Georgia Cancels Labour Permit Requirement for Expats
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Table of contents
TL;DR
What changed, what it fixes, and what it means for your setup
Why the original law failed
What the amendment actually changes
What still requires a permit
How Gegidze helps
Final thoughts
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
TL;DR
The Georgian Parliament passed amendments on April 16th, 2026, that exempt most foreign founders, remote workers, and LLC directors from the labour permit that went live on March 1st.
If you work exclusively for non-Georgian clients, you are fully outside the labour permit system. No permit needed.
LLC ownership no longer triggers a permit, the word "partner" has been removed from the self-employed foreigner definition.
Directors and supervisory board members of most Georgian companies are now explicitly exempt.
A new "short-term professional activity" category covers project-based consultants and temporary experts.
The 50,000 GEL revenue threshold for work residence permits has been removed. New criteria are coming in a Government Ordinance.
Even if you are permit-exempt, securing a Georgian residence permit is still strongly recommended.
What changed, what it fixes, and what it means for your setup
The last six weeks created a problem that didn’t need to exist.
A system designed to regulate local employment ended up catching founders, freelancers, and remote operators who were never part of the Georgian labour market in the first place.
Now the Government has corrected the course.
The April 16th amendment formally narrows the scope of the Labour Migration Law. In plain terms, it separates local employment from international economic activity.
Why the original law failed
The March 1st rollout treated all foreign economic activity as if it had local labour impact. That assumption was flawed.
Here’s what went wrong:
A freelancer working with US clients was treated the same as someone employed by a Georgian company
A founder of an LLC was treated as “self-employed” inside the Georgian labour market
Remote activity was not clearly separated from physical presence
This created three immediate risks:
Administrative overload: Hundreds of unnecessary applications. Delays. Confusion across institutions.
Investment hesitation: Foreign founders paused company formation decisions. Some reconsidered Georgia entirely.
Legal inconsistency: The law conflicted with Georgia’s territorial tax model, where foreign-sourced income is not taxed locally
The system didn’t align with how modern businesses operate.
The April 16th amendments correct this. These are not administrative clarifications or ministry guidance. They are statutory changes, written directly into the Law on Labour Migration. Here is what changed, who it affects, and what you need to do.
What the amendment actually changes
Remote workers: fully outside the system
If your work is tied to non-Georgian clients, you are exempt.
The law now explicitly excludes persons carrying out labour activity or services for the benefit of a non-resident person, where that activity is connected to business conducted outside Georgia.
This covers:
Freelancers
Contractors
IT developers
remote consultants
and any professional whose economic activity has no interaction with the Georgian market.
The test is straightforward: who do you work for, and where is that activity based?
If the answer is outside Georgia, the labour migration law does not apply to you.
Your physical location does not determine your status. You can live in Tbilisi full-time and still be fully exempt, provided your clients are non-Georgian and the services you deliver relate to activities conducted outside Georgia. Where you sit does not matter. Who you work for does. |
LLC owners: ownership is no longer employment
The word "partner", the Georgian legal term for LLC shareholder, has been removed from the definition of self-employed foreigner. This is a clean legislative fix.
Registering a Georgian LLC and holding shares in it now creates zero immigration obligation. Any share percentage. Any sector. The ownership role is categorically separated from labour migration.
This matters because Georgia actively promotes 100% foreign ownership and remote company management. The March 1st version of the law directly contradicted that policy. The amendment restores consistency.
Directors and supervisory roles: explicitly exempt
The amended law adds a new exempt category:
Persons performing managerial
Supervisory
Or audit committee functions
in Category 1, 2, and 3 enterprises under the Law of Georgia on Accounting.
In practice, this covers directors of nearly all Georgian LLCs, from micro entities up to mid-size companies.
Combined with the ownership exemption, a foreign national who incorporates a Georgian LLC and acts as its director is now exempt at both levels. Neither role requires a permit.
Short-term professional activity: a new legal category
A new Article 13⁹ introduces a formal concept that did not exist before: short-term professional activity.
A foreign national can now enter Georgia, carry out professional work tied to a specific project, event, or service, and leave, without requiring a labour permit or residence permit of any kind.
This applies to: consultants, technical experts, event specialists, and temporary project teams.
The specific qualifying activities and maximum durations will be defined in a forthcoming Government Ordinance.
Georgia is creating a structured space for temporary professional engagement.
The 50,000 GEL residency threshold: removed
A second law approved on the same day removes the 50,000 GEL annual revenue requirement from the work residence permit framework.
This threshold had been the primary eligibility criterion for work residence permits for freelancers and early-stage founders for years. It is gone from the statutory text.
New criteria will be defined in a Government Ordinance. Until then, the details are uncertain.
But the signal is clear: the residency framework is being redesigned to be more accessible and less dependent on strict financial thresholds.
Your situation at a glance
What still requires a permit
The amendment narrows the system significantly. It does not abolish it. Two situations remain regulated.
Local employment: A foreign national employed by a Georgian company, receiving a Georgian salary, working in the Georgian market, still subject to the permit system. This is the core purpose of the law and that has not changed.
Individual entrepreneurs in the Georgian market: A foreign individual entrepreneur selling goods or services to Georgian clients in Georgia remains within the framework. The foreign-client exemption does not apply to domestic market activity.
One practical note for IEs operating locally: LLC directors are now exempt even when the LLC serves Georgian clients. Restructuring from IE to LLC removes the permit obligation.
The trade-off is a different tax treatment, the LLC's distribution model versus the IE's 1% SBS rate. Whether that trade-off makes sense depends on your revenue and structure.
If you already applied for a permit before April 16th, there is no reason to withdraw. The fee has been paid and a permit does no harm. If you have not yet applied and work exclusively for non-Georgian clients, you do not need to apply at all.
Why residency matters
The permit exemptions change the reason for pursuing Georgian residency, they do not remove the case for it.
Banks increasingly require stronger local ties for account maintenance and KYC.
The past six weeks proved that Georgian law can change quickly. A residence permit gives you a legally established status, one that is not dependent on the current visa-free policy remaining unchanged.
And future regulatory changes may rely on residency as the baseline for determining who qualifies for what.
Whether through your LLC, property ownership, or another qualifying route, secure a Georgian residence permit as soon as you qualify. Rules change fast. Residency is your buffer when they do.
How Gegidze helps
Structure review: We assess whether your current setup, IE, LLC, Virtual Zone, is correctly positioned following the amendment.
LLC, IE, SBS registration and VZS applications: For founders ready to proceed, we handle company formation and the appropriate tax regime together from day one.
Residence permit applications: We manage the full Civil Registry Agency process, including remote submission by power of attorney.
Tax residency certificates: For founders who need to prove fiscal domicile to foreign banks or tax authorities, we coordinate the Revenue Service Georgia application and annual renewal.
Permit status clarification: If you filed before April 16th and are unsure of your current position, we review and advise on whether any further action is needed.
Final thoughts
Georgia built its reputation on being open, fast, and founder-friendly. The March 1st rollout temporarily undermined that. The April 16th amendment restores it.
More significantly: the government listened, acted within six weeks, and fixed the law at the statutory level, not through guidance that can be reversed tomorrow. That is the signal. Georgia is still the right jurisdiction. The framework just needed to be corrected.
What has not changed: the importance of getting your structure right, understanding your tax obligations, and securing legal residency as a foundation for long-term stability.
If you are unsure how the amendment affects your specific situation, book a free consultation with Gegidze before making any structural decisions.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
I already applied for a permit. Should I withdraw?
No. The fee is paid. A permit does no harm. There is no penalty for holding a labour permit you are not legally required to have. Leave the application in process and focus on your actual setup.
Does the exemption apply if I have both Georgian and non-Georgian clients?
The exemption covers activity for non-Georgian clients. If your client base is mixed, the non-Georgian portion is exempt. The Georgian-client portion remains fact-specific. If the local work is minor and incidental, the risk is low. If it is substantial, professional advice is recommended before drawing conclusions.
Does being exempt from the labour permit mean I have no Georgian tax obligations?
No. The labour permit and your tax position are entirely separate. Spending 183 or more days in Georgia in a calendar year makes you a Georgia tax resident regardless of permit status. Operating a Georgian LLC or IE creates tax obligations under the Tax Code, not the Labour Migration Law. Exemption from one system does not affect the other.
When will the Government Ordinance on short-term activity and new residency criteria be published?
No official timeline has been announced. Gegidze is monitoring the legislative register and will publish a detailed update as soon as both Ordinances are available.
