Is there a digital nomad visa for Georgia?
Not as a separate visa. What Georgia offers remote workers is a combination of three things that already exist: a long visa-free stay for citizens of about ninety countries, residence permits that do not depend on a local job, and, since March 2026, an explicit exemption from the new right-to-work rules for certain kinds of remote work. Together they make Georgia one of the easier places for a remote professional to live, but only if the arrangement fits the rules, which became stricter in 2026.
This page compares the options side by side: who each suits, how long it lasts, what it costs, and the conditions that matter for someone who earns from abroad. The underlying rules are explained in our pages on the work permit from 2026 and the visa-free stay.
When remote work needs no Georgian work permit
Under the 2026 rules, most foreigners need a right to work before working in Georgia. Article 1(4) of the Law on Labour Migration sets out two situations outside that requirement, as described by Tbilisi law firms:
- Fully remote work that does not require being in Georgia. Work performed entirely remotely, where the job itself does not need the person to enter the country.
- Work or services for a non-resident, relating to its activities outside Georgia. A person who works for, or provides services to, a foreign company or client, where the work serves that client's business abroad.
A remote employee of a foreign company, or a freelancer whose clients are abroad and whose work serves their foreign business, will usually fall within one of these. A freelancer who sells services to Georgian clients, runs a Georgian business or takes a Georgian job does not, and needs the right to work. The exemptions are narrower than "anything done on a laptop": the client's residence and where its business takes place both matter.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm the exact wording of Article 1(4) of the Law on Labour Migration and how it applies to a remote worker who is registered as an individual entrepreneur in Georgia but whose clients are all abroad.
The options compared
| Option | Length | Cost | Main condition | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visa-free stay | 1 year from entry | Insurance only | Citizenship of a listed country | A first year, or a trial |
| Property residence permit | 1 year, renewed yearly | GEL 300 to 600 a year, plus a valuation once | Property worth more than $150,000 | Owners staying long term |
| Investment residence permit | 5 years | GEL 300 to 600 | Property or investment above $300,000 | Larger owners; work allowed |
| IT residence permit | 3 years, up to 12 | GEL 500 to 1,000 | IT work, USD 25,000 a year, presence in Georgia | IT professionals |
| Work residence permit | Linked to the right to work | GEL 300 to 600 plus the right to work | A Georgian job or business | People working in Georgia |
The property route for remote workers
For a remote worker who can buy, the property permit is the simplest long-term basis. It does not depend on employment, income or presence: the law sets no minimum number of days in Georgia for it, and it is renewed each year without a new valuation while you keep the property. It does not, by itself, allow work in Georgia; but a remote worker within the Article 1(4) exemptions does not need that permission for the remote work. The combination of an owned apartment, a property permit and a remote job abroad is, for many, the most stable arrangement the rules allow. The path is set out in our residency guide.
The visa-free year: a start, not a solution
The visa-free year is how most remote workers arrive. It is easy, and it gives time to decide whether Georgia suits you. It has limits: the year runs from entry, leaving and coming back does not reliably start a new one because admission is decided at the border each time, and from the start of 2026 health and accident cover for the whole visit is compulsory for everyone entering. Someone who decides to stay should plan a residence permit within the year, filed at least 40 calendar days before it ends.
A first year in Georgia, step by step
Arrive insured
Enter with health and accident insurance that covers the whole stay, and keep the policy with your passport.
Rent first and test the city
Spend the first months renting in two or three neighbourhoods. Internet, noise, heating in winter and the walk to a supermarket matter more to a remote worker than the view.
Decide what the long term looks like
If you will stay, choose the basis: property, the IT permit or a local job. If the answer is property, start looking while the visa-free year still has months to run.
File before the year runs out
Submit the residence permit application with time to spare, so your stay remains lawful while the agency decides.
Renting or buying as a remote worker
Renting keeps you flexible. You can change city, neighbourhood or country without selling anything, and the visa-free year asks nothing of you beyond insurance. But rent never turns into a residence permit, so a tenant who wants to stay beyond the year needs another basis: a local job, the IT permit or a family ground. Buying ties up capital and takes time to resell, but an apartment worth more than $150,000 gives a permit that is renewed each year for as long as you own it, with no requirement about where you spend your days. For many remote workers the decision is less about the price of a flat than about how certain they are that Georgia is where they want to be in three years.
Couples where one partner works locally
A common situation: one partner works remotely for a company abroad, the other finds a job in Tbilisi or Batumi. The rules treat them separately. The remote partner may fall within the exemption; the partner hired locally needs the right to work and a work residence permit, whatever the household's property situation. Plan both from the start, because the local job is the one that sets the timetable.
Tax: the question remote workers forget
Labour migration rules and tax rules are separate, and the work exemption says nothing about tax. Whatever the visa or permit, spending 183 days or more in Georgia within a rolling twelve months turns a remote worker into a Georgian tax resident for that tax year. How Georgia then treats income earned from abroad is set by the Tax Code's rules on the source of income, while the home country may still tax the same person under its own rules, so the position depends on both countries and on any treaty between them.
Many freelancers in Georgia register as individual entrepreneurs with small business status, which the Tax Code taxes at 1% of turnover, or 3% above GEL 500,000, subject to the activities the Government excludes. That registration is an economic activity in Georgia, and since 2026 it interacts with the right-to-work rules, so it should be decided with an accountant and a lawyer together rather than copied from an older guide. Our guide to money and taxes explains the tax residence test.
To be added by the team: the partner accountant to confirm how a remote worker who is a Georgian tax resident is taxed on foreign employment income and on freelance income, and whether small business status remains available to foreign freelancers under the 2026 labour rules.
Which option suits you?
- Trying Georgia for a year: the visa-free stay, with insurance, and no Georgian clients.
- Staying long term, remote job abroad, can buy: property worth more than $150,000 and the property permit, renewed yearly.
- Staying long term, wanting to work locally too: the investment permit if your property exceeds $300,000, or the right to work and a work permit.
- IT professional living mainly in Georgia: the IT residence permit, three years at a time.
- Remote worker whose partner is hired in Georgia: your own basis for you, and the right to work plus a work residence permit for your partner.
Risks and exceptions
- Serving Georgian clients on a remote exemption. The exemptions cover work for non-residents' activities abroad, not local clients.
- Relying on border runs. A new visa-free year is not assured on re-entry.
- Ignoring tax residence. 183 days in Georgia makes you a tax resident regardless of your permit.
- Letting the visa-free year run out. An application filed too late leaves you without a lawful basis to stay while it is decided.
- Copying pre-2026 advice. Guides written before March 2026 describe a system without the right-to-work requirement.
Frequently asked questions
Can I work remotely for my employer abroad while living in Georgia?
Generally yes, without a Georgian work permit, if your work falls within the remote-work exemptions of Article 1(4). Confirm your arrangement with a lawyer.
Do I need to buy property to stay longer than a year?
No. Property is one route; the IT permit, the work permit and family routes are others. Property is the route that does not depend on a job.
Will I pay tax in Georgia?
If you are in Georgia for 183 days or more in a twelve-month period, you become a Georgian tax resident. Check with an accountant how that affects your income.
Can my partner and children join me?
Under the residence permit routes, family members apply on the holder's ground. On a visa-free stay, each person's year runs from their own entry.
Do I have to register a business to work remotely from Georgia?
Not for the remote-work exemption itself. Registering as an individual entrepreneur is a separate choice with its own tax and labour consequences, best made with an accountant and a lawyer.
Is there a special visa for nomads?
Not at present. Remote workers use the visa-free stay and the ordinary residence permits described above.
Sources
- New standards for remote work in Georgia (2026), TK Counsel, 3 October 2026 (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Georgia work permits, Andersen in Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Government Ordinance No 255 on visa-free stay, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Migration and residence permits: fees and terms, Public Service Development Agency (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Tax Code of Georgia (Articles 34 and 88-90), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
Change log
- - Comparison published from the 2026 labour migration rules, the visa-free ordinance, the agency's permits and the Tax Code; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.