Special Labour Permit Application Service
The Special Labour Permit is the Georgian government’s authorisation for labour activity here, and three things trigger it: employing non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, and applying for a work or IT residence permit, where it has to be granted first. It is issued by the Ministry of Labour within 30 days. Here is who needs one, who does not, and how to get it.
- Georgian companies hiring foreign staff
- Employees of Georgian companies
- Individual Entrepreneurs with Georgian clients
- Founders drawing income from a Georgian company
- Work and IT residence permit applicants
- In force since
- 1 Mar 2026
- Employer fine
- $765
- Employers regularise by
- 1 Jan 2027
What this unlocks
The residence permit rests on it
On the work and IT routes the application fails outright without one. It is not paperwork around your stay, it is what your stay is built on.
Hire without the $765 exposure
A company with unpermitted foreign staff is fined $765, and $765 again lands on the worker, doubling on a repeat. We make the application complete first time.
We handle both sides
Employees apply through their Georgian employer, the self-employed apply directly. Either way the process is ours, not yours.
The next step, filed on time
Approval opens a short window to file for your residence permit or D1 visa. We file into it rather than treating approval as the finish line.
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. It was introduced by a government resolution of 20 February 2026 and took effect on 1 March 2026. It defines the type and scope of work it covers, and it stands on its own: it can be obtained on a tourist visa, with no residence status underneath it. On the work residence permit and the IT residence permit it is a prerequisite rather than a parallel application, which is the sequencing most people arrive here for.
- Issued by the Employment Promotion State Agency, not the Public Service Hall
- Required to employ foreign staff, or to invoice Georgian clients as an IE
- Required first on the work and IT residence permit routes
- A decision is due within 30 calendar days of a complete application
- Stands alone. It can be held on a tourist visa with no residence permit
Who needs one
Three sets of people, and outside them the permit does not arise at all. A Georgian company taking on non-Georgian staff needs one for each of them, and the company is the applicant. An Individual Entrepreneur whose clients are Georgian needs one. And anyone applying for a work or IT residence permit needs one first, whatever their clients look like, because the residence application is not accepted without it. The test is who pays you, and whether you want a residence card.
- Georgian companies employing foreign nationals, one permit per employee
- Employees of Georgian companies, applied for by the employer
- Individual Entrepreneurs whose clients are Georgian
- Founders drawing employment income from their own Georgian company
- Anyone applying for a work or IT residence permit, granted first
Who is exempt, and who it never applied to
Two different questions, and most people are asking the second one. Holders of an investment residence permit and holders of permanent residence are exempt from the requirement outright, which is a real advantage of both categories. Diplomatic and consular staff, accredited foreign journalists, refugees and asylum seekers sit outside the regime as well. Separately, and this covers far more people: working remotely from Georgia for clients or an employer abroad is not inside the scope in the first place, so there is nothing to be exempt from. Where a particular client is hard to place, that is a question for a consultation, not something to read off a page.
- Investment residence permit holders, exempt
- Permanent residence permit holders, exempt
- Diplomatic and consular postings, exempt
- Accredited foreign media journalists, exempt
- Refugees and asylum seekers, exempt
- Remote work for foreign clients, outside the scope rather than exempt
What you have to prove
Two routes, depending on whether someone employs you. If a Georgian company does, the company applies, and it has to show annual turnover of at least $19,000 for each foreign employee it sponsors, ₾50,000, the figure the law actually states, or $13,400 (₾35,000) for educational and medical institutions. If you are self-employed you apply yourself, and you qualify either on $19,000 of turnover or on income of at least five times the Georgian subsistence minimum. Government Decree No. 317 of 9 July 2026 added a genuine concession for new companies: an enterprise less than three months old, employing no more than three foreigners and applying for the first time can submit an internal staff certificate instead of turnover evidence, but the permit it gets is valid for six months only.
What happens if you do not have one
Where a permit was required and not held, the fine is $765 on the employer and a separate $765 on the worker (₾2,000 each, fixed in lari by law), and a repeat offence doubles both and opens the door to deportation and an entry ban. Employers with foreign staff already on the books have until 1 January 2027 to regularise them, and no window at all for hiring done after that. On the residence permit side the consequence is quieter and often larger: without the labour permit a work or IT application does not succeed, so what is at stake is the legal basis for the stay rather than a fine.
Want us to handle your special labour permit?
Thirty free minutes. We will confirm whether this route fits before you spend anything.
Pricing
Everything from the eligibility assessment to the Ministry decision, whether you apply yourself or your employer applies for you.
Both applications run as one process, in the order the law now requires. Saves $155 against buying them separately.
The full self-employed route from nothing to residence card, including Individual Entrepreneur registration on the 1% regime. Saves $230.
For Georgian companies hiring foreign staff: what the new law obliges you to do, document preparation and submission, and ongoing advisory.
Our fee varies by country of origin because the document trail does. Prices exclude 18% VAT where applicable. Fees are quoted in USD and settled in Georgian lari at the prevailing rate.
Set in law at ₾200. The standard track, paid to the Employment Promotion State Agency.
Set in law at ₾400. Worth it when your existing legal stay is running down.
Government fees are paid directly to the agency, are separate from our fee, and are fixed in lari by law. The dollar figure is a conversion.
How to get a Special Labour Permit
- 01
Free consultation
15 minutesWe establish whether you need a permit at all, and plenty of people do not, then which of the two application routes is yours. Employee and self-employed applications differ from the first document onward.
- 02
Document preparation
1–2 weeksEmployment agreement or proof of business activity, turnover evidence, identification, certified translations. We know what the Ministry expects and what it rejects.
- 03
Submission
Same dayFor employees we work through your Georgian employer, who is the applicant in law. For self-employed applicants we submit on your behalf. Either way you get a tracking reference.
- 04
Decision, then the residence permit
Up to 30 daysThe Ministry must decide within 30 calendar days. If a residence permit is the plan, approval opens a defined window to file for it while you are in Georgia, or for a D1 visa if you are abroad. We start that immediately rather than letting the window lapse.
Frequently asked questions
It is authorisation from the Employment Promotion State Agency for labour activity in Georgia, in force since 1 March 2026. It is required in three situations: employing non-Georgian nationals in Georgia, trading as an Individual Entrepreneur with Georgian clients, and applying for a work or IT residence permit, where it has to be granted before the residence application is filed.
It depends on who pays you rather than on which card you hold. A residence permit is permission to live in Georgia and the labour permit is permission for labour activity, and the two are decided separately. Employment with a Georgian company or Georgian clients through an IE registration needs one. Remote work for clients abroad does not. Investment permit holders and permanent residents sit outside the requirement in any case.
No. Working remotely from Georgia for an employer or clients abroad does not engage the permit, and it does not require a residence permit either: most nationalities get 365 visa-free days and reset them on exit. It becomes a question when a Georgian client appears, or when you decide you want a residence card and take the work route to get one.
Only if your clients are Georgian, or if you want a work residence permit. An IE invoicing clients abroad needs no labour permit and no residence permit, and can carry on that way indefinitely on visa-free entry. The 1% regime has no bearing either way: tax status and work authorisation are separate systems administered by different agencies.
Where a permit was required, $765 on the employer and a separate $765 on the worker. A repeat offence doubles both and can lead to deportation and an entry ban. On the work and IT residence permit routes the larger risk is different: without the labour permit the residence application fails, leaving no legal basis to stay.
Your employer does. The company is the applicant in law for employed applicants, and it has to evidence at least $19,000 of annual turnover for each foreign employee it sponsors. We work directly with your employer so that obligation does not become your problem.
Decree No. 317 of 9 July 2026 created relief for exactly that. An enterprise less than three months old, with no more than three foreign employees, applying for the first time, can submit an internal staff certificate instead of turnover documents. The trade-off is that the permit is valid for six months only, so plan the renewal from day one.
A Special Labour Permit takes up to 30 calendar days from a complete application, or 10 working days on the expedited track. Document preparation adds one to two weeks before that clock starts, so budget six weeks in total.
A Special Labour Permit costs $450 plus VAT for our service, or $765 bundled with the work residence permit. Government fees are separate: $75 for a decision on the 30th calendar day and $155 for the 10th working day.
It turns on what you were doing. If you employ non-Georgian staff in Georgia, the 1 January 2027 deadline is yours: existing foreign employees have to be regularised by then, and there is no window for anyone hired after it. If you invoice clients abroad through an IE, or work remotely for a foreign employer, nothing changed and no permit arises. If you hold a work or IT residence permit, the labour permit is what your next renewal on that route runs on top of, so it belongs in the renewal timetable rather than today.
Yes. Refusal grounds include active expulsion proceedings and a finding that your skills do not match Georgian labour market needs, though the latter is rarely decisive in practice. Permits can also lapse if not renewed on time. Late submission is itself a ground for refusal, which is why we track the dates rather than leaving them to you.
A defined window opens: roughly 10 days to apply for your residence permit if you are in Georgia, or 30 days to apply for a D1 immigration visa if you are abroad. Missing it means starting over, so we file immediately rather than treating approval as the finish line.
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.