How to apply for a Georgian residence permit, step by step

Two offices come up on every step. The PSDA is the Ministry of Justice agency that issues residence permits. A Public Service Hall is the state office where you file the application and collect documents. The legal basis is Articles 14 to 21² of the Aliens Law and Government Ordinance No 520 of 2014 with its later amendments.

How to get residency in Georgia: step 1, choose the permit that fits your facts

Article 15 of the Aliens Law lists the permit types. Each one needs a real basis: a job or business with a right to work, family ties, study, property above USD 150,000, an investment or property above USD 300,000, or qualifying IT work. Two rules apply to all of them.

• You must be staying in Georgia lawfully when you apply (Article 14(1)). A visa-free stay counts. Asylum seekers and people on a deferred obligation to leave do not qualify.
• If you entered on an ordinary C-category visa, you can apply only for the investment, IT, special or violence-victim permits (Article 14(1³)).

For a work or IT residence permit, the right to work comes first. You (if self-employed) or your employer apply to the State Employment Support Agency, which has up to 30 calendar days to decide. Once you have it and are in Georgia, you must apply for the work or IT residence permit within 10 days. The details are on our work permit page.

First work, study and family reunification permits are now issued for 6 months to 1 year, not for several years as older guides say. The residency overview compares the routes.

Step 2: collect and apostille your documents

The document list depends on the permit type. Foreign documents must be apostilled or legalised, unless a treaty says otherwise (Ordinance 520, Article 4). Copies must be certified. Start early, because this step happens in the country that issued each document. See the document checklist.

Step 3: get a certified Georgian translation

The application and all documents must be in Georgian (Aliens Law Article 17(6)). A passport whose data is in Latin script needs no translation. Other foreign documents need a Georgian translation certified as the law requires.

Step 4: file at the Public Service Hall or online

You can file in person, through a representative, or electronically on the PSDA website. The PSDA site has online links for the work, family reunification, former-citizen, special, permanent, investment and short-term permits. It has none for the study, spouse, unlimited or IT permits, so plan to file those in person.

Watch the timing:

• File at least 40 calendar days before your lawful stay ends (Ordinance 389 of 27 August 2025, Article 3(4)). This does not apply to the unlimited, investment, special, short-term or IT permits, or to holders abroad extending online.
• File an extension no earlier than 90 days before your permit expires.

Step 5: the review

The Agency checks your criminal record with Georgian authorities itself. It may visit the address you gave and interview people to confirm the grounds (Article 17(3¹)). For the spouse permit, an interagency commission may interview the spouses separately and together and inspect the home. Refusing to cooperate is a refusal ground.

Decision times by fee tier

Fees from the PSDA residence permit page, retrieved October 2026:

The legal maximum is 30 days from a complete file, or 90 days for the spouse permit (Ordinance 416 of 26 August 2026, Article 13(3)). The clock runs from a complete file, so missing papers delay it. The full fee list is on our cost page.

Step 6: collect your residence card within 1 month

After the permit is granted, you must obtain your residence card within 1 month (Article 20(2)). If you do not apply for the card within 6 months, the Agency can terminate your stay (Article 21(1)(k)).

Step 7: keep your address and phone number up to date

Applicants and permit holders must tell the Agency at once about any change of mobile number or actual address (Article 20¹(5)). Employers must tell the Agency within 5 days when an employee with a permit leaves. Some public and private services may ask for a certificate of lawful stay, issued by the Interior Ministry's Service Agency (Article 21³).

If you are refused

Refusal grounds

Article 18(1) lists the refusal grounds. They include:

• not meeting the requirements of the permit type;
• forged documents, or false or concealed information;
• being wanted, under prosecution, or convicted in Georgia of certain crimes;
• listed dangerous diseases;
• refusing to cooperate with the spouse-permit commission;
• residence that is "inadvisable" for state security or public safety.

The state security clause is broad. Article 21¹ says it covers harm to relations with other states, likely links to hostile armed forces, foreign intelligence, terrorist, extremist or organised-crime groups, certain administrative offences, and systematic breaches of Georgian law. The Agency presents this information in a way that protects state secrets, so you may not see the full reasons. Nobody can promise you an approval.

Reapply or appeal

You may reapply on the same basis after at least 1 month (Article 19). To challenge the decision, go to court within 10 calendar days of receiving it (Article 21²). There is no appeal to a higher administrative body for permit decisions. An appeal does not stop expulsion proceedings.

Residence permit and tax residency are separate

A residence permit does not make you a Georgian tax resident. Tax residency depends on days of presence under Article 34 of the Tax Code. See Georgian tax residency.