it lasts
Issued for up to 6 years at a time and normally granted in shorter increments; extensions are possible but total time held on temporary residence permits cannot exceed 12 years.
Path to permanent residence
Counts toward permanent residence, which requires 10 continuous years holding a residence permit. The 10-year rule replaced a 6-year rule in 2021 — treat any source still quoting 6 years as obsolete.
Cost
Low — a few hundred lari in fees.
Processing time
Around 30 days, and Georgia's public services are genuinely fast by regional standards.
Worth knowing
  • Turnover requirements per foreign employee mean a newly-formed company usually cannot sponsor anyone in its first year.
  • Registering as an individual entrepreneur and taking the 1% turnover tax regime is the route many freelancers use — it gives both a tax status and a basis for residence.
Sources:Public Service Development Agency — residence permits
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

IT residence permit

IT professionals — employed by a Georgian or a foreign company, freelance, or remote. Georgia opened this route on 1 September 2025 and it is now the most realistic legal-residence option for a working remote developer.

What you need
  • At least two years of documented work experience in the IT sector
  • Annual income of at least USD 25,000
  • Evidence of the employment, contracting or freelance arrangement
  • Physical presence in Georgia of at least 183 days a year to keep the permit valid — for dependants too
How long it lasts
3 years, renewable up to three times, giving a maximum of 12 years.
Path to permanent residence
It is legal residence, so it counts toward the 10 continuous years required for permanent residence — which the 365-day visa-free stay does not.
Cost
Standard PSDA permit fees, in the low hundreds of lari.
Processing time
Around 30 days at PSDA.
Worth knowing
  • The 183-day presence condition is the trade-off. Unlike the visa-free year, this permit expects you to actually live in Georgia, and it applies to dependants as well as the principal.
  • Permit holders can sponsor a spouse and dependants.
  • This route is new. Practice around what counts as 'IT sector' experience is still settling — confirm your activity codes with PSDA before relying on it.
Sources:Public Service Development Agency — residence permits
StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Study residence permit

Students at Georgian institutions — notably the English-taught medical programmes that draw large international intakes.

What you need
  • Enrolment at an authorised Georgian institution
  • Proof of funds and accommodation
How long it lasts
Course length, renewed as required.
Path to permanent residence
None. Study permits are expressly excluded from the 10-year permanent-residence count, alongside medical-treatment and diplomatic permits — so years spent studying here build nothing toward settlement.
Cost
Nominal permit fees plus tuition, which is low by international standards.
Processing time
Around 30 days.
Worth knowing
  • Georgian medical degrees are widely used as a cheaper route into medicine, but recognition in your home country is the thing to verify first — it is not automatic anywhere.
  • Because study time is excluded from the permanent-residence clock, a graduate who wants to stay has to switch onto a work, IT or investment permit and start the 10 years from there. Plan for that at the outset, not at graduation.
Sources:Public Service Development Agency — residence permitsGeorgian MFA — visa and migration
On the ground

Where you'd land in Georgia

Tbilisi

Cobblestone old town, sulfur baths and the legendary 1% tax — the Caucasus nomad haven where 95 nationalities stay a full year visa-free.

Full Tbilisi guide

Georgia at a glance

Capital
Tbilisi
Population
3.9M
Languages
Georgian
Currency
GEL