The Special Labour Permit is required in three situations, and outside them it is not engaged at all. You need one to employ non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, to trade as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, or to apply for a work or IT residence permit. Working from Georgia for clients abroad is none of those things. Here is what the permit is, which of the three cases you are in, and what it costs when you are in one.
What the Special Labour Permit is
The Special Labour Permit, formally the right to labour activity, is authorisation from the Employment Promotion State Agency under the Ministry of Labour for a defined labour activity in Georgia. It was created by a government resolution of 20 February 2026 and took effect on 1 March 2026, alongside the procedural rules on granting residence permits.
What it changed is narrower than the date makes it sound. On the work and IT residence permit routes it separated the right to be in Georgia from the right to earn on those routes, and put the two in different ministries. A work residence permit is no longer authorisation to work by itself. On the employer side it turned hiring a foreign national into a filing with a second agency.
The permit defines the type and scope of work it authorises. It is tied to an activity rather than to a person in general, which is why the classification applied for decides as much as the evidence behind it.
Who needs one
The test is who pays you, and whether you want a residence card. Three situations engage the permit and they are the only three.
You employ non-Georgian nationals in Georgia. The obligation sits with the employer. A Georgian company with foreign staff needs a permit for each of them, and the penalty for not holding one falls on the company as well as on the worker.
You are an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients. Invoicing Georgian companies or Georgian individuals from a registered IE brings you inside the regime. Invoicing clients abroad does not. Where a particular client is genuinely hard to place, settle it before you file rather than after, in a consultation rather than by guessing.
You are applying for a work or IT residence permit. The labour permit is a prerequisite for both. It is granted first and filed as a supporting document with the residence permit application, and once it is held a clean file progresses to the residence permit in the large majority of cases.
Outside those three, the permit is not engaged. A foreign national who registers an Individual Entrepreneur, works for clients abroad and does not want a residence card needs neither this permit nor a residence permit, and can go on that way indefinitely on visa-free entry. Which side of that line a particular arrangement falls on is worked through in the guide to who needs a work permit in Georgia.
Who is genuinely exempt
Where a residence permit is the goal, two residence permit categories carry an exemption from the prerequisite:
- Investment residence permit holders. The investment route carries an exemption from work authorisation entirely. For anyone weighing $150,000 in property against $300,000 in investment, this is a real part of the difference.
- Permanent residents. Once you hold permanent residence, the separate authorisation falls away.
Separately, four groups sit outside the regime altogether rather than being exempt within it: diplomatic and consular staff, accredited foreign journalists, refugees and asylum seekers. Those are statuses rather than permit categories, and they are governed by their own rules.
The distinction matters if you are choosing a route. Only the first two are things you can decide to become.
Notice what is not on that list. Holding a work residence permit is not an exemption, it is the thing the labour permit is a prerequisite for. Being married to a Georgian citizen is not an exemption either, though it may open a different residence route through family reunification. Being paid entirely from abroad is absent for a different reason: it does not need an exemption, because it never engages the permit in the first place.
The order of operations
This part applies if you want a work or IT residence permit, and it is what costs people weeks.
- Special Labour Permit first. Applied for at the Employment Promotion State Agency. Up to 30 calendar days for a decision.
- Then the residence permit. Applied for at a Public Service Hall, with the labour permit as a supporting document. A further 10 to 30 days.
Filing them the other way round, or in parallel, does not work. A work residence permit application without a valid labour permit is refused, and a refusal costs the fee, the time and, if your lawful stay is running down, the window itself.
The labour permit does not need a residence status underneath it. It can be applied for and granted while you are here as a visitor, which is what makes the sequence workable at all. If your nationality needs a visa to enter Georgia, the chain is longer: enter on a tourist visa or another qualifying status, obtain the labour permit, obtain a D visa either inside Georgia or at a consulate abroad, then file for the residence permit. An in-country D visa application needs 40 days of lawful stay still to run.
Approval also opens a short window in which to file for your residence permit or a D1 visa. Treating approval as the finish line rather than the starting gun is the second most common mistake here.
What it costs
| Item | Fee | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Special Labour Permit, standard | $75 | 30 calendar days |
| Special Labour Permit, expedited | $155 | 10 working days |
Those amounts are set in lari by the resolution, at GEL 200 and GEL 400, and quoted here in dollars at the prevailing rate. The lari figure is the law and it does not move with the exchange rate.
The fee is not the expensive part. The evidence is. Employers must show turnover of roughly $19,000, fixed at GEL 50,000, per foreign employee, dropping to GEL 35,000 for educational and medical institutions. Those thresholds were confirmed by Decree No. 317 of 9 July 2026, which also introduced relief for newly formed companies. Self-employed applicants qualify on the same turnover figure or on income of at least five times the subsistence minimum. Assembling and presenting that evidence is most of the work, and a thin file is the usual reason for a refusal.
The start-up exemption, and its catch
Decree No. 317 added a concession for new companies, and it is genuinely useful if you know its shape.
A newly formed Georgian company can hire foreign staff without meeting the turnover test, provided it is within roughly three months of registration, is hiring no more than three foreign nationals, and is making a first application. A company with no trading history cannot demonstrate GEL 50,000 of turnover, and without the concession no start-up could hire anyone.
The catch is on the other side of it. Permits issued under the relief run six months rather than the usual term, and the renewal is assessed on the ordinary rules. So the company has roughly six months to generate the turnover it was excused from showing. That is a reasonable trade if you plan for it and an unpleasant surprise if you do not, because the renewal lands at the same time as everything else a six-month-old company is dealing with.
Why applications get refused
Refusals here are rarely about eligibility in principle. They are about the file.
The recurring causes are turnover evidence that does not reconcile with what the tax authority holds, a description of the work that does not match the activity the company actually performs, and applications filed so close to the expiry of the applicant's lawful stay that there is no room to correct anything.
The last one compounds. The Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons already requires the residence permit application 40 calendar days before your stay expires, and the labour permit has to be granted before that application can be filed at all. Two sequential deadlines, one of which most people do not know exists, is why the 40-day rule now bites earlier than it used to.
The fines, and how enforcement works
Employing a non-Georgian national without a permit carries GEL 2,000 on the employer and a separate GEL 2,000 on the worker, and both double on a repeat. Those figures are statutory and denominated in lari, so they do not drift with the exchange rate.
The exposure is not really the fine. It is the knock-on for anyone who holds a residence permit: work done outside what the labour permit authorises undermines the legal basis of the residence permit, and a permit granted on a basis that turns out to be unlawful is a permit that can be revoked. What starts as an administrative penalty becomes a question about your right to stay.
The 1 January 2027 transition deadline
Employers who already had foreign nationals on the payroll before 1 March 2026 sit inside a transition window that closes on 1 January 2027. Existing staff have to be regularised by that date.
That sounds like a comfortable amount of time and it is not, for two reasons. The decision itself takes up to 30 days, so the real deadline is the start of December. And every company in the country with foreign staff shares that date, which means the queue in the final quarter will not look like the queue now.
If you have people inside the transition window, the correct time to file is well before the autumn.
What we do
We handle both sides of the labour permit application, because they work differently. Employees apply through their Georgian employer, which means we deal with the company's turnover evidence and filings as well as yours. Individual Entrepreneurs with Georgian clients, and anyone filing ahead of a work or IT residence permit, apply directly, and the evidence is your own income and business activity.
Where a residence permit is the point of the exercise, the sequencing is ours to manage: the labour permit, then the residence permit filed into the window that approval opens, with both expiry dates tracked afterwards. There are two clocks in that case, run by two agencies that do not talk to each other.
Government authorisation for labour activity in Georgia. Required to employ foreign staff, to trade as an IE with Georgian clients, or to apply for a work or IT residence permit.
See what it costs, from $450
Key takeaways
- The Special Labour Permit is required in three cases: employing non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, and applying for a work or IT residence permit.
- The test is who pays you, and whether you want a residence card.
- Working from Georgia for clients abroad engages neither this permit nor a residence permit, and an Individual Entrepreneur invoicing only outside Georgia is in the same position.
- Only investment permit holders and permanent residents are exempt from the residence permit prerequisite.
- It comes before the work or IT residence permit. Filing them out of order produces a refusal, not a delay.
- Government fee is $75 for a 30-day decision or $155 for ten working days.
- An employer hiring foreign staff without one faces GEL 2,000, with a separate GEL 2,000 on the worker, doubled on repeat.
- Employers with foreign staff in place before March 2026 have until 1 January 2027, which in practice means filing by autumn.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Special Labour Permit in Georgia?
It is government authorisation for a defined labour activity in Georgia, issued by the Employment Promotion State Agency under the Ministry of Labour. Introduced by a resolution of 20 February 2026 and in force from 1 March 2026, it names the type and scope of work it covers, and it is a separate document from any residence permit.
Who needs a Special Labour Permit in Georgia?
Three groups. Employers of non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, Individual Entrepreneurs whose clients are Georgian, and anyone applying for a work or IT residence permit. Outside those three the permit is not engaged, so working from Georgia for clients abroad does not require one.
Who is exempt from the Georgian labour permit?
Two residence permit categories are exempt from the prerequisite: investment residence permit holders and permanent residents. Separately, diplomatic and consular staff, accredited foreign journalists, refugees and asylum seekers sit outside the regime under their own rules. Holding a work residence permit is not an exemption, because the labour permit is a prerequisite for it.
How much does a Special Labour Permit cost in Georgia?
The government fee is GEL 200, around $75, for a decision within 30 calendar days, or GEL 400, around $155, for a decision on the tenth working day. Professional fees for preparing and filing the application are separate, and the evidence package is where most of the work sits.
How long does a Georgian labour permit take?
A decision is due within 30 calendar days of a complete application, or ten working days on the expedited fee. Where a residence permit follows, its application cannot start until the labour permit is granted, so this sits at the front of a sequence rather than running alongside it.
What is the fine for hiring a foreign worker without a permit in Georgia?
GEL 2,000 on the employer and a separate GEL 2,000 on the worker, both doubled for a repeat offence. For anyone holding a residence permit the larger risk is indirect: work outside what the labour permit authorises undermines the basis of the residence permit, which raises a question about the right to remain rather than just a penalty.
Do I need a labour permit if I work remotely for a foreign company?
No. The permit is engaged by employing non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, by trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, and by applying for a work or IT residence permit. Working from Georgia for an employer or clients abroad is none of those, so there is nothing to file unless you decide you want a residence card.
Does the Special Labour Permit come before or after the residence permit?
Before. It is a prerequisite for the work and IT residence permits, and a residence permit application without a valid labour permit is refused rather than queued. Approval then opens a short window in which the residence permit application must be filed.
What is the 1 January 2027 deadline in Georgia?
It is the date by which employers must regularise foreign staff who were already on the payroll before 1 March 2026. Since a decision takes up to 30 days and every affected company shares the same deadline, filing by autumn 2026 is the sensible plan rather than December.
What turnover does an employer need to hire a foreign worker in Georgia?
GEL 50,000, roughly $19,000, of annual turnover per foreign employee, reduced to GEL 35,000 for educational and medical institutions. Self-employed applicants meet the test on the same turnover figure or on income of at least five times the subsistence minimum.
Can I apply for a Special Labour Permit myself?
Yes, and some people do. The difficulty is not the form, it is the evidence: turnover documentation, proof of business activity and the correct classification of the work being authorised. A refusal on a thin file costs the fee and a month, which on a running visa-free clock is often the expensive part.
