Georgia's side of a residence permit application does not change with your passport. The routes, the thresholds and the forms are identical for a German applicant and a Nigerian one. Your nationality decides the other half: whether you can enter at all, how your birth certificate and police check are made valid in Tbilisi, and what your home tax authority does once you have gone. This page sorts all twenty-nine origin countries by those answers, and links the guide for each.
What actually changes when the passport changes
Four things, and only four. Everything else about the routes, fees and processing times is nationality-blind, because the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons sets its conditions by category of applicant rather than by passport. A guide that merely restates that law twenty-nine times is worth reading once.
The first is entry. Most people reading this can land in Tbilisi tomorrow and file from inside the country. A minority cannot, and for them the residence permit application starts at a Georgian consulate rather than at a Public Service Hall.
The second is the document chain, and it is the one that decides your calendar. Georgia will not accept a foreign birth certificate, marriage certificate or police check on its own. It needs proof that the document is genuine, and the mechanism for producing that proof differs by country in a way that turns a three-week job into a three-month one.
The third is what your home country does on the way out. Deregistration, exit taxes, trailing tax liability and continued reporting obligations are all origin-side problems that no Georgian official will warn you about. The fourth is whether Georgian citizenship is even reachable for you, which is settled long before you apply.
Can you enter Georgia, and for how long?
Georgia's visa-free regime covers roughly 95 nationalities for 365 days at a time, and it is resettable by leaving and returning. It is still in force in 2026 and it is the most generous rule of its kind anywhere. It is also the reason most applicants file from inside the country: you enter, you assemble documents locally, you apply.
One rule now attaches to that entry regardless of nationality. From 2026 every visitor must hold travel or health insurance with a minimum of GEL 30,000 in cover, and the insurance requirement applies at the border rather than at the permit stage.
| Origin | Entry | What decides your timeline |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Visa-free, 365 days | FBI Identity History Summary, then a state apostille and a federal one |
| United Kingdom | Visa-free, 365 days | ACRO certificate, then a single FCDO apostille |
| Germany | Visa-free, 365 days | Führungszeugnis, and Abmeldung before you go |
| Russia | Visa-free, 365 days | Banking and document retrieval, not the permit itself |
| Norway | Visa-free, 365 days | Exit tax, and how long the tax authority keeps treating you as resident |
| Denmark | Visa-free, 365 days | Deregistering from the Folkeregister, which people forget until it bites |
| Finland | Visa-free, 365 days | The three-year rule that keeps you taxable at home after you leave |
| Estonia | Visa-free, 365 days | Separating this from e-residency, which is not immigration status anywhere |
| Lithuania | Visa-free, 365 days | Short document chain, treaty in place |
| Latvia | Visa-free, 365 days | Documents issued in Russian as well as Latvian, and which version to legalise |
| Czechia | Visa-free, 365 days | Established nomad outflow, straightforward apostille |
| Romania | Visa-free, 365 days | The largest T1 eastern European flow into Tbilisi |
| Hungary | Visa-free, 365 days | Straightforward chain, treaty in place |
| Turkey | Visa-free, 365 days, ID card accepted | Land border entry, so no flight to plan around |
| Israel | Visa-free, 365 days | No entry obstacle and a short document chain |
| Ukraine | Visa-free, 365 days | Replacing civil records issued in wartime conditions |
| France | Visa-free, 365 days | Bulletin n°3, and the exit tax at article 167 bis |
| Italy | Visa-free, 365 days | Casellario giudiziale, and AIRE registration on arrival |
| Spain | Visa-free, 365 days | Certificado de antecedentes penales, and Modelo 030 |
| Netherlands | Visa-free, 365 days | VOG, BRP deregistration, and the Box 3 position |
| Poland | Visa-free, 365 days | KRK certificate, and a large existing freelance base |
| Canada | Visa-free, 365 days | RCMP check, departure tax, and no treaty with Georgia |
| Australia | Visa-free, 365 days | AFP check, CGT event I1, and no treaty with Georgia |
| Kazakhstan | Visa-free, 365 days | Short document chain, regional banking familiarity |
| Belarus | Visa-free, 365 days | Obtaining and legalising records from home |
| UAE residents | Decided by your citizenship, not your UAE residence | The attestation chain on documents issued in the Emirates |
| Ireland | Visa-free, 365 days | The Police Certificate, and the domicile levy |
| Sweden | Visa-free, 365 days | The five-year essential-ties presumption |
The visa-free list is maintained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it has moved more than once. Each country guide states the position as at its own update date, and the current entry requirements by nationality are worth re-checking in the week you book rather than the month you plan.
Apostille or consular legalisation
This is the single most expensive difference between two applicants with identical facts. Georgia is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a document issued in another party state needs one certificate from one designated authority. A document from a country outside the Convention needs consular legalisation instead: the issuing authority, then the home foreign ministry, then a Georgian diplomatic mission, in that order, with no way to run the steps in parallel.
The Hague Conference publishes the current list of parties, and accessions have been frequent enough that a chain which was correct two years ago may not be correct now. Where the position has recently moved, the guide says so instead of committing you to a route that has been superseded.
| Where the document was issued | Chain | Who certifies it | The step that costs weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Apostille | Secretary of State of the issuing state, and the US Department of State for federal documents | One file, two authorities, and the FBI summary goes to the federal one |
| United Kingdom | Apostille | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | Presenting a copy where the original was required |
| Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Ireland, Sweden | Apostille | Varies by document type: courts, prefectures, regional authorities or a ministry | Sending everything to one ministry and waiting to be told no |
| Canada, Australia | Apostille | The federal foreign ministry, after provincial or state steps | The provincial notarisation that has to happen first. Canada only joined on 11 January 2024, so older guidance describes a legalisation chain that no longer applies |
| China, Pakistan | Apostille | The authority named in each country guide | Both are recent accessions, China on 7 November 2023 and Pakistan on 9 March 2023. Anyone working from older information will send you down a consular chain you no longer need |
| Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Israel | Apostille | The authority named in each country guide | Retrieving the original civil record before anything can be stamped |
| Documents issued in the UAE | Consular legalisation | The Emirates attestation chain, then the Georgian diplomatic mission | Every step is sequential and none of them can be expedited. Budget weeks, not days |
Whichever chain applies, the document then needs translation into Georgian and certification here. That is a Georgian-side step, it is cheap, and it is not the bottleneck. The Public Service Development Agency applies the same evidential standard to every file it receives, so a shortcut taken abroad surfaces as a refusal in Tbilisi. The full apostille sequence and the rules on certified translation cover what actually gets rejected.
The police certificate has a different name in every country
Every route except the property one asks for a criminal record certificate, and applicants lose time because they ask the wrong office for the wrong document. The name is the fastest way to get to the right counter.
| Origin | What to ask for |
|---|---|
| United States | FBI Identity History Summary |
| United Kingdom | ACRO Police Certificate |
| Germany | Führungszeugnis |
| France | Bulletin n°3 |
| Italy | Certificato del casellario giudiziale |
| Spain | Certificado de antecedentes penales |
| Netherlands | Verklaring Omtrent het Gedrag |
| Poland | Krajowy Rejestr Karny certificate |
| Canada | RCMP certified criminal record check |
| Australia | AFP National Police Check |
| Ireland | Police Certificate from your Garda division. Not Garda vetting, which individuals cannot request |
Each certificate has its own validity period and its own apostille route, and both are in the police clearance procedures by country guide. We do not publish a processing time we have not checked in the same quarter, because these queues move and a stale estimate is worse than none: the whole document checklist by route is built around ordering the slow item first.
What your home country does when you leave
Georgia does not care whether you deregistered at home. Your home revenue service does, and the consequences arrive a year later when nobody is thinking about them.
German nationals face the Abmeldung requirement and the extended limited tax liability at §2 AStG. French nationals meet the exit tax at article 167 bis. The Netherlands has BRP deregistration and a Box 3 position that does not end at the airport. Italy has AIRE registration, Spain has Modelo 030, and Ireland has the domicile levy. Sweden applies a five-year presumption of essential ties that puts the burden of proof on the person who left.
Canada and Australia both charge on departure: a departure tax in one, CGT event I1 in the other. And US citizens are taxed on worldwide income wherever they live, which no residence permit anywhere changes.
None of this stops an application. All of it changes what you should do in the months either side of moving, which is why each guide covers the origin side rather than pretending Georgia is the whole picture.
Tax treaties, and the five gaps in this set
Georgia has a network of more than fifty double tax treaties, and holding a residence permit does not put you inside any of them by itself. The treaty applies to tax residents, and tax residence is a separate test from immigration status: the difference between holding a permit and being tax resident is the most expensive misunderstanding in this niche.
Canada, Australia and Russia have no treaty with Georgia, confirmed against the Georgian Ministry of Finance list of 58 agreements in force. The United States is contested: Georgia’s Ministry of Finance does not list it, while the IRS treats Georgia as covered by the 1973 USSR convention. Treat US relief as something to confirm with an adviser rather than assume. For nationals of those countries there is no treaty mechanism to allocate taxing rights or break a tie, so double taxation is managed through domestic credits instead, and the treaty network and what it covers is where that arithmetic is set out.
The citizenship endgame is decided before you start
Georgian naturalisation takes ten years of continuous residence and exams in language, history and law, or five years if you are married to a Georgian citizen. The obstacle is rarely the exams. Georgia does not generally permit dual citizenship, and renunciation of your existing nationality is expected, with an exception granted by presidential decree on state-interest grounds.
That single rule decides whether the Georgian passport is realistically available to a given reader, and it does so on day one rather than in year ten. Anyone whose plan ends in a second passport should read the dual citizenship position before choosing a route, because permanent residence is the sensible destination for most people and it carries no renunciation.
How each guide is built
Nine points are researched and cited for every country before the guide is written: visa-free status, the police clearance procedure by name, apostille or legalisation, which authority certifies which document, recognition of marriage and birth certificates, whether the home country restricts or taxes emigration, treaty status with Georgia, the home country's own dual citizenship rules, and an honest verdict on how hard the whole thing is.
Where a point cannot be verified against a primary source, the guide says so. That is the deal: the free consultation exists for the cases where the answer genuinely depends on facts a public page cannot know, and it is a better use of half an hour than a confident sentence that turns out to be wrong.
Two Georgian-side changes now sit underneath every one of these guides. Since 1 March 2026 the Special Labour Permit has to be granted before a work or IT residence permit, and on the same date the property route threshold rose to $150,000. Both apply identically to all twenty-nine nationalities, and both are covered in everything that changed in 2026.
Thirty minutes to establish which route fits, what it costs, and whether you have enough time left on your current stay.
See what it costs
Key takeaways
- Georgian law treats all nationalities the same. Entry, document legalisation, exit obligations and the citizenship endgame are what differ.
- Roughly 95 nationalities enter visa-free for 365 days, and every origin covered here is one of them.
- Hague Convention countries need one apostille from one authority. Documents issued in the UAE run a sequential attestation and legalisation chain instead.
- Which office issues the apostille depends on the document type in most countries, and that is where applicants lose weeks.
- Canada, Australia and Russia have no double tax treaty with Georgia. The US position is disputed between the two governments and should be confirmed, not assumed.
- Georgia does not generally permit dual citizenship, so the naturalisation endgame is closed to anyone unwilling to renounce.
- The $150,000 property threshold and the Special Labour Permit prerequisite on the work and IT routes, both from 1 March 2026, apply on every passport.
Frequently asked questions
Does your nationality affect a Georgian residence permit application?
Not the decision itself. The routes, thresholds, government fees and processing times are identical for every foreign national. Nationality changes how you enter the country, how your documents are made valid in Georgia, and what your home country does about your departure, and those three things set your real timeline.
Which nationalities can enter Georgia without a visa?
Roughly 95, for 365 days at a time, and the period resets on re-entry. Of the twenty-nine origin countries covered here, Indian, Chinese, Egyptian, Nigerian and Pakistani nationals need a visa or e-visa arranged before travel. The list is maintained by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and it has changed more than once.
Do I need an apostille for a Georgian residence permit?
Yes, if your documents were issued in a country that is party to the Hague Apostille Convention. One certificate from one designated authority makes the document usable in Georgia. Documents from non-party countries need consular legalisation instead, which is a sequential chain through the home foreign ministry and a Georgian diplomatic mission.
What is the difference between an apostille and consular legalisation for Georgia?
An apostille is a single certificate issued by one authority in the country of origin. Consular legalisation is a chain of three or more steps that has to run in order, ending at a Georgian mission abroad. The apostille route is measured in days or weeks; the legalisation route is routinely measured in months.
Which countries have no tax treaty with Georgia?
Among the origins covered on this site, Canada, Australia and Russia have no double tax treaty with Georgia. The United States is disputed: Georgia does not list it among its treaty partners, the IRS treats Georgia as covered by the 1973 USSR convention, and the two positions have not been reconciled. Georgia has more than fifty treaties overall, so most European and regional applicants are covered. Without a treaty, relief from double taxation depends on domestic credits in your home system.
Can a foreigner get Georgian citizenship after a residence permit?
After ten years of continuous residence, with exams in Georgian language, history and law, or after five years if married to a Georgian citizen. The practical obstacle is that Georgia does not generally permit dual citizenship and expects renunciation, with exceptions granted by presidential decree on state-interest grounds.
Do I need a work permit in Georgia regardless of my nationality?
It depends on what you are doing, and nationality makes no difference to the answer. Since 1 March 2026 a Special Labour Permit is required of a Georgian employer taking on foreign staff, of an Individual Entrepreneur billing Georgian clients, and of anyone applying for a work or IT residence permit, where filing the residence permit first produces a refusal rather than a delay. If your income comes from clients or an employer outside Georgia and you are not seeking a residence card, none of it applies to you.
How much property do I need to buy for a Georgian residence permit?
$150,000, and that has been the figure since 1 March 2026. It was $100,000 before that date, so treat any lower figure as out of date. The threshold is set in dollars in Georgian law rather than converted from lari, so it does not move with the exchange rate.
Can I apply for a Georgian residence permit from my home country?
Yes, through a Georgian diplomatic mission, and that is the normal route for nationals who cannot enter without a visa. Everyone else usually finds it faster to enter visa-free and file at a Public Service Hall, because documents can be corrected and resubmitted in person rather than through a consulate.
Which Georgian residence permit is easiest for most nationalities?
The property route, because it has no employment condition, no criminal record requirement and no labour permit dependency. It costs $150,000 in real estate. For anyone with income rather than capital, the work or IT routes are cheaper but carry the Special Labour Permit as a prerequisite and a longer document chain.
What documents does Georgia accept from a country at war or in crisis?
Georgia applies the same evidential standard, which is the problem: a document that cannot be issued cannot be substituted with an explanation. Ukrainian and Belarusian applicants in particular spend most of their preparation time on retrieving and legalising civil records, and the realistic answer is to start that step before anything else.
