Georgia work residence permit and IT permit

Step one: the right to work

Since 1 March 2026 the work residence permit is issued only to a foreigner who has obtained the right to labour activity (Art. 15(a), redrafted by Law 1510 of 15 April 2026). For an employee, the Georgian employer applies to the State Employment Support Agency (SESA) and must first advertise the job for 10 working days. A self-employed person applies personally and has a video interview. The fee is GEL 200 for a 30-day decision or GEL 400 for a decision in 10 working days.

Once the right to work is granted and you are in Georgia, you have 10 days to apply for the residence permit. If you are abroad, you apply for a D1 visa within 30 days. The full rules, exemptions and fines are on our work permit page.

Some people are exempt from the work permit, for example managers of category 1 to 3 enterprises. They can still apply for a work residence permit. In place of the right-to-work decision, they file proof of the exempt activity. A manager files a size-category certificate from reportal.ge (Ordinance No 317 of 9 July 2026).

Step two: the work residence permit

What you file

Government Ordinance No 520, as amended by Ordinance No 146 of 2 April 2026, lists the documents. You file at the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA, the Ministry of Justice agency for permits) or a Public Service Hall (a state service centre):

• the application, with the unique code SESA gave you;
• a copy of your passport and proof that you are in Georgia lawfully;
• your employment contract, or proof of business activity if you are self-employed;
• the right-to-work decision;
• proof that your monthly income or salary is at least 5 times the subsistence minimum for an average consumer, or a bank balance equal to that amount for the whole permit term;
• a Revenue Service document showing that the employer's, or your own company's, annual turnover is at least GEL 50,000 for each foreign applicant (GEL 35,000 for educational and medical institutions);
• a certificate of how many foreigners are applying through that company;
• a photo and the fee receipt.

Foreign documents need an apostille or legalisation and a certified Georgian translation. See documents for a Georgian residence permit.

The new-company exemption

A new company has no turnover history to show. Ordinance No 317 of 9 July 2026 added an exemption. The turnover proof is not needed when the company is no more than 3 months old, has no more than 3 foreign employees, and is getting its first work permit without a turnover certificate. The residence permit is then issued for 6 months only. If turnover certificates are objectively impossible to get, other evidence may be filed.

How long it lasts

Since 1 October 2025 a first work residence permit is issued for 6 months to 1 year (Art. 16(1)(a)). You can extend it under the same conditions up to 12 years in total (Art. 16(3)). Each extension needs a valid right to work, so plan the two renewals together. The right to work must be extended 30 days before it expires, and a late filing is a ground to refuse it.

Fees

The IT residence permit

The IT permit has existed since 1 September 2025 (Art. 15(l), from Law 670 of 12 June 2025). It is open to three groups, and to their family members:

• employees with the right to work who do qualifying IT work;
• foreigners registered as individual entrepreneurs with small business status who have the right to work and do qualifying IT activity;
• managers or representatives of international IT companies who have the right to work.

You need at least 2 years of IT experience and annual pay of at least USD 25,000, paid in GEL at the equivalent rate. The pay must have arrived at least twice in the last year, at least 30 days apart. Qualifying work for employees is ISCO-08 code 25. For individual entrepreneurs it is NACE codes 58.21, 58.29, 62.01, 62.02, 62.03, 62.09, 63.1 and 63.12 (Ordinance No 389 of 27 August 2025).

The permit is issued for 3 years and extended by 3 years at a time, up to 12 years. It ends if you are physically outside Georgia for 183 days or more in any 12 consecutive months. Time abroad for documented medical treatment counts as presence (Art. 21(14)). Unlike the ordinary work permit, the IT permit can be issued while you are in Georgia on a C visa.

The IT permit suits people who live in Georgia most of the year. If you travel for months at a time, the 183-day rule can end it, and the ordinary work permit or the investment permit may fit better.

Keeping the permit

• Collect your residence card within 1 month of the decision.
• Tell PSDA at once if your phone number or address changes. An employer must tell PSDA within 5 days when a permit holder leaves the job.
• The permit ends when the work it rests on ends. Working without a valid right to work, or outside its conditions, is a ground to end your stay (Art. 21(1)).
• Years on a work or IT permit count toward the 10 years needed for permanent residence.

A work residence permit does not make you a tax resident. Tax residency depends on spending 183 days in Georgia in a 12-month period. See Georgian tax residency. If you plan to work through your own company or as an individual entrepreneur, read residence through your own business next.