Australians have the easiest document chain of any origin country we handle and the hardest exit. The AFP will turn most police certificates around inside two days. The ATO will keep treating you as a resident for years if your ties are ambiguous, and there is no treaty with Georgia to settle the argument if both sides claim you. This guide covers the entry, the DFAT apostille, and the tax residency question that decides whether the move was worth structuring at all.
Can you enter Georgia, and for how long?
Yes, for one full year at a time. The Commonwealth of Australia appears on the list annexed to the Georgian ordinance approving visa-free entry, which sets the permitted stay at one full year and was last amended on 24 February 2026. We read that text on 1 August 2026, and it is what Georgian border officers apply rather than any summary of it.
Nothing needs arranging before you fly. Land, live here lawfully for a year, assemble your file and submit it at a Public Service Hall. Filing through a Georgian mission is possible and slower, and it removes the ability to correct a queried document at the counter.
Two conditions ride on the entry. Every visitor from 2026 must hold travel or health insurance with at least GEL 30,000 of cover, checked at the border under the 2026 insurance rule. And the year of visa-free stay, resettable though it is, is presence rather than status, so it accrues nothing toward permanent residence.
Your document chain is short, and the appointment is the constraint
The criminal record document is the National Police Certificate issued by the Australian Federal Police. The AFP publishes its own turnarounds: most name-only certificates are completed and posted within 48 hours, while name and fingerprint checks run 15 to 30 business days. The fee is AUD 56, or AUD 113 where fingerprints are required. Against an FBI queue measured in weeks, this is the fastest police certificate in this set of guides by a wide margin.
The apostille is federal and there is only one source. DFAT issues apostilles and authentications through Australian Passport Offices in the capital cities, in person or by mail, and an appointment has to be booked first. That is true whether the underlying document is federal, like the AFP certificate, or a state record like a Queensland birth certificate.
One condition decides whether the appointment is wasted. DFAT legalises original Australian public documents, or documents that an Australian notary public has notarised or certified. A digital-only copy, a scan or an uncertified photocopy is not what it authenticates, so check the form your certificate arrives in before you book. That single check is where Australian applicants either save a fortnight or lose one.
Translation happens in Georgia, after the apostille, on the paper original. A translation prepared in Australia is a foreign document in its own right and needs its own authentication. The full apostille sequence and the police certificate procedures by country cover what gets rejected once the file reaches the counter.
Which route actually fits an Australian
Georgia's routes, thresholds and government fees are identical on every passport. What differs for an Australian is that one route does two jobs at once.
The IT residence permit asks for $25,000 of annual income, two years of experience and, crucially, presence in Georgia for 183 days a year across its three-year term. Most nationalities read that presence condition as a cost. For an Australian it is closer to an asset, because the hardest part of leaving Australia is evidencing that you have genuinely gone, and a permit whose conditions require you to be physically here for more than half of every year produces exactly that evidence. The conditions and what counts as qualifying work are in the IT permit guide.
The trade-off is that the IT and work routes both sit behind a second permit. Since 1 March 2026 the Special Labour Permit is a prerequisite rather than a parallel filing, and an application submitted before it is granted is refused rather than queued. An Australian contractor billing Sydney clients from Tbilisi is inside that sequence too once they want the card, though foreign clients on their own engage no permit at all.
If you have capital instead of income, the property route at $150,000 needs no criminal record certificate and no labour permit, which removes both the AFP step and the DFAT appointment from the schedule entirely.
What Australia does when you leave
Two things, and they are the reason this guide exists.
The first is residency itself, which is decided by four tests: whether you reside here under ordinary concepts, the domicile test, the 183-day test and the Commonwealth superannuation test. The domicile test is the sticky one. An Australian keeps an Australian domicile until a new one is acquired, and remains a resident under that test unless the Commissioner is satisfied that a permanent place of abode has been established outside Australia. Renting out the family home, keeping a car registered and returning for long stretches each year are the facts that keep the argument alive years after somebody believes they left.
The second is capital gains tax. Ceasing to be a resident triggers CGT event I1, and you are treated as having disposed of each asset that is not taxable Australian property at its market value on that date. The ATO sets out the alternative: an individual may choose to disregard the gain or loss, in which case those assets are treated as taxable Australian property until the next CGT event or until you resume residency. The choice has to cover every asset caught by the event, not a favourable selection of them, and it is made by how the return is prepared rather than by notifying anyone.
Neither of these is a reason to stay. Both are reasons to fix the departure date, decide about the CGT choice deliberately, and keep the evidence of what your life looks like after it.
No treaty, and why that raises the stakes
Georgia has 58 double tax treaties in force and Australia is not among them. Australia's own list of income tax treaties does not include Georgia either. Both sides agree there is nothing.
For most nationalities the absence of a treaty is an inconvenience about withholding rates. For an Australian it is sharper, because the Australian residency tests are the ones most likely to produce a genuine conflict. Georgia's own test is 183 days in a rolling twelve-month window, which is a day count and easy to satisfy. If the ATO simultaneously concludes your permanent place of abode never moved, two countries claim you and there is no tie-breaker article to consult. Relief then depends on domestic foreign income tax offsets rather than on any agreed allocation.
That is an argument for making the exit unambiguous rather than for leaving it soft, and for understanding that a residence permit and tax residency are separate questions with separate answers. What the treaty network covers for the countries inside it is in the treaty guide.
Timeline and cost, realistically
Count backwards. Georgian law requires the application to be filed at least 40 calendar days before your lawful stay expires, and anything filed inside that window is refused review rather than assessed. On a work or IT route the labour permit decision sits in front of that again.
Because the AFP certificate is quick, an Australian schedule is dominated by the DFAT appointment and the courier legs rather than by any queue at home. Two months is a comfortable run at the document half, which is materially better than the three to four months an American needs. Government fees do not change with nationality, and the full cost breakdown by route covers the state fees alongside ours. The counting rule itself, and the narrow discretion that occasionally survives a late filing, is in the 40-day rule.
The verdict
Straightforward in Georgia, and worth planning properly in Australia. Entry is free for a year, the police certificate is the fastest of any origin country here, and there is a single federal apostille authority rather than the state-by-state patchwork Americans and Canadians work through.
The value of getting advice is entirely on the Australian side, and it is about sequencing: when you cease residency, whether to make the CGT choice, and whether the route you pick supports the story you will eventually have to tell. The permanent residence horizon here is ten years, and although Australia permits dual citizenship, Georgia generally does not, so naturalisation would mean surrendering the Australian passport rather than adding to it.
A three-year permit for IT professionals earning $25,000+ a year, with two years of experience behind them. Longer than any other work route.
See what it costs, from $450
Key takeaways
- Australian citizens enter Georgia visa-free for one full year, verified against the Georgian visa-free ordinance on 1 August 2026.
- The AFP National Police Certificate is the criminal record document. Most name-only checks are completed within 48 hours; fingerprint checks run 15 to 30 business days.
- DFAT is the only Australian apostille authority and issues through Australian Passport Offices by appointment, on original documents only.
- The property and investment routes need no criminal record certificate, so they skip both the AFP step and the DFAT appointment.
- The IT permit's 183-days-a-year presence condition doubles as evidence that your permanent place of abode has left Australia.
- Ceasing Australian residency triggers CGT event I1, with a choice available to disregard the gain and treat the assets as taxable Australian property instead.
- There is no Australia and Georgia tax treaty, so nothing external resolves a residency conflict between the ATO and Georgia.
Frequently asked questions
Can Australian citizens enter Georgia without a visa?
Yes, for one full year at a time, and the period resets when you leave and return. The Commonwealth of Australia is on the list annexed to the Georgian ordinance on visa-free entry, which we checked on 1 August 2026. Every visitor also needs travel or health insurance carrying at least GEL 30,000 of cover.
Which police check does Georgia want from an Australian?
The AFP National Police Certificate, apostilled by DFAT. A state police check is a different product and is generally not what is expected. Most name-only certificates are completed and posted within 48 hours, so this is rarely the item that delays an Australian application.
Who issues an apostille on an Australian document?
DFAT, through the Australian Passport Office in your capital city, in person or by mail and always by appointment. There is no state equivalent, so a Victorian birth certificate and a federal AFP certificate go to the same authority. DFAT legalises original Australian public documents or documents notarised by an Australian notary public.
Is there an Australia and Georgia tax treaty?
No. Georgia lists 58 treaties in force and Australia is not among them, and Australia's own treaty list does not include Georgia. Without a treaty there is no tie-breaker article, so if the ATO and Georgia both treat you as resident, relief depends on domestic foreign income tax offsets rather than an agreed allocation.
What is CGT event I1 and does moving to Georgia trigger it?
CGT event I1 happens when you cease to be an Australian resident. You are treated as having disposed of each asset that is not taxable Australian property at market value on that date. Moving does not trigger it by itself; ceasing residency does. Individuals may choose to disregard the gain, in which case the assets become taxable Australian property instead.
How does the ATO decide whether I have left Australia?
Through four tests: ordinary concepts, domicile, the 183-day test and the Commonwealth superannuation test. The domicile test is the one that catches people, because you keep an Australian domicile until you acquire another and stay resident under it unless a permanent place of abode outside Australia is established. Documented facts matter more than intention.
Which Georgian residence permit is best for an Australian?
The IT permit is a strong fit for technology workers, at $25,000 a year and two years of experience, because its 183-days-a-year presence condition also evidences that you live outside Australia. If you have capital rather than income, the property route at $150,000 needs no police certificate at all. Both income routes need a Special Labour Permit first.
Can an Australian work remotely from Georgia without a permit?
Yes. The Special Labour Permit follows who pays you rather than where you sit, so contracting for a Melbourne company from Tbilisi does not engage it. The permit is required in three situations: employing foreign staff in Georgia, trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, and applying for a work or IT residence permit. If you want the residence card, the labour permit comes first whoever your clients are.
How long does the process take for an Australian applicant?
The document half is comfortable in about two months, because the AFP certificate is quick and DFAT is a single authority. The constraint is the appointment and the courier legs rather than any home queue. The Georgian steps that follow, including the labour permit decision on income routes, then run on their own clock.
Can an Australian get Georgian citizenship?
After ten years of continuous residence and exams in Georgian language, history and law, but it is closed to most people in practice. Georgia does not generally permit dual citizenship and expects renunciation, and Australia allowing dual nationality does not change that. Permanent residence carries no renunciation and is the realistic destination.
