What is Employer Sponsorship in Georgia And How Does It Work?

Table of contents

TL;DR

1. The visa landscape: what visa-free entry in Georgia actually means

2. How an EOR becomes the legal sponsor in Georgia

3. Compliance and legal obligations: what cannot be skipped

4. Timeline: how fast can an EOR get a work residence permit

5. Why EOR is the smarter route for most companies

How Gegidze Helps

Final Thoughts

Frequently Asked Questions

TL;DR

• Georgia's 365-day visa-free entry for 90+ nationalities is one of the most open regimes in the world. But visa-free entry is not work authorisation. Once a foreign employee signs a local employment contract, receives a salary from a Georgian entity, or plans to stay long term, additional legal steps are mandatory.

• As of March 1, 2026, Georgia introduced the Special Labour Activity Permit , a formal Right to Work requirement that applies to almost all foreign nationals before they can legally begin employment. This is a new layer that did not exist before.

• An employer of record (EOR) with an active Georgian entity acts as the legal sponsor, submitting the work permit application, managing the residence permit process, and handling all ongoing payroll and tax compliance. No client entity required.

• The Labour Market Test (10-day vacancy posting on Worknet) is mandatory before most foreign hires. Exemptions apply where monthly gross salary exceeds 15,000 GEL (~$5,600 USD) and the role objectively requires higher education.

• The sponsoring Georgian entity must demonstrate annual turnover of at least 50,000 GEL per foreign employee. A qualified EOR already meets this threshold at scale , the client does not need to.

• Processing timelines: standard permit takes approximately 30 days; expedited option takes 10 days. Onboarding through an EOR starts within days of contract signing, with the permit process running in parallel.

• Penalties for non-compliance are actively enforced: 2,000 GEL per violation per party, doubling and tripling for repeat offences, with potential deportation and employer hiring bans for persistent violations.

Georgia's reputation as an easy entry market is accurate. Citizens of more than 90 countries can arrive without a visa and stay for up to a year. That openness is one of the reasons international companies building remote jobs in Tbilisi and regional teams in the Caucasus find Georgia so attractive.

But March 1, 2026 changed something important. Georgia introduced a formal Right to Work permit system , the Special Labour Activity Permit , ending the informal era in which a foreign national could work from Tbilisi on a tourist visa indefinitely. The system now requires employer-led permit applications, a Labour Market Test in most cases, and clear financial thresholds for the sponsoring entity. Ignoring this is not a grey area any more. The fines are real, the enforcement is active, and the stakes include residency loss for the employee and hiring bans for the employer.

This guide covers five things every company considering foreign hires in Georgia needs to understand in 2026 , the visa landscape, how an EOR sponsors work authorisation, the compliance obligations, the timeline, and why EOR is the fastest and safest route for most hiring scenarios.

1. The visa landscape: what visa-free entry in Georgia actually means

Georgia is one of the most accessible countries in the world for foreign professionals. More than 90 nationalities , including the US, UK, EU member states, Canada, and Australia , can enter and stay visa-free for up to 365 calendar days. This is genuinely exceptional by global standards and is one of the core reasons moving to Georgia has become a credible option for international companies and founders.

It also creates a common and expensive misconception: that easy entry means no compliance. It does not.

What visa-free entry covers and what it does not

The 365-day visa-free regime is designed for short-term stays, tourism, temporary presence, and remote work for foreign companies without a local footprint. It does not replace proper employment authorisation. If a foreign employee signs a local employment contract, receives a salary from a Georgian entity, or plans to live and work in Georgia long term, they must move beyond visa-free status.

Status	Visa-free entry allows	Visa-free entry does NOT cover
Short-term / tourist	Enter with a valid passport, stay up to 365 days	Open a Georgian bank account as a resident
Remote work (foreign employer)	Work remotely for a non-Georgian company	Sign a local employment contract legally
Employment in Georgia	Enter the country	Receive salary from a Georgian entity without a permit

Georgia's work authorisation system from March 2026

Georgia does not operate a traditional work permit system comparable to most European countries , there is no government pre-approval queue for each hire based on quota. Instead, from March 1, 2026, the system operates through the Special Labour Activity Permit: a mandatory application submitted by the employer on behalf of the foreign national before work begins.

The permit is issued by the State Employment Promotion Agency (SESA) under Government Resolution No. 70, signed February 20, 2026. It is role-specific and employer-specific , if the employee changes jobs, a new permit is required. The work permit is then the prerequisite for either a D1 immigration visa (if the employee is abroad) or a Labour Residence Permit (if already in Georgia on a visa-free stay). Georgia tax residency rules kick in separately after 183 days in a calendar year.

The single most common compliance mistake in Georgia is assuming that because entry is easy, employment is informal. Entry is visa-free. Employment is not. From March 2026, a foreign national working in Georgia without a Special Labour Activity Permit exposes both themselves and their employer to 2,000 GEL fines per offence, with escalating penalties for repeat violations and potential deportation.

2. How an EOR becomes the legal sponsor in Georgia

If your company does not have a registered Georgian entity, an employer of record provides the only compliant route to hire and sponsor foreign employees. The EOR is the legal employer on record. It assumes full responsibility for local employment, payroll, tax compliance, and immigration.

Step 1: Compliant employment contract issued

The process begins with a locally compliant employment contract. The EOR's Georgian entity signs this contract with the employee , bilingual in Georgian and English, structured under the Georgian Labour Code, and including salary, benefits, role definition, and IP provisions. This contract is the legal foundation for the permit application and the residence permit that follows. A compliant employment contract from a registered Georgian entity is not optional: it is the document Georgian authorities use to verify that the employment relationship is legitimate. Register a company in Georgia if you plan to transition from EOR to a direct entity later.

Step 2: Labour Market Test on Worknet (where required)

Before the Special Labour Activity Permit application can be submitted, most employers must post the vacancy on the national employment portal (worknet.moh.gov.ge) for a minimum of 10 business days. SESA actively searches its database for qualified Georgian candidates during this period. If suitable local candidates are identified, the employer must review them and provide a "justified refusal" , documenting the objective professional reasons why the local candidate does not meet the specific requirements. Arbitrary or subjective refusals are reviewed by SESA and can result in the permit application being discontinued.

Exemption: the 10-day posting requirement is waived where the monthly gross salary exceeds 15,000 GEL (~$5,600 USD) and the role objectively requires higher education. Companies with International Company or Innovative Startup status are also exempt.

Step 3: Special Labour Activity Permit submitted

Once the Worknet posting period is complete (or the exemption confirmed), the EOR submits the permit application to SESA. Standard processing: approximately 30 days. Expedited processing: 10 days, at an additional government fee of 400 GEL versus 200 GEL for standard. The EOR prepares all documentation: employment contract, passport copy, address confirmation, proof of qualifications, and justification. The client does not interact with immigration authorities directly.

Step 4: Residence permit application

Once the work permit is issued, the employee applies for a Labour Residence Permit. If already in Georgia on a visa-free stay, they must submit this application within 10 calendar days of permit issuance. If outside Georgia, they must apply for a D1 visa from a Georgian consulate within 30 calendar days. The residence permit is typically issued for 6 months to 1 year initially, renewable. IT professionals qualify for a 3-year permit reflecting Georgia's strategic priority on the technology sector.

Stage	Who handles it	Typical timeline
Employment contract issued	EOR , bilingual Georgian/English	Day 1
Worknet vacancy posting (where required)	EOR	10 business days
Special Labour Activity Permit application	EOR submits to SESA	10–30 days processing
Employee arrives / continues in Georgia	EOR coordinates	During processing
Residence permit application	EOR assists	Within 10 days of permit
Tax registration and payroll start	EOR	Concurrent from Day 1

The 50,000 GEL turnover requirement

A sponsoring Georgian entity must demonstrate annual turnover of at least 50,000 GEL per foreign employee sponsored. This is an aggregate requirement: three foreign employees require 150,000 GEL in demonstrated turnover. A qualified EOR operating at scale already meets this threshold across its entire client base , the client company does not need to. This is one of the structural advantages of EOR over direct sponsorship for smaller companies or market entrants that have not yet built Georgian revenue.

3. Compliance and legal obligations: what cannot be skipped

Georgia is business-friendly. That does not make it compliance-optional. Hiring foreign employees requires strict adherence to labour law, tax rules, and immigration requirements , all running simultaneously from day one.

Employment contracts

Every employee working in Georgia must have a locally compliant employment contract. The contract must be in Georgian (bilingual format is acceptable), include mandatory legal clauses on working hours, compensation, probation, and leave, and align with the Georgian Labour Code. An EOR issues these contracts as standard , the client does not need to understand Georgian employment law to get this right.

Payroll, tax, and pension compliance

Income tax in Georgia is a flat 20% withheld by the employer from each salary payment and remitted monthly to the Revenue Service. Pension contributions follow the 2+2+2 structure , 2% from the employer, 2% from the employee, and 2% matched by the state for Georgian citizens. The employee must be registered with a Georgian Tax Identification Number (TIN). All salary flows through compliant GEL-denominated payroll with payslips issued monthly. This is what Georgia's payroll and tax structure requires , and what a genuine EOR delivers as standard.

Labour law: leave, overtime, termination

All Georgian labour law applies equally to foreign employees. Full-time employees are entitled to 24 working days of paid annual leave per year plus approximately 15 public holidays. Termination requires proper notice or pay in lieu; dismissal without cause requires severance. Overtime, night work, and remote work arrangements each have specific Labour Code provisions. Getting any of these wrong can result in disputes or penalties even if the underlying immigration compliance is correct.

What happens if compliance is ignored

Violation	Consequence
Working without a Special Labour Activity Permit	2,000 GEL fine for both employer and employee per offence
Repeat violation within one year	Fine doubled to 4,000 GEL
Third violation	Fine tripled, potential deportation of employee, potential hiring ban
Misclassifying employees as contractors	Back taxes, pension contributions, late-payment interest
Failing to report contract termination within 5 days	1,000 GEL fine for employer
Hiring on visa-free status without a permit	Immigration penalties, deportation risk

4. Timeline: how fast can an EOR get a work residence permit

Speed is one of the core advantages of EOR over direct sponsorship or entity setup. Here is how the realistic timeline plays out.

Day	What happens
Day 0	Foreign employee arrives in Georgia (visa-free for most nationalities)
Day 1	EOR issues compliant bilingual employment contract; payroll profile created
Days 1–10	EOR posts vacancy on Worknet (where Labour Market Test applies)
Days 2–5	Special Labour Activity Permit application submitted to SESA
Days 6–30	Employee works legally on visa-free status while permit is processed
~Day 30	Permit issued (10-day expedited option available for 400 GEL)
Within 10 days of permit	Labour Residence Permit application submitted in-country
Days 35–60	Residence card issued; TIN and pension registration complete
Ongoing	EOR manages payroll, filings, permit renewals, and compliance monitoring

Without an EOR, the same timeline requires setting up a Georgian entity (which takes weeks), opening a bank account, registering with the Revenue Service, and navigating the permit process without established relationships or local knowledge. The entity-first route adds months before a hire can legally start. The EOR route has onboarding start within days.

A critical timing detail: once the Special Labour Activity Permit is issued, the employee in Georgia has only 10 calendar days to apply for their Labour Residence Permit. Missing this window requires restarting the residency process. An EOR tracks this deadline and books the Public Service Hall appointment automatically.

5. Why EOR is the smarter route for most companies

Two routes exist for sponsoring foreign employment in Georgia: set up your own Georgian entity and manage everything internally, or use an EOR that already has the entity, the registrations, and the compliance infrastructure in place. Both can work. For most companies, particularly at market entry or with fewer than 15 people in Georgia, EOR wins on every practical dimension.

No entity setup required

Setting up a Georgian LLC requires company registration, banking setup, tax registration, and accounting infrastructure. The process takes weeks; the ongoing overhead is real. An EOR removes all of this. You hire through the EOR's existing entity immediately. No setup delays, no administrative burden, no company registration timeline to absorb before your first hire can start.

Built-in compliance across all five layers

A qualified EOR in Georgia manages every compliance layer simultaneously: the Special Labour Activity Permit application, the Labour Market Test and Worknet posting, the residence permit process, monthly payroll with 20% PIT and 2+2+2 pension contributions, and ongoing Labour Inspectorate obligations including the 5-day termination reporting requirement. If a compliance inspection happens, the EOR stands in front , not the client.

Faster hiring: days instead of months

For companies wanting to fill remote jobs in Tbilisi or hire foreign specialists into the Georgian market quickly, an EOR dramatically compresses the timeline. The permit process runs concurrently with onboarding rather than blocking it. The employee is productive from week one.

Predictable costs with no hidden penalties

An EOR replaces the variable and unpredictable costs of entity compliance , accountant fees, legal updates, payroll software, government registration fees , with a single flat monthly fee per employee. There are no surprise penalties from compliance gaps you did not know existed. The EOR carries that liability.

Local expertise, not local guesswork

The 2026 work permit regime is new. The regulations are detailed. The Worknet integration, the SESA review process, the justified refusal documentation, the 10-day residence permit window , all of these are edge cases that require in-country expertise. An EOR with a genuine Georgian entity and direct relationships with SESA and the Public Service Hall navigates these without trial and error. Companies using offshore global platforms that subcontract to unnamed local partners in Georgia do not get this , they get response times that match three-step approval chains. See also: local vs global EOR in Georgia.

How Gegidze Helps

Gegidze supports international founders and companies navigating the structural decisions around Georgia as an employment and tax base. For companies at different stages of their Georgian presence, Gegidze provides:

• Company registration , when a company is ready to move beyond EOR and register its own Georgian LLC to operate as a direct employer, Gegidze handles the full process.

• Individual entrepreneur registration , for contractors and founders who want Individual Entrepreneur (IE) status with Small Business Status (1% tax rate) rather than formal employment.

• Georgia tax residency planning , advising founders relocating to Georgia on the 183-day tax residency rule and how it interacts with employment income and foreign source income.

• Corporate banking , supporting companies that have outgrown EOR and need to open a corporate bank account in Georgia to run their own payroll and compliance.

• Tax structuring , explaining how Virtual Zone status and International Company status interact with employer sponsorship obligations and the Labour Market Test exemptions.

• Ongoing compliance , managing Georgia's monthly and annual tax deadlines for companies running their own payroll after transitioning from an EOR arrangement.

Final Thoughts

Georgia's visa-free access is real and genuinely useful. It makes entry fast, flexible, and low-friction for most nationalities. But from March 2026, the employment layer is formalised. The Special Labour Activity Permit, the Labour Market Test, the residence permit sequencing, and the 2,000 GEL-per-offence penalty structure are all in effect and enforced.

For companies wanting to hire foreign talent into Georgia quickly and compliantly, an EOR is the most direct route. It requires no entity setup, meets the turnover threshold automatically, manages the permit process end-to-end, and keeps the client entirely outside the line of regulatory fire.

For founders who are considering building a deeper Georgia presence , their own entity, tax residency, Virtual Zone or International Company status , book a free consultation with Gegidze to understand how the compliance and tax layers connect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an EOR sponsor the Special Labour Activity Permit in Georgia?

Yes. An EOR with a registered Georgian entity acts as the sponsoring employer for the Special Labour Activity Permit application. The EOR submits the application through the government's electronic portal (labourmigration.moh.gov.ge), manages the Worknet vacancy posting where required, and maintains the employment relationship under which the permit is tied. The client company directs the work; the EOR holds all legal employer obligations.

What is the Labour Market Test and when can it be skipped?

The Labour Market Test requires posting the vacancy on the national employment portal (worknet.moh.gov.ge) for at least 10 business days before a foreign hire can be approved. SESA searches its database for qualified Georgian candidates during this period. The test is waived where the monthly gross salary exceeds 15,000 GEL (~$5,600 USD) and the role requires higher education. Companies with International Company or Innovative Startup status are also exempt, which is why structuring your Georgian entity under the right tax regime matters for immigration flexibility as well as tax efficiency.

What happens if a foreign employee's visa-free period expires before the permit is issued?

Georgia's visa-free regime allows most nationalities to stay for up to 365 days. The permit application process typically takes 10–30 days, well within the visa-free window for most employees who have recently arrived. If the employee's visa-free period is close to expiring, they either need to briefly exit and re-enter Georgia to reset the clock, or have the residence permit application filed and accepted before expiry. An EOR tracks these dates as part of standard immigration management.

Is there a dedicated visa or permit for IT professionals in Georgia?

Yes. Georgia has introduced a 3-year IT-specific residence permit for technology professionals who meet two criteria: at least two years of IT experience and a minimum annual income of approximately $25,000 USD. This is significantly longer than the standard 6-month to 1-year initial permit and reflects the Georgian government's strategic interest in attracting technology talent. An EOR can sponsor this permit in the same way as the standard Labour Residence Permit.

What is the Digital Nomad exemption for Georgia in 2026?

The March 2026 regulations distinguish between foreign nationals working for a Georgian entity (who need the Special Labour Activity Permit) and foreign nationals residing in Georgia while working remotely for a non-Georgian company with no Georgian footprint (who fall under the Digital Nomad category). The georgia digital nomad visa route is separate from the employer sponsorship framework. If your company has any Georgian operations , even through an EOR , the employees it places in Georgia are not digital nomads. They require the full permit process.

What does the 50,000 GEL turnover requirement mean for smaller companies?

A sponsoring Georgian entity must demonstrate annual turnover of at least 50,000 GEL per foreign employee. For small startups or companies testing the Georgian market, this can be a barrier for direct sponsorship , a startup with 30,000 GEL in revenue cannot sponsor even one foreign employee. An EOR sidesteps this entirely: the EOR's existing revenue base already satisfies the turnover requirement at scale, and the client's own revenue is not the relevant figure.