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Pathway

Georgia Work Residence for Entrepreneurs

Georgia Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Georgia uses its work residence permit for a foreign entrepreneur or self-employed person who carries out real economic activity in Georgia and obtains the required right to work.

Type
Business residence
Business fit
Entrepreneurs or self-employed people carrying out real activity in Georgia
Core requirements
Right to work, activity records, income or funds, and turnover evidence
Duration
Work residence permits are initially issued for 6 months to 1 year
Minimum investment
No fixed capital investment stated for this route
Time to permanent residence
Permanent residence may be available after 10 years on temporary residence permits, subject to exclusions

Summary

Georgia does not currently have a separate “D2 entrepreneur residence permit.” A foreign entrepreneur or self-employed person who carries out qualifying economic activity in Georgia uses the work residence permit. If an immigration visa is needed, current law places entrepreneurial activity under D1. D2 is a different visa category used for activities such as freelancing, scientific, sports, cultural or educational missions, internships, volunteering, and media work.

Since 1 March 2026, a self-employed foreign national normally applies directly to the State Employment Support Agency for a right to work in a specified field. The person then follows the applicable D1-visa or work-residence sequence. Business registration, tax status, the right to work, a visa, and a residence permit are separate legal steps; completing one does not automatically grant the others.

The work-residence application checks real Georgian activity, income or permitted personal bank funds, and turnover of the enterprise founded by the applicant. There is no fixed capital-investment amount stated for this route, but a newly registered or inactive entity does not by itself satisfy the financial evidence.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

Real Georgian activity and the right to work

This route can fit a foreign national who genuinely carries out entrepreneurial or self-employed activity in Georgia. The person should be able to show the registration and business documents appropriate to the activity and apply directly for the right to work through the official self-employment system.

The Labour Migration Law describes a self-employed foreign national as a person who independently carries out work or economic activity for economic benefit without a local employer. The right-to-work decision is issued for a specified field of self-employment. It should not be treated as unlimited authority to carry out unrelated activity.

The right to work is separate from company or individual-entrepreneur registration. A person may also need registration through the National Agency of Public Registry and tax registration through the Revenue Service, depending on the business form and activity.

Income or bank-funds test

For the work residence permit, the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) requires evidence that the applicant's monthly income from Georgian entrepreneurial or work activity is at least five times Georgia's average-consumer subsistence minimum.

If legal income cannot be proved from the activity documents, the PSDA says money in the applicant's personal bank account may be considered. The monthly balance, calculated across the requested permit period, must still be at least five times the current subsistence amount. Because that figure changes, use the amount current on the filing date.

Enterprise-turnover test

The enterprise founded by the applicant normally must show annual turnover of at least GEL 50,000 for each foreign national seeking a work residence permit. For an educational institution or medical facility founded by the applicant, the threshold is GEL 35,000 per foreign applicant.

The PSDA normally expects a Revenue Service document. Its guidance describes alternative certificates where the enterprise is not registered for VAT and permits other conclusive proof only when the usual certificates cannot be produced for objective reasons.

This is turnover, not profit and not minimum share capital. It is also different from the applicant's separate monthly-income or bank-funds test. An applicant should be ready to document both.

Immigration sequence

After the right to work is granted:

The official foreign-ministry notice summarizes the periods as 30 calendar days for the D1 application from abroad and 10 calendar days for the work-residence application from inside Georgia.

The PSDA also says most residence permits cannot be issued from an ordinary C visa or solely from entry based on a visa or residence permit of a foreign country under Georgia's special entry rule. It generally asks a residence applicant to file 40 days before lawful stay expires. Check the filing basis before entering Georgia on the assumption that an in-country conversion will be available.

Existing operators and transition

The 2026 changes include transitional rules for some self-employed foreign nationals who were already registered in the old labor-migration system by 1 March 2026. The official notice says they must obtain the right to work and the appropriate immigration status by 1 January 2027. A person relying on transition should confirm their exact deadline and should not assume that old registration remains sufficient indefinitely.

What This Route Allows

The right-to-work decision permits the approved field of self-employed activity under the Labour Migration Law. The work residence permit separately allows residence in Georgia during the permit's validity while the qualifying basis continues.

Work residence permits are initially issued for six months to one year. They may be extended if the requirements continue to be met, within the statutory overall limit for temporary residence. Qualifying temporary residence time may contribute to the separate 10-year permanent-residence rule, subject to its exclusions.

Eligible family members must make their own family-reunification applications. They do not become residents merely because the entrepreneur registers a business.

What This Route Is Not

This is not residence for opening a shell company, buying a company name, or holding a Georgian tax number without real activity and evidence. Registration is only one part of the route.

It is not the D2 visa category, and it is not a promise that every freelancer or foreign remote worker qualifies for residence. The person must fit the current labor-migration and residence rules, including the field-specific right to work and the financial evidence.

It is not an investment-residence route. The USD $300,000 investment permit and the property permits are separate pathways with different thresholds and continuing obligations.

Finally, a favorable tax registration does not create immigration eligibility. Tax rates, small-business status, excluded activities, and tax residence should be checked separately with the Revenue Service or a Georgian tax professional.

Next Steps

  1. Define the exact activity to be carried out in Georgia and choose the appropriate legal form. Confirm whether individual-entrepreneur or company registration is needed.
  2. Register the activity through the proper official registry and complete the necessary Revenue Service registration. Keep the founding and tax records.
  3. Apply directly through the official self-employment system for the right to work in the correct field.
  4. Prepare evidence of actual activity: contracts, invoices, bank receipts, tax filings, and any licenses required for a regulated activity.
  5. Confirm that both financial tests can be met: monthly income or permitted bank funds and annual enterprise turnover per foreign applicant.
  6. After approval of the right to work, choose the correct D1-visa or in-country work-residence filing based on location and lawful status, and meet the applicable deadline.
  7. Keep the right-to-work decision, unique code, registration records, turnover evidence, income records, tax filings, residence decisions, and address records for extensions.
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