You have capital and you want the right to live in Georgia on the strength of it. Georgia grants that through two residence permits: one to a foreign national who owns Georgian real estate assessed at $150,000 or more, and one to a foreign national who invests $300,000. They differ in term, in whether they exempt you from the labour permit, and in how long they take to reach permanent residence. This guide sets out both routes, what each requires, what the government charges and how long a decision takes.
The two routes side by side
| Property permit | Investment permit | |
|---|---|---|
| Capital required | $150,000 assessed value | $300,000 |
| What qualifies | Georgian real estate | Real estate or business investment |
| Permit term | One year, renewable | Five years |
| Georgian employer or Georgian clients | Labour permit required | Exempt from the labour permit |
| Permanent residence after | Ten years | Five years |
| Valuation needed | Yes, by an accredited assessor | Yes, where the investment is property |
| Our fee | $570 | $450 |
Both are granted by the Public Service Development Agency under the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons and filed under the same procedural rules on granting residence permits. Neither is a visa. A visa gets you across the border; a residence permit is your right to live here, and once you hold one you re-enter Georgia without a visa for the whole of its validity.
The property route at $150,000
This is the one most people mean. It grants a renewable residence permit to a foreign national owning Georgian real estate assessed at $150,000 or more, and it covers the applicant's spouse and minor children through family reunification filed alongside.
The figure that decides it is assessed value, certified by an assessor accredited through the Unified National Accreditation Body, not the price on the purchase contract. That is where most applications come apart: the price paid clears the threshold, the valuation comes back under it, and the permit fails on a number nobody checked before the money moved. Settle the valuation position before signing, and note that accredited property valuation has its own rules on combining properties and joint ownership.
Two further constraints matter before you shop. Foreign nationals cannot acquire agricultural land, which rules out a good deal of what is advertised outside the cities, and the permit rests on continuing to own the asset, so selling the property removes the basis for the next renewal. Purchase mechanics and transaction costs are in buying property in Georgia as a foreigner, and the permit itself in the property residence permit guide.
The investment route at $300,000
The investment permit takes $300,000 in qualifying property or business investment, runs five years at a time rather than one, and does two things the cheaper route does not.
It carries an exemption from the Special Labour Permit, so an investment permit holder can work, freelance or run a business in Georgia without a separate work authorisation. And it reaches permanent residence in five years instead of ten, which halves the settlement timeline for anyone whose objective is status rather than a card.
What counts as qualifying business investment is assessed case by case rather than against a published checklist, so the sensible sequence is to put the proposed structure to the agency before committing capital. The full treatment, including how the five-year term interacts with renewals, is in the investment residence permit guide.
What it costs and how long it takes
| Item | Property route | Investment route |
|---|---|---|
| Capital | $150,000 assessed | $300,000 |
| Government fee, 30th calendar day | $115 (GEL 300) | $115 (GEL 300) |
| Government fee, 20th calendar day | $172 (GEL 450) | $172 (GEL 450) |
| Government fee, 10th calendar day | $230 (GEL 600) | $230 (GEL 600) |
| Residence card | $23 (GEL 60) | $23 (GEL 60) |
| Our fee | $570 | $450 |
| Renewal, our fee | $230 per year | Quoted at renewal |
The lari figures are the law and the dollar ones are conversions that drift, so budget against the lari. The decision lands on the 30th, 20th or 10th calendar day from filing depending on the track you pay for. On the property route an accredited valuation has to be arranged before that clock starts, and in practice it is the valuation rather than the agency that governs the calendar.
Two timing rules catch people. A renewal must be filed at least 40 calendar days before your lawful stay expires, and applications inside that window are refused review rather than treated as late. And the D5 immigration visa is the property category, set at the same $150,000 figure, so anyone without visa-free entry should check the immigration D visa against their nationality before booking travel.
The threshold moved on 1 March 2026
The property figure was $100,000 until 1 March 2026 and is $150,000 now. Treat any lower number in a listing, brochure or agent's pitch as out of date, and ask for the date the figure was last confirmed.
Both of these are ordinary residence permit categories inside general migration law rather than a branded scheme with its own statute, which cuts in two directions: there is no programme guarantee, which is how the March 2026 rise came into force with protection extending only to people who already held a permit rather than to everyone who had bought, and there is also no scheme premium, so the government fee on a $300,000 investment permit is the same fee charged on a study permit.
Existing holders may renew at the threshold they were granted on for as long as they retain ownership. What the legislation does not answer is whether a permit that lapses can be reapplied for at the old figure, and we are not going to guess: if your permit has lapsed or is close to it, treat the current threshold as the one that applies and plan on aggregating property to reach it. The detail sits in the March 2026 threshold change.
Working in Georgia on either permit
Start with who the Special Labour Permit actually catches. Since 1 March 2026 it is required of a Georgian employer taking on non-Georgian staff, of an Individual Entrepreneur trading with Georgian clients, and of anyone applying for a work or IT residence permit. Income earned from clients or an employer outside Georgia sits outside it, whichever permit you hold.
The property permit carries no exemption, which matters only if one of those three triggers applies to you. Take a job with a Georgian company and the permit is engaged, and the employer that went without it faces a GEL 2,000 fine plus a separate GEL 2,000 on the worker, doubled on a repeat. The labour permit's own government fee is GEL 200 for a decision in 30 calendar days or GEL 400 for 10 working days.
Investment permit holders are exempt, along with permanent residents. That exemption is part of what the extra $150,000 of capital is buying, and it is worth nothing to someone whose income comes from outside Georgia.
Which route you actually want
Take the property route if the honest description of your plan is that you want to be resident in Georgia, your income arises elsewhere, and you are not going to earn money on Georgian soil. A retiree, a family wanting a base, a buyer who wanted Georgian property anyway. The property residence permit service needs half the capital and gives the same right to live here.
Take the investment route if you intend to run a business or draw income in Georgia, or if permanent status rather than an annual card is the actual objective. The investment residence permit service buys a five-year term, the work exemption and half the wait to permanent residence.
The mistake we see most often is a passive investor paying the higher threshold because the larger number sounded more like a scheme they had read about elsewhere. It is not a better permit. It is a different one, built for someone with different plans.
Buy qualifying Georgian property and get a renewable one-year residence permit. No job, no business, and no criminal record certificate on the published document list.
See what it costs, from $570
Permanent residence, and why citizenship is a separate question
Permanent residence follows ten years of continuous temporary residence, or five years for investment permit holders. It is a status change rather than a renewal, and it also removes the labour permit requirement.
Citizenship is much further away and capital does not shorten it. Naturalisation requires ten years of continuous residence plus examinations in Georgian language, history and law, reduced to five years only by marriage to a Georgian citizen, and the examinations remain either way. Georgia also does not generally permit dual citizenship: renunciation is the expectation, with an exception available by presidential decree on state-interest grounds, as Georgia's position on dual citizenship sets out. Investment changes none of it, which is why what exceptional naturalisation actually reaches is far narrower than the phrase implies and why how naturalisation genuinely works matters before anyone treats a permit as a passport in waiting.
What neither permit gives you
Access to the EU or Schengen. Georgia is in neither, so a Georgian residence permit is permission to live in Georgia and carries no rights anywhere else.
Tax residency. That is a separate test decided by a different authority, turning on 183 days inside a rolling twelve-month period. You can meet it holding no permit at all and miss it while holding one for years, and why the two get confused is worth understanding before capital moves. The one route into Georgian tax residency that does not run on days is the High Net Worth Individual route, which has its own thresholds and produces no immigration rights at all.
Anything permanent. Both are temporary permits resting on continued ownership of the asset they were granted on. Sell it and the basis goes with it.
Key takeaways
- Georgia grants residence on capital through two permits: property at $150,000 in assessed value, or investment at $300,000.
- The property permit runs one year and is renewable while you hold the asset. The investment permit runs five years.
- Assessed value from an accredited assessor decides the property route, not the price you paid.
- Only the investment permit is exempt from the Special Labour Permit, which is engaged by Georgian employment, Georgian clients or a work or IT residence permit application.
- Permanent residence takes ten years of continuous temporary residence, or five for investment permit holders.
- Government fees are $115 to $230 by track plus $23 for the card, with the decision on the 30th, 20th or 10th calendar day.
- Neither route leads to citizenship on capital: naturalisation is ten years plus language, history and law examinations, and dual citizenship is not generally permitted.
- The property threshold rose to $150,000 on 1 March 2026, so treat a lower figure as out of date.
Frequently asked questions
Does Georgia have a golden visa?
Georgia grants residence on the strength of capital through two permit categories, and those are what the term points at: real estate assessed at $150,000 or more, or a $300,000 investment. Both produce a residence permit and a residence card. Neither produces citizenship, and neither is a visa in the technical sense of a document that gets you across the border.
How much do I need to invest to get residency in Georgia?
$150,000 in assessed Georgian property value, or $300,000 in qualifying property or business investment on the investment permit. The property figure rose from $100,000 on 1 March 2026, so treat any lower number as out of date. On the property route it is assessed value certified by an accredited assessor that decides it, not your purchase price.
How long does a Georgian golden visa last?
The property permit is granted for one year and renewed annually for as long as you own the qualifying property. The investment permit runs five years at a time. Each renewal is a filing deadline in its own right, and a renewal filed inside the last 40 calendar days of your lawful stay is refused review rather than treated as late.
Does the Georgian investment residence permit let me work in Georgia?
Yes. Investment permit holders are exempt from the Special Labour Permit introduced on 1 March 2026, along with permanent residents. Property permit holders are not exempt, so a Georgian job or Georgian clients engage the permit for them. Where income comes from outside Georgia, neither holder needs one.
Does buying property in Georgia give me the right to work there?
Not by itself. A property residence permit confirms your right to live in Georgia and carries no exemption from the Special Labour Permit, so a Georgian employer hiring you needs one, and trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients needs one. Working remotely for clients or an employer outside Georgia does not engage it. Where the permit was required and nobody held one, the fine is GEL 2,000 on the employer and a separate GEL 2,000 on the worker.
Does a Georgia golden visa lead to citizenship?
Not on the strength of the capital. Naturalisation requires ten years of continuous residence plus examinations in Georgian language, history and law, and neither permit shortens that by a day. Georgia also does not generally permit dual citizenship, so a Georgian passport usually means giving up your current one. Anyone offering Georgian citizenship in exchange for a purchase is describing something that does not exist.
How long does a Georgian residence permit by investment take?
The decision lands on the 30th, 20th or 10th calendar day from filing depending on which processing track you pay for, at GEL 300, GEL 450 or GEL 600. On the property route the accredited valuation has to be completed before you file, and that step usually governs the overall calendar rather than the agency's own turnaround.
Does a Georgian residence permit give me access to the EU or Schengen?
No. Georgia is a member of neither, so the permit is permission to live in Georgia and carries no rights of residence, work or free movement anywhere else. Compare it against European routes on what it actually delivers, which is a low-cost residence permit in a country with a territorial tax system, rather than on headline capital figures.
Does a Georgian residence permit make me a tax resident?
No. Immigration status and tax residency are decided by different authorities on different tests. Tax residency generally turns on 183 days of presence within a rolling twelve-month period, which you can satisfy with no permit at all and miss while holding one. Buying a permit to achieve a tax outcome is buying the wrong instrument.
Can my family come with me on a Georgian investment residence permit?
Spouses and minor children are added through family reunification, filed alongside the principal application rather than granted automatically with it. Each family member is a separate file with its own documents and its own government fee, so build the extra time and cost into the plan rather than assuming the household moves on one application.
Which is better, the $150,000 property permit or the $300,000 investment permit?
For a passive applicant with income from abroad and no interest in working here, the property permit, and it is not close. The extra $150,000 buys a five-year term, the labour permit exemption and half the wait to permanent residence. If none of those three matter to you, you are paying twice the capital for the same right to live in Georgia.
