What is Georgia's 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. It lasts 365 days per entry. Leaving and re-entering starts a fresh year. 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).

What is Georgia's Short-term residence permit (property ownership)?

Foreigners who own Georgian property and want actual legal residence rather than visa-free days. It lasts 1 year, renewable annually while you own the property. Counts as legal residence toward permanent residence after 10 continuous years — unlike visa-free days, which count for nothing.

What is Georgia's Work residence permit?

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

What is Georgia's 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. It lasts 3 years, renewable up to three times, giving a maximum of 12 years. 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.

GlobeQuest

Moving from New Zealand to Georgia

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

New Zealand

GeorgiaShort stay

Visa-free · 360 days

New Zealand passport holders can enter Georgia without a visa and stay up to 360 days.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in Georgia — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026Georgia's official immigration service

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 permits Georgian MFA — visa and migration

On the ground