Most Ukrainians in Georgia are not here on a permit. They are here on a stay that the government has extended a year at a time by ordinance, and that arrangement has an end date printed on it. Converting it into a residence permit is a paperwork exercise, and the paperwork is the hard part when the office that registered your birth is not answering. Here is what your entry date means for your deadline, and how to build a file when the originals are out of reach.
Your entry date decides your deadline
Two rules run at once, and which one you are under depends on when you arrived.
The ordinary rule is the same one that applies to roughly ninety-five other nationalities. Ukraine is item 83 on the annex to the resolution carrying Georgia's visa-free list, entry and stay for one full year, resettable by leaving and returning. We checked that on 1 August 2026.
The second rule is the one that matters to most readers. Ukrainian citizens who entered and remained in Georgia before 24 February 2025 hold a stay extended by government ordinance rather than by re-entry, most recently by Ordinance No. 80 of 24 February 2026, which runs it to 24 February 2027. It has been extended a year at a time since 2022, and each extension has been a separate decision. Treat the current end date as real and the next extension as hypothetical.
That has a hard consequence. Georgian law requires a residence permit application to be filed 40 calendar days before lawful stay expires, so a grandfathered stay ending in late February 2027 puts the last safe filing date in the middle of January 2027, and the 40-day rule refuses review of anything later rather than assessing it on the merits. Working backwards from that date is the whole planning exercise, because the documents behind it are the slow part.
Building a file when the records are hard to reach
Ukraine has been an apostille country since 22 December 2003, so there is no consular chain to run. The difficulty is upstream of the apostille: getting the underlying record at all.
The criminal record extract is the easy one. It comes from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the extract is orderable through Diia or the ministry's own portal without anyone standing in a queue. The electronic version arrives under an electronic seal. A paper version with the apostille attached can be ordered in the same request, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs apostilles its own documents rather than passing them to the foreign ministry.
Civil status records are the hard one. Duplicates and register extracts can be ordered remotely, but only where the registration already sits in the electronic State Register of Civil Status Acts. Registrations made before 2008 were never entered into it: they exist as entries in paper act books held at the office that made them. If that office is in occupied or otherwise inaccessible territory, the duplicate cannot be produced from the book, and the fallback is a court procedure to establish the fact rather than an administrative request. That process takes months and it has to start before anything else in the file.
Which authority applies the apostille depends on which body issued the paper, and Ukraine designates six. The Hague Conference listing splits them as follows.
| Document | Who apostilles it |
|---|---|
| Criminal record extract | Ministry of Internal Affairs |
| Birth, marriage and divorce certificates, court documents, notarial acts | Ministry of Justice, which runs an electronic apostille and a public register |
| Diplomas and transcripts | Ministry of Education and Science, on paper only |
| Migration and citizenship documents | State Migration Service |
| Tax documents | State Tax Service |
| Everything else | Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
The Ministry of Justice electronic apostille is worth using deliberately. It removes a courier leg in each direction on the documents that most family applications rest on, and a Georgian officer can verify it against the register. Educational documents have no equivalent, so a study application still runs on paper. Once the stamp is on, the translation is produced and notarised in Georgia, never abroad, and the sequence that saves weeks is the same for every nationality.
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
Consular services, and why they carry more weight here
For most nationalities on this site the home mission is an irrelevance. For Ukrainian applicants it is often the only counter available, which makes its opening hours part of your project plan.
Ukraine maintains an embassy in Tbilisi, and consular posts can issue and forward a number of the documents an application needs. Two cautions. Rules governing consular services for men of military-registration age have been changed more than once since 2024, so confirm the current position with the mission rather than with any page, this one included. And build slack into any step that depends on a consulate: a document that can only be obtained in one place is a single point of failure, and the 40-day rule does not bend for it.
Where a record genuinely cannot be produced, say so early. Georgia applies the same evidential standard to every file, and an explanation is not a substitute for a document. That is the case a free consultation is actually for, because the answer turns on which specific record is missing and what can stand in its place.
Which route fits, and why property is the quiet answer
The property route at $150,000 requires no criminal record certificate and no labour permit. On any other page that is a footnote. Here it is the point: it is the only route whose document list avoids the paperwork that is hardest for you to obtain. If you have the capital, it is materially easier than the work route, and it covers family members on the same application.
The work route is the common one and it now runs in two stages. Since 1 March 2026 the Special Labour Permit is a separate approval that comes before the residence permit, with its own decision period and its own fees. One exemption is directly relevant here: the exemption list includes refugees and asylum seekers, so international protection granted in Georgia removes the labour permit step entirely. An ordinary grandfathered stay does not, and that distinction is worth confirming before you plan around it.
Family reunification depends on your sponsor's status, and it is the route most exposed to the civil records problem above. Sponsorship rules by status decide who can bring whom, and parents can be sponsored only by citizens and permanent residents.
What Ukraine does when you leave
Less than most countries on this site, and one thing more.
There is no exit tax and no departure clearance. Ukrainian tax residency turns on domicile and centre of vital interests as much as on day counting, so a person who keeps a home, a family or a business in Ukraine can remain resident there while also passing the Georgian 183-day test. Unlike the Russian case, that collision is resolvable: Georgia and Ukraine have had a double tax treaty in force since 1 April 1999, and it appears on the Georgian Ministry of Finance list of agreements. A treaty supplies a tie-breaker, which is exactly what a dual-residence argument needs, and the treaty network and how benefits are claimed sets out the mechanics.
The one extra is money movement. Cross-border transfer restrictions have been in force under martial law, so funding a property purchase or an investment from a Ukrainian account is a question to settle with your bank before you sign anything, not after.
On citizenship, Ukraine introduced multiple citizenship by a law in force from 16 January 2026, but it operates through a list of states approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. Georgia's own position is the binding one in any case: it does not generally permit dual citizenship and expects renunciation, so permanent residence after ten years is the realistic destination rather than a Georgian passport.
Timeline and cost
Government fees run GEL 300 to GEL 600 by processing track plus GEL 60 for the card, and the labour permit adds GEL 200 or GEL 400 depending on speed. Our own fee is $450 on the work and IT routes and $570 on property, and a dependent added to a work application is $345 each.
The realistic schedule is set by the slowest record, not by the fastest. An electronic extract from Diia can be in hand in days; a court order establishing a fact of birth cannot. Start from the document you are least confident of obtaining, and file the residence permit application well inside the 40-day margin rather than against it. What the whole file has to contain is in the document checklist by route, and the translation stage is covered in certified translation into Georgian.
The verdict
Straightforward where the records exist, difficult where they do not, and the split is rarely about Georgian law. A Ukrainian applicant with a complete set of civil documents is one of the easier files on this site: no entry problem, a short apostille chain, an electronic route to the criminal record extract, and a tax treaty in place. A Ukrainian applicant missing a pre-2008 birth registration held in an unreachable office is a genuinely hard case, and the honest advice is to start that step first and treat everything else as downstream of it.
Key takeaways
- Ukraine is on the ordinary visa-free list at 365 days, checked against the government resolution on 1 August 2026.
- Anyone in Georgia before 24 February 2025 holds a grandfathered stay to 24 February 2027 under Ordinance No. 80. It has been renewed a year at a time and should not be assumed to renew again.
- Filing has to happen 40 calendar days before that stay ends, which puts the deadline in mid-January 2027 for that cohort.
- The criminal record extract comes through Diia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs apostilles it.
- Civil registrations made before 2008 sit in paper books at the office that made them, and an unreachable office means a court procedure rather than a duplicate.
- Refugees and asylum seekers are exempt from the Special Labour Permit, so the work route runs in one stage for them rather than two.
- Georgia and Ukraine have a double tax treaty in force, so dual residence has a tie-breaker.
Frequently asked questions
How long can Ukrainian citizens stay in Georgia without a visa?
One full year under the ordinary visa-free rules, resettable by leaving and returning. Separately, Ukrainians who entered and stayed before 24 February 2025 have their stay extended to 24 February 2027 by government ordinance. That extension has been granted a year at a time since 2022, so confirm the current end date against your own entry date.
Do Ukrainians need a residence permit in Georgia?
Not to stay, while a visa-free or extended stay is running, and not to work remotely for clients abroad. You need one to stay beyond that stay, and where the basis is work or IT a Special Labour Permit is granted in front of it. Most people apply when the stay is within a few months of expiry, which is late: the application has to be filed 40 calendar days before it ends and the documents take longer than that.
How do I get a Ukrainian police clearance certificate for Georgia?
Order the criminal record extract from the Ministry of Internal Affairs through the Diia app or the ministry's portal. You can request a paper copy with the apostille already attached in the same application. The Ministry of Internal Affairs apostilles its own documents, so there is no second office to visit.
What if my Ukrainian birth certificate was issued in an occupied area?
If the registration is already in the electronic State Register of Civil Status Acts, any registry office can produce a duplicate. If it was registered before 2008 it exists only in a paper book at the issuing office, and where that office is unreachable the route is a court procedure to establish the fact rather than an administrative request. Start it before anything else.
Which Georgian residence permit is easiest for a Ukrainian applicant?
The property route, because it asks for no criminal record certificate and no labour permit, which removes the two documents that are hardest to obtain. It requires $150,000 in real estate, a figure that rose from $100,000 on 1 March 2026. For people with income rather than capital the work route is cheaper and carries a longer document chain.
Do Ukrainian refugees in Georgia need a Special Labour Permit?
No. Refugees and asylum seekers appear on the statutory exemption list for the Special Labour Permit, alongside investment permit holders and permanent residents. That exemption follows the status, not the nationality. On an ordinary or grandfathered stay the general rules apply instead: a permit for employment with a Georgian company, for Individual Entrepreneur trade with Georgian clients, or for a work or IT residence permit application, and none for work invoiced abroad.
Is there a tax treaty between Georgia and Ukraine?
Yes, in force since 1 April 1999 and listed by the Georgian Ministry of Finance among 58 agreements. It supplies tie-breaker rules where both countries treat you as tax resident, which is a realistic scenario given that Ukrainian residency turns on centre of vital interests rather than day counting alone.
Can I apply for a Georgian residence permit if my passport expires soon?
The permit is issued against a valid travel document, so a passport nearing expiry is a problem to solve first rather than alongside. Consular rules for Ukrainian citizens abroad have changed more than once since 2024, so check the current position with the mission in Tbilisi before you build a filing date around it.
Can Ukrainians get Georgian citizenship?
After ten years of continuous residence and exams in Georgian language, history and law. The obstacle is that Georgia does not generally permit dual citizenship and expects renunciation of your existing nationality, with exceptions granted only by presidential decree on state-interest grounds. Permanent residence is the realistic destination for most people.
How much does a Georgian residence permit cost for a Ukrainian applicant?
The same as for anyone else. Government fees run GEL 300 to GEL 600 by processing track plus GEL 60 for the card, and our fee is $450 on the work and IT routes or $570 on property. The Special Labour Permit adds GEL 200 on a standard decision or GEL 400 on the faster track, and Ukrainian document costs are low by comparison.
Does a residence permit protect my stay if the extension is not renewed?
Yes, and that is the reason to apply rather than wait. A residence permit is granted under the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons and stands on its own, while a grandfathered visa-free stay depends on a government decision being taken again. Anyone whose plans in Georgia run past February 2027 should be converting now, not later.
