IT Residence Permit in Georgia: Eligibility, Documents and Process

The permit has four profiles: qualifying IT employees, Georgian individual entrepreneurs who hold Small Business Status and carry out an accepted IT activity, persons authorised to manage or represent an International Company operating in IT, and qualifying family members of a principal IT permit holder. The evidence is not identical for every profile.

Potentially. A contractor first needs to establish which applicant category applies. For the Georgian individual-entrepreneur route, IE registration, Small Business Status, an accepted IT activity, the experience and income evidence, and the current work-right position all need to be checked. A foreign contract alone does not create residence eligibility.

They share the two-year IT experience or activity test and the preceding-year income and payment tests, but they prove their working basis differently. Employees rely on the qualifying occupation and employer records; an IE must also prove Georgian IE registration, Small Business Status and an accepted IT economic activity.

The employee and qualifying IE profiles require at least two years in total of relevant IT work or economic activity. Contracts, employer certificates, tax records, invoices, project records and other evidence may be used according to the applicant’s working history.

For the employee and qualifying IE profiles, the applicant must show at least USD 25,000 equivalent in GEL received from qualifying IT work or economic activity during the last year. The evidence must also show at least two receipts separated by at least 30 days.

Employees are assessed under the accepted ISCO-08 code 25 ICT occupations. The IE profile uses the listed Georgian activity codes for software publishing, programming, IT consultancy and facilities management, other IT services, data processing and hosting, and web portals. Actual duties and revenue-generating work matter more than a commercial job title.

The current procedure generally requires the principal employee, qualifying IE or International Company manager to hold the Georgian right to work, unless a current exemption applies and the residence rules allow that route. We check the rules in force when the case is prepared because the labour-migration procedure changed during 2026.

No. Company ownership by itself is not one of the IT permit profiles. A founder may qualify through a genuine employee profile, an eligible Georgian IE profile, or as an authorised manager or representative of an International Company operating in IT, provided the applicable conditions are met.

Income can be relevant if it is properly evidenced and comes from qualifying IT work under the applicable profile. That immigration evidence question is separate from whether the income is Georgian-source, taxable in Georgia, eligible for Small Business treatment or subject to VAT analysis.

The published government services are GEL 500 for a decision on the 90th calendar day and GEL 750 for a decision on the 60th calendar day. Document preparation, work-right steps, translations and any additional-document request are separate from that government processing period.

The initial IT permit is issued for three years. It may be extended in further three-year periods, subject to continued eligibility, up to the statutory total limit. The permit can also be affected by the specific absence rule and changes to the qualifying basis.

An extension application may be filed during the final 90 days before expiry and must be submitted before the permit expires. Begin the evidence review earlier so there is time to address a changed employer, activity, work-right position, travel history or family file.

A right-to-work decision is linked to the approved employer and position or to the approved self-employed profession and activity. A change may require a new work-right decision and can affect the residence basis, so it should be reviewed before the new arrangement starts.

No. Immigration residence and personal tax residence are separate. Tax residence normally depends on the Tax Code and the person’s actual facts, including presence and any applicable special rule or treaty.

Qualifying family members can use the linked IT family route. Their documents can be prepared while the principal case is pending, but the official family checklist requires a copy of the principal holder’s IT residence permit, so the family filing normally follows the principal decision.

Yes. Send your passport, work model, short description of your IT activity, experience evidence, last-year income information, current Georgian registrations and family details. We can identify the likely profile and the main gaps before a full translation or filing budget is committed.