IT Residence Permit Application Service
The Georgian IT residence permit is a dedicated category for software, data and infrastructure professionals. It runs three years at a time instead of the usual six to twelve months, and it asks for two years of experience, $25,000 of annual income and 183 days a year in the country. Here is how to qualify and apply.
- Software developers
- Data and infrastructure engineers
- IT professionals relocating with family
- Staff of international companies in Georgia
- Self-employed technical consultants
- Permit term
- 3 years
- Income floor
- $25,000
- Presence required
- 183 days/yr
What this unlocks
Three years, not twelve months
The longest term of any work route. No annual renewal treadmill, and a horizon a family can plan around.
A long runway if you stay
Extendable, and the years count toward permanent residence: with far less risk of a missed deadline breaking the chain.
Leases and mortgages become possible
A three-year card changes what a landlord or a bank will put in front of you.
Tax residency arrives with it
The 183-day condition is the same threshold that makes you Georgian tax resident. If you are here anyway, the two reinforce each other.
What the IT residence permit is
A separate residence permit category for IT specialists: employed, self-employed, or working through an international company registered in Georgia. It exists because the standard work permit cycle of six to twelve month terms is a poor fit for people the country is actively trying to attract. Three years at a time is a materially different proposition: it removes the annual renewal treadmill, it makes a Georgian mortgage or a long lease conversationally possible, and it gives a family somewhere stable to plan around.
- Three-year terms rather than the usual 6–12 months
- Extendable, with a long total runway for people who stay
- Open to employees, the self-employed and international company staff
- Family members can join through reunification
- Counts toward the 10 years that unlock permanent residence
Who qualifies
The bar is higher than the standard work permit and the evidence is more specific. You need at least two years of professional experience in IT and at least $25,000 of annual income, documented rather than asserted. Then there is the condition that decides whether this route is right for you at all: you have to spend at least 183 days a year in Georgia. That makes it a genuinely different product from the work permit. It is designed for people relocating, not for people holding a permit while living elsewhere.
- Two or more years of professional IT experience
- Annual income of at least $25,000, evidenced
- 183+ days of physical presence in Georgia per year
- A Special Labour Permit, as with any other work route since March 2026
- The usual baseline: valid passport, clean record, insurance, address
The 183-day condition cuts both ways
Most people read the presence requirement as a cost. It is also the thing that makes this route coherent, because 183 days is the same threshold that makes you a Georgian tax resident. If you are going to be here half the year anyway, the IT permit and Georgian tax residency arrive together and reinforce each other. If you are not, if the plan was a permit for optionality while you live somewhere else, this is the wrong category and the work residence permit is the honest answer. We would rather say that at the consultation than after you have paid for the wrong application.
What counts as IT work
Software development is the clear case. Beyond that the boundary is drawn by the authority rather than by how you describe yourself, and adjacent roles, technical product management, data, infrastructure, IT-adjacent design, are assessed on the substance of the work and the evidence you bring. If your title is ambiguous, the useful preparation is a contract and a portfolio that describe technical output, not a job title that sounds senior. We look at your specific evidence before you commit to this route rather than the standard work permit.
Want us to handle your it residence permit?
Thirty free minutes. We will confirm whether this route fits before you spend anything.
Pricing
Set in law at ₾500. The IT category carries its own fee schedule, higher than the standard work permit.
Set in law at ₾750.
$155 for a decision on the 10th working day.
Government fees are paid directly to the agency and are separate from our fee.
The residence permit application alone, for applicants who already hold a valid Special Labour Permit. Same fee as the standard work route: the IT category asks for more evidence, not more of our time.
Required first, as with any work route since March 2026.
Prices exclude 18% VAT where applicable. Fees are quoted in USD and settled in Georgian lari at the prevailing rate.
How the IT route runs
- 01
Free consultation
30 minutesWe test your evidence against the two-year experience and $25,000 income conditions, and, bluntly, whether you will actually be in Georgia 183 days a year. If not, the standard work permit is the better application.
- 02
Evidence package
1–2 weeksEmployment history, contracts, income documentation, qualifications. This is the part that decides an IT application, and it is where a weak file gets refused.
- 03
Special Labour Permit
Up to 30 daysThe IT residence permit does not exempt you from work authorisation. It runs first, as with every other work route.
- 04
Application submission
Same dayFiled at the Public Service Hall with full accompaniment.
- 05
Decision
60–90 daysThe IT category runs on a longer government timetable than the standard work permit: 90 days standard, 60 expedited. Plan your existing legal stay around that, not around the 30-day figure you may have read elsewhere.
IT permit or standard work permit?
Frequently asked questions
A dedicated residence permit category for IT specialists, issued for three years at a time rather than the six to twelve months typical of the standard work permit. It is open to employed and self-employed IT professionals and to staff of international companies registered in Georgia.
At least two years of professional IT experience, at least $25,000 of documented annual income, and at least 183 days a year of physical presence in Georgia. You also need a Special Labour Permit, as with any work route since March 2026, plus the usual passport, criminal record certificate, insurance and address.
Yes, and it is the condition that decides whether this route suits you. If you will not be in Georgia half the year, the standard work residence permit is the correct application and we will say so.
Longer than the standard work permit: 90 days for a decision, or 60 expedited, plus up to 30 days for the labour permit beforehand and one to two weeks of evidence preparation. Budget four to five months from a standing start.
A Georgian IT residence permit costs $190 in government fees for a 90-day decision, or $285 for 60 days, plus $75 to $155 for the Special Labour Permit. Our service fee is quoted after the consultation, because the evidence work varies more on this route than on any other.
No, but the evidence has to describe technical work. Adjacent roles are assessed on substance rather than title. If yours is ambiguous, bring contracts and portfolio material that show technical output. That is what carries the application.
Yes, through family reunification, on the same basis as any other temporary resident. A three-year permit makes this considerably less administratively painful than annual renewals do.
No. Only investment residence permit holders and permanent residents are exempt. The IT permit is a residence category, not a work authorisation.
Yes. The years count toward the ten years of temporary residence that unlock permanent residence, and three-year terms make accumulating them far less fragile than annual renewals, where a single missed deadline can break the chain.
No. Georgia does not run a digital nomad visa in the sense most people mean; the visa-free 365-day rule has historically done that job. The IT residence permit is a formal residence category with income, experience and presence conditions attached.
Not sure this is the right one?
Thirty free minutes, no obligation. We will tell you which route actually fits, including when the answer is that you do not need us.