Georgian Residence Permit Cost

Most fee pages give you the government charge and stop there. The government charge is the smallest line on the bill. What decides your real total is what your home country charges to apostille a criminal record certificate, what it costs to translate it here, whether you can prove an address, and whether your route needs a labour permit underneath it first. Here is the whole invoice, route by route, including the parts nobody quotes you.

What the government charges

Every figure here is fixed in lari by law. The dollar amount beside it is a conversion at the rate we publish and it drifts; the lari figure does not. Fee schedules and the tracks they buy are published by the Public Service Development Agency, and the underlying procedure sits in the procedural rules on granting residence permits.

Two things in that table catch people out. The IT residence permit is on its own fee schedule and its own timetable, and its standard track is slower than the standard track on every other category despite costing more. And the Special Labour Permit is a genuinely separate fee to a separate agency, not a surcharge on the residence permit, so on a work or IT route you pay both.

What we charge

Our fee covers the eligibility check, the evidence pack, the filing and the sequencing between agencies. It is quoted per application rather than per hour, so a file that goes wrong does not become more expensive.

The property route costs more than the work route because the work on it is different: the threshold has to be verified against an accredited valuation before anything is filed, and getting that wrong is an expensive refusal rather than a delay. The property residence permit is the one route where most of our fee is spent before the application exists.

Permanent residence and citizenship are quoted after review rather than published, because a ten-year residence history is either clean or it is not, and the work involved in the two cases is not comparable.

Total realistic cost by route

These are the two tables above added together: government fees plus our fee, standard track at the low end and expedited at the high end. They exclude document costs, insurance, valuation and address, which are covered in the next section and which are where the real variance lives.

What the table cannot show is how long each total lasts, and that is what actually decides which route is expensive. The IT residence permit is issued for three years and the investment residence permit for five. Every other category is issued for a shorter period and renewed, with your exact expiry printed on the card rather than fixed by category, so read the card rather than a table.

Cost per year held is therefore the honest comparison. An annual permit renewed for three years is three separate applications at $443 to $638 each. An IT permit at $738 covers the same three years in one. Over five years the investment route is the cheapest permit on the site per year held, which is not how anyone thinks about a $300,000 commitment, but it is true.

Self-employed applicants who also need an Individual Entrepreneur registration are quoted at $1,070 for the complete sequence, plus the work-route government fees above. Registration itself is handled by our sister firm at register-company.ge, because it is a company formation step rather than an immigration one, and the self-employed labour permit route explains how the two applications interlock.

The costs people fail to budget for

This is the section that decides whether your budget survives contact with the process. None of it appears on a government fee schedule and most of it is spent before you file anything.

The apostilled criminal record certificate. The certificate is issued by your home country's authority at your home country's price, and the apostille is a second charge from a second body there. Add courier both ways, because the paper original has to physically travel to Georgia. We do not publish a figure for this, because there is no single figure: a US FBI Identity History Summary, a UK ACRO certificate and a German Führungszeugnis are three different prices from three different agencies. Get the number from the issuing authority before you build a budget, and read what actually needs an apostille before you order anything, because ordering the wrong authentication is the most common way to pay twice.

Certified translation into Georgian. Priced per page, done in Georgia, and done after the apostille rather than before. A translation prepared abroad is itself a foreign document carrying a foreign notary's seal, so it needs its own authentication and you have bought two apostilles and two couriers to reach the same place. Page counts add up faster than expected once marriage certificates, birth certificates and employment contracts are in the file, and what certified translation means here sets out who may produce one.

A legal address. If you neither own property nor hold a lease in your own name, you need a virtual address, which runs about $150 a year. It is accepted for a single applicant's own permit and it is not accepted as adequate accommodation on a family application, so a household cannot solve the problem this way. Address registration covers the owner consent documents that go with a real lease.

Insurance. Since 2026 a minimum of GEL 30,000 of coverage applies, and the policy has to be in force rather than quoted. Prices vary by age and by provider and we do not publish a figure, but it is a real line, not a formality. The insurance requirement covers what qualifies.

An accredited valuation, on the property route only. The threshold is measured against a valuation from an assessor accredited through the Unified National Accreditation Body, not against what you paid. The valuer sets the fee and it is not a government charge. How accredited valuation works explains why the purchase contract on its own is not evidence.

The second attempt. A refused application means the government fee again on the fresh one. That is the cheapest part of a refusal; the expensive part is the document chain, because certificates age and a police certificate that has gone stale has to be reordered, reapostilled and recouriered. What to do after a refusal sets out which grounds are worth refiling on and which are not.

Time and travel. Applications are filed in person at a Public Service Hall and the card is collected in person afterwards. That is two trips, and for anyone outside Tbilisi it is two trips plus transport.

Why a cheap application becomes an expensive one

Four mistakes account for nearly all of the overspend we see, and none of them are about choosing the wrong provider.

Expediting the wrong stage. The upper track shortens the Agency's side of the process and nothing else. It does not touch the apostille, which is the actual bottleneck on most files, so paying GEL 600 instead of GEL 300 when you are still waiting on a certificate from abroad buys you nothing. Where the time actually goes is worth reading before you pay for speed.

Translating before apostilling. Covered above, and worth repeating because it is the single most common way to double a document bill.

Starting late. Filing inside the last 40 days of your lawful stay means the application is refused review rather than assessed, and you pay the whole government fee for an outcome that was decided by a date. Everything then has to be done again, usually under worse time pressure.

Choosing the route by its fee. The study permit is the cheapest line in the table and it is only available to enrolled students. The renewal fee is lower than any first application and it is only available if you already hold a permit. Cost does not choose a route; your circumstances do, and the six routes compared is where that decision actually gets made.

Price your own application in ten minutes

Work down this list with a calculator and you will have a number that survives:

1. Name your route. If you are not certain, the residency quiz takes about a minute.
2. Add the government fee for that route from the first table, at the track you actually need.
3. Add GEL 60 for the card. Everyone pays it, and it is regularly left out.
4. Add the labour permit if you are on the work or IT route. It is a separate fee to a separate agency.
5. Call your home country's police records authority and get the certificate fee and the apostille fee. Add courier both ways.
6. Count your foreign documents and price the translations per page here.
7. Add $150 if you have no owned property and no lease in your own name.
8. Add insurance, and the valuation if you are on the property route.
9. Multiply by the number of applicants for the per-person items, but not for the shared evidence.
10. Multiply the annual items by the years you expect to stay before permanent residence.

If the total surprises you, the usual reason is step five. Bring your route and your nationality to a free consultation and we will price the document chain against your actual home country rather than a generic one, which is the only part of this that cannot be looked up.

Anyone already holding a permit should price a residence permit renewal instead of a fresh application, because the evidence refresh is narrower and the fee reflects it. The statutory basis for all of it, including who pays what and when, sits in the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons.

Free consultation

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

• Government fees are GEL 300 to GEL 600 by track, about $115 to $230, plus GEL 60 for the card.
• Work and IT routes pay a second fee to a second agency: GEL 200 or GEL 400 for the Special Labour Permit.
• Our fees run $380 to $570 by route and $230 on a renewal, with the self-employed package at $1,070.
• A first application costs $518 to $913 all in before document costs, by route and speed. Renewals run lower.
• The apostille, the courier and the translation are set outside Georgia, vary by country, and usually cost more than the government fees.
• Budget $150 a year for a virtual address if you neither own property nor hold a lease in your own name.
• Longer terms are cheaper per year held. Three years on an annual permit is three applications; three years on an IT permit is one.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Georgian residence permit cost in total?

A first application is $518 to $913 for the government fees and our fee together, depending on route and processing track, before document costs. Renewals sit lower. Document costs are the variable part: the apostilled criminal record certificate, courier, certified translations, insurance and, if you have no lease, a virtual address at about $150 a year. On most files the paperwork outside Georgia costs more than everything inside it.

What is the government fee for a Georgian residence permit?

GEL 300, about $115, for a decision on the 30th calendar day, GEL 450 for the 20th, or GEL 600, about $230, for the 10th. The residence card itself is a further GEL 60, about $23. The IT residence permit runs on a separate schedule of GEL 500 for 90 days or GEL 750 for 60 days. The lari figures are statutory and the dollar conversions drift.

How much does the Special Labour Permit cost in Georgia?

GEL 200, about $75, for a decision within 30 calendar days, or GEL 400, about $155, for 10 working days. It is a separate application to the Employment Promotion State Agency and it is a prerequisite to the work and IT residence permits, so on those routes it is an additional cost rather than an alternative one. Investment permit holders and permanent residents are exempt.

Is the Georgian residence card an extra cost?

Yes. Card issuance is GEL 60, about $23, and it is charged on top of the decision fee rather than included in it. It is a small amount that is left out of most published estimates, and it is payable on every renewal as well as on the first application.

How much does a Georgian IT residence permit cost?

The government fee is GEL 500, about $190, for a decision within 90 days, or GEL 750, about $285, for 60 days, plus GEL 60 for the card. Add the Special Labour Permit at GEL 200 or GEL 400, and our fee of $450. That is $738 to $913 all in, covering a three-year term rather than a single year.

What does the property residence permit cost in Georgia beyond the property?

Beyond the $150,000 in real estate: GEL 300 to GEL 600 for the decision, GEL 60 for the card, and our fee of $570, which is $708 to $823 all in. On top of that sits an accredited valuation, priced by the valuer rather than by the government, and the ordinary transaction costs of buying property. No labour permit is needed on this route.

How much does it cost to renew a Georgian residence permit?

The government fee is the same as a first application, GEL 300 to GEL 600 plus GEL 60 for the card, and our renewal fee is $230. That is $368 to $483 on a route with no labour permit underneath it, or $443 to $638 on the work and IT routes where the labour permit renews too. Evidence that has aged, particularly a police certificate, may need reordering.

How much do the apostille and certified translation cost for a Georgian residence permit?

There is no single answer, and any site quoting one is quoting a country it has not asked you about. The certificate fee and the apostille fee are set by authorities in your home country, and courier costs depend on distance. Translations are priced per page in Georgia. Get the first two numbers from the issuing authority and the third from a Georgian translator once you know your page count.

Do I have to pay for a virtual address for a Georgian residence permit?

Only if you neither own property in Georgia nor hold a lease in your own name. In that case a virtual address runs about $150 a year and is accepted for a single applicant's own permit. It does not satisfy the accommodation test on a family application, so a household applying together needs a real lease or owned property.

Is it worth paying the expedited government fee in Georgia?

Only when the Agency's decision is genuinely the last thing standing between you and the card. The upper track shortens that stage and nothing before it, so it does not help while an apostille is still in transit. If you are close to the 40-day deadline, the money is better spent on couriering documents faster than on the decision itself.

What does a Georgian residence permit cost for a family?

Government fees and our per-applicant fee apply to each person, so a family of three on the family reunification route is roughly three times $588 to $703. What does not multiply is the shared evidence: one accommodation file, one income file, one set of translations of the sponsor's documents. What does multiply is each person's own civil records, since every birth and marriage certificate needs its own apostille and translation.