Georgia Work Permit 2026: Who Still Needs One

Georgia made work permits mandatory on 1 March 2026, and then, six weeks later, exempted a large part of the people who had just started worrying about them. The amendment of 15 April 2026 (Law No 1509) pulled foreign-client freelancers and the directors of larger companies back out of the system. Two groups stayed in, and they are not the ones most articles name, one of them is the single most common setup among foreign founders here.

One clarification before anything else, because it derails a lot of research: this is Georgia the country in the South Caucasus, capital Tbilisi, currency the lari (GEL), tax authority the Revenue Service. It has nothing to do with the US state of the same name.

Last verified: 12 August 2026. This area of law changed twice in seven weeks and secondary sources still describe the March rules as if April never happened. Treat any guide that does not mention the April amendment as out of date, including the one you may have read last month.

What actually happened, in order

The sequence matters, because most of the confusion comes from reading only half of it.

• 1 March 2026: the Law on Labour Migration, as amended, took effect. A separate authorisation, the right to labour activity, became mandatory for employment, self-employment and entrepreneurial activity. Implementing rules came from government resolution No. 70 of 20 February 2026.
• 15 April 2026: Law No 1509 amended the law again, adding a set of exemptions that removed the largest affected groups and creating a new category of short-term professional activity. This is the change most guides still miss.
• 9 July 2026: government decree No. 317 amended the residence-permit procedure under decree No. 520 of 2014, published the following day and in force immediately.

The March rules were drafted to protect the domestic labour market. The April amendment recognised that they had swept in people who never competed for a Georgian job in the first place, someone invoicing clients in Berlin from a flat in Tbilisi takes nothing from the local market.

Who no longer needs a work permit

After the April amendment, the following are outside the permit requirement, subject to the qualification on shareholders noted below:

• Work or services for a non-resident person, where the activity relates to business conducted outside Georgia. This is the exemption that covers the classic case: a foreign national registered as an individual entrepreneur (IE) in Georgia, invoicing only foreign clients.
• Passive shareholders. The duty attaches to a person who carries out paid labour activities. Holding shares in a Georgian LLC without working in it does not meet that test, and most owner-shareholders serving foreign clients are covered by the exemption above in any case. Several advisers go further and state that the word “partner” was struck from the statutory definition outright: the English consolidated text on matsne still contains it, so do not rely on the stronger version without checking your own position.
• Directors performing managerial or governing activities in category 1, 2 and 3 enterprises, as defined by the Law on Entrepreneurs. Note carefully which category is missing from that list; the next section is about it.
• Fully remote work for a Georgian employer performed without entering Georgia.
• Short-term professional activity: a new category for consultants and temporary experts on defined projects. The detailed scope is still to be set by government ordinance, so this one is not yet usable as a firm plan.
• Work for state institutions and state-participating enterprises, cultural-heritage restoration work, and holders of a special residence permit issued on a government member’s written initiative.

These exemptions are set out in the consolidated text of the Law on Labour Migration, which is worth checking directly if your case is close to a boundary. The pre-existing exemptions continue: holders of a permanent residence permit and holders of an investment residence permit (two separate statuses, often wrongly merged into one phrase) along with recognised refugees, asylum seekers, people under temporary protection, accredited diplomatic and international-organisation staff, and accredited foreign journalists.

Who is still caught

Two groups remain inside the system, and between them they cover a large share of foreign founders in Georgia.

1. An IE selling to Georgian clients

The exemption is defined by who the customer is, not by what you do. Selling goods or services into the Georgian market (local clients, local customers, local revenue) keeps you inside the permit requirement. A designer billing a company in Amsterdam is exempt; the same designer billing a company in Tbilisi is not.

Mixed practices sit in the uncomfortable middle. The statute draws the line at activity connected to a non-resident’s business outside Georgia, and the boundary between “serving a foreign client” and “participating in the local market” has not yet been tested in practice. If a meaningful share of your revenue is Georgian, treat the question as open rather than assuming the exemption.

2. The director of a category 4 company

This is the trap. The director exemption covers enterprise categories 1, 2 and 3: the larger ones. Category 4 is the smallest, and it is the category almost every founder-run company falls into. If you registered an LLC and appointed yourself director, you are very likely a category 4 director, and you very likely still need the permit.

Under the Law on Accounting, Reporting and Auditing, an enterprise falls into category 4 when it meets at least two of these three criteria at the end of the reporting period:

• assets of 1 million GEL or less
• revenue of 2 million GEL or less
• an average of 10 employees or fewer

Read that carefully, because the “two of three” construction catches people out: a company with 15 employees but a small balance sheet and modest revenue still meets two criteria, so it is still category 4, and its director still needs the permit. Confirm your own category against the accounting classification before relying on it; it is the single most consequential test in this article.

The two rules interact in a way worth planning around. A foreign founder serving only foreign clients is exempt as an IE, but the same person, doing the same work through a small LLC as its director, is not. The structure you chose for tax reasons now also carries a migration consequence.

The C5 visa: the new route for remote workers

Alongside the April amendment came a new visa category aimed squarely at people working remotely from Georgia for companies registered elsewhere.

• Valid for 5 years, with continuous stay of up to 1 year
• Covers short-term purposes including remote work for a company not registered in Georgia
• Extends to the spouse and minor children
• Fees reported in the range of USD 20 to 500, depending on type and processing speed

It does not replace the D1 visa for employment-based residence, and it is not a residence permit. For someone who wants to be in Georgia legally while working for a foreign employer, without building a local structure, it is now the cleanest answer, and it did not exist before April.

Separately, and often confused with it, an IT-sector residence permit has run since 1 September 2025. One route into it requires registration as a Georgian IE with Small Business Status, work in the IT sector, professional experience and an annual income threshold around USD 25,000; other routes cover employees of registered Georgian IT companies and representatives of international ones, each extending to a spouse and minor children. It is a different instrument with different conditions, not a general digital-nomad channel.

If you do need a permit: how it works

Two application routes exist, depending on your category.

The self-employed route

1. Build the substance file: a business plan for a new activity, or turnover evidence for an existing one, plus educational credentials and proof of professional experience.
2. File electronically with the state employment agency. No employer is involved; you apply directly.
3. Attend the interview. A video interview is part of the procedure, used to verify that the declared activity is real.
4. Pay and wait: 30 calendar days standard, 10 working days expedited.
5. Convert to status. If you are in Georgia, file the work residence permit within 10 calendar days of the grant. If you are abroad, apply for the D1 visa within 30 calendar days.

The employer route

Employers post the vacancy on worknet.moh.gov.ge and leave it open for 10 working days while the agency may propose local candidates. Rejecting a proposed candidate must be justified within three days, sources disagree on whether these are working or calendar days, so treat it as three days and confirm before relying on the margin. Contract changes and terminations must be reported within 5 calendar days.

Companies with International Company status, qualifying innovative start-ups, IT-sector specialists and positions paying above 15,000 GEL per month may skip the vacancy posting and the quota. One source adds a further condition for the salary route (a higher-education qualification in a directly related field) so confirm that before relying on it. In every case the permit itself is still required.

Fees, timelines and validity

Item	Standard	Expedited
Work permit fee	200 GEL	400 GEL
Processing time	30 calendar days	10 working days
Extension fee	200 GEL	:

An initial permit runs 6 months to 1 year. Extensions are capped at 1 year each for the first five years; after five years, extensions of 1 to 5 years become available. IT-sector specialists can receive up to 3 years from the start, the same audience Georgia courts with its Virtual Zone regime for IT companies. File extensions at least 30 calendar days before expiry, and confirm current fees before filing rather than budgeting from an article.

Penalties and deadlines: only if the duty applies to you

Read this section only after establishing that you are in one of the two groups above. If you are exempt, none of it is addressed to you.

Offence	Fine
Working without a permit: first offence	2,000 GEL
Second offence	4,000 GEL
Further offences	12,000 GEL
Employer reporting failures	1,000-6,000 GEL

Two transition deadlines apply to those who are covered: self-employed foreigners active before 1 March had until 1 May 2026, and foreigners already employed and registered before the reform must be compliant by 1 January 2027. If you fall inside the duty and have filed nothing, the May date has passed and the escalating schedule is the reason to deal with it now.

Sectors closed by quota

This one applies regardless of the exemptions above. Quotas set to zero effectively bar foreign nationals from courier and delivery work, passenger transport including taxi driving, and work as a tour guide. Mountain and ski guides have a quota of 200 per year. These are labour-market protections rather than investor measures, but they catch relocated founders who assumed a side activity would be available.

What decree No. 317 changed in July

The July decree tightened the residence permit side rather than the permit itself. Applicants in the labour-migration categories must now submit a document confirming the specific activity, on top of the standard file, a declared intention is no longer enough. A narrow allowance exists for genuinely new businesses, and certain applicants must supply their enterprise size category from the reporting portal, which is the same classification that decides the director question above.

Reporting on the exact documentary thresholds is contradictory: figures circulating from the July decree appear to conflict with an April change that removed a turnover requirement for this permit, with replacement criteria left to future ordinances. Verify the current document list against the text of decree No. 520 as amended or with the Public Service Development Agency before assembling your file. The direction of travel is not in doubt: documented economic substance beats declared intent.

A permit is not a residence permit, and neither is tax residency

Three statuses, constantly conflated:

• The right to work: the labour permit discussed here.
• The right to stay: the residence permit, filed with the Public Service Development Agency. Holding one has never included the right to work.
• Where you are taxed: tax residency, decided by the Revenue Service under the 183-day rule or the high-net-worth route, and covered in our guide to Georgian tax residency.

Visa-free entry does not include the right to work either: see Georgia and the Schengen area for how the entry rules actually work. For the tax side of a Georgian structure, the Georgia tax guide sets out the regimes in one place.

One adjacent change for anyone weighing the property route into residency: the real-estate threshold rose to USD 150,000 on 1 March 2026, up from USD 100,000.

What to do now

1. Establish who your customers are. Only foreign clients, with the work relating to their business outside Georgia? You are very likely exempt.
2. Check your structure. IE or shareholder is one answer; director of a small LLC is a different one. Confirm your enterprise category.
3. If exempt, document why. Keep contracts and invoices that show the foreign-client character of your work. The exemption is a fact about your business, and facts need evidence.
4. If covered, sequence it correctly: permit first, then the D1 visa or residence permit inside the 30-day or 10-day window.
5. If you only need to be present legally while working for a foreign employer, look at the C5 visa before building a Georgian structure you may not need.

Choosing the structure in the first place is a related decision: how to register a company in Georgia walks through the process, and what it costs to start and run one covers the numbers.

For the IE route specifically (still the cheapest way to trade, and now also the cleaner one for migration purposes) see Small Business Status and its 1% turnover tax, or our individual entrepreneur service. The full founder path is in the company registration guide.

If you would rather have it handled end to end, a clear read on whether the labour permit applies to you, the permit itself where it does, the residence application, translations and notarisation, that is what our Georgia residence permit service is for.

Frequently asked questions

I have an IE and invoice only foreign clients. Do I need a work permit?

Most likely not. The April 2026 amendment exempts work and services for non-resident persons where the activity relates to business conducted outside Georgia. Keep documentation showing that this describes your practice.

I own a Georgian LLC and am its director. Am I exempt?

Holding shares without working in the company does not by itself amount to carrying out labour activities. Being a director is a different question: the exemption covers managerial functions in categories 1 to 3, and most founder-run companies are category 4, which is not exempt. Confirm your company’s category before assuming either way.

Does a residence permit let me work?

No, unless it is a permanent residence permit or an investment residence permit. Temporary residence and the right to work are separate authorisations.

What does the permit cost and how long does it take?

200 GEL with a 30-calendar-day decision, or 400 GEL expedited to 10 working days. If you are in Georgia, the residence permit filing follows within 10 calendar days of the grant.

I work remotely from Tbilisi for a company abroad. What applies to me?

The permit requirement is not aimed at you after the April amendment, and the new C5 visa was created for exactly this situation, five years validity, up to one year of continuous stay, extending to your spouse and minor children.

Last verified: 12 August 2026. This article covers the Law on Labour Migration as effective 1 March 2026, implementing resolution No. 70 of 20 February 2026, Law No 1509 of 15 April 2026 introducing the exemptions described above, and decree No. 317 of 9 July 2026 amending decree No. 520. A further amendment, Law No 1815 of 25 June 2026, concerns administrative procedure rather than who needs a permit. It provides that appealing a penalty decision does not suspend expulsion proceedings. Rules in this area changed twice within seven weeks and several implementing ordinances are still outstanding. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; verify your own position against the primary texts or take advice before filing, or before deciding not to.