Work residence requires a qualifying Georgian employment/activity basis and supporting evidence; right-to-work approval and residence/visa procedures are distinct.
Route overview
Employment basis for work residence
Typical timeline / duration: Validity is set by the granted residence decision; D1 entry validity and the right to work are separate.
Important notes
Provide the Georgian employment contract or equivalent evidence of qualifying local labour activity.
For covered activities, obtain the right to work through the competent labour authority; apply the current statutory exclusions rather than assuming every overseas service is covered.
For ordinary work residence, monthly income/remuneration or eligible bank resources must support at least five times the current average-consumer subsistence minimum for each permit month; this is not five times the minimum wage.
Show employer/enterprise turnover of at least GEL 50,000 per applicant, or GEL 35,000 for educational/medical institutions, plus identity, lawful-stay, registration-code, photograph and fee evidence under SDA's checklist.
Ordinance 443, dated 8 September 2026, aligns D1 with a previously granted right to work for covered employment/entrepreneurship. It takes effect on publication and applies to relations arising from 1 September; specified law-exempt activities have separate provisions.
The current Labour Migration Law has exceptions, including Article 1(4)(k) for work/services benefiting a non-resident and linked to that person's activities outside Georgia. This is not a blanket exemption for every freelancer, nor a blanket permit requirement for all overseas remote work; classify the actual activity first.
Where Article 13⁵'s follow-up applies, apply for D1 within 30 calendar days after obtaining the right to work if abroad, or the relevant work/IT residence permit within 10 days if already in Georgia. Existing residence holders and stated remote-outside-Georgia cases are excepted. These are filing deadlines, not approval guarantees.
SDA normally requires ordinary work/study residence filings at least 40 calendar days before lawful stay expires, with specific exceptions. China's ordinary-passport short visit is not a one-year stay and should not be used as an assumed in-country conversion plan.
A right-to-work exclusion does not itself grant immigration residence. The IT residence category has its own eligibility and documents; it is not automatic from ordinary business registration.
Preparation checklist
Classify the employer/client, activity and any statutory labour-law exclusion before applying.
Confirm the correct immigration visa or existing residence basis before travelling.
Gather activity/contract, registration and turnover evidence for the chosen residence category.
Calculate resources from the current subsistence indicator over the requested permit period.
Check the applicable post-authorisation filing deadline and remaining lawful-stay period with the authority.
Prepare the passport, lawful-stay evidence, photograph and fee documents, and retain submission records.