What is the IT residence permit?
Since 1 September 2025, Georgian law has offered a residence permit designed for people who work in information technology. It runs for three years at a time, can be extended in three-year steps up to twelve years, and covers the holder's family. It sits alongside the 2026 right-to-work system rather than replacing it: most IT professionals obtain a right-to-work decision first and then apply for the IT residence permit on its basis. For a developer, a designer or an IT manager who wants to live in Georgia and work there, it offers far more stability than the one-year property permit, and it allows work, which the property permit does not.
The permit has conditions about experience, pay and presence in Georgia, and the last of these is the one most often misread. This guide covers who qualifies, what the agency asks for, how much it costs, how long it lasts and what ends it.
Who qualifies?
The law opens the permit to three groups of people working in IT, together with their family members:
- IT employees registered with the Ministry under the labour migration rules, working for an employer in Georgia.
- IT entrepreneurs registered in Georgia with small business status and engaged in IT activity.
- Managers and representatives of international IT companies operating in Georgia.
For all three, the agency's conditions add two tests. The applicant must have at least two years of work or economic activity in the IT field. And the applicant's remuneration must be at least the lari equivalent of USD 25,000 a year, shown by payments received at least twice during the last year, at least 30 days apart.
How the pay condition is shown in practice
The agency's wording is about remuneration actually received, not a salary written into a contract. An employee usually shows it with a remuneration certificate from the employer, backed by bank statements that show the payments arriving. An entrepreneur shows it through the business's accounts and its tax declarations. Pay received in dollars, euros or any other currency is compared with the threshold through its lari equivalent, and exchange rates move, so someone whose income sits just above USD 25,000 a year should leave a margin rather than apply at the edge.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm how the agency defines "IT activity" for each group, which documents prove two years of experience gained abroad, and whether the USD 25,000 is measured before or after tax.
How do you apply?
Settle your work status first
An IT employee obtains a right-to-work decision through the labour migration system; an entrepreneur registers the business and its small business status. The IT permit application relies on that decision or registration.
Collect proof of experience and pay
Prepare documents showing two years in IT and a remuneration certificate showing at least USD 25,000 a year, paid at least twice, 30 days apart, over the last year.
File with the Public Service Development Agency
Apply at a Public Service Hall with the approved form, your passport copy, proof of lawful stay, the experience and pay documents, the right-to-work decision, a photo and the fee receipt.
Add your family
Spouse and children apply as family members of the permit holder once your permit is granted.
Fees and decision times
| Permit | Decision by 30th day | By 20th day | By 10th day | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT residence permit | GEL 500 | GEL 750 | GEL 1,000 | 3 years, up to 12 |
| Work residence permit | GEL 300 | GEL 450 | GEL 600 | Linked to the right to work |
| Property (short-term) permit | GEL 300 | GEL 450 | GEL 600 | 1 year, renewed yearly |
The IT permit costs more per application but is applied for once every three years, so over three years the standard fee of GEL 500 is less than the GEL 900 that three yearly property-permit extensions cost at the same speed, and it brings the right to live and work with it.
The 183-day rule
The IT permit has a presence condition that the property permit does not. It ends if its holder is not physically present in Georgia for 183 days or more during any continuous twelve-month period, and the law counts time abroad for medical treatment towards that absence. In plain terms, the permit is meant for people who live in Georgia, not for people who visit. Someone who spends half the year travelling for work or with family elsewhere should keep a careful count, because the twelve-month window moves day by day.
A worked example shows why short trips add up. A holder spends 60 days abroad in late winter, 90 days over the summer and 40 days around the New Year holidays. No single trip is long, but any twelve-month window that contains all three adds up to 190 days, which is above the limit. The count does not restart on 1 January or when the permit is extended: it looks back twelve months from every single day. A safe working rule is to treat 150 days abroad as your own ceiling, which leaves room for a cancelled flight or a family emergency.
The same 183 days appear in the tax rules, with the opposite effect: a person present in Georgia for 183 days or more in any continuous twelve-month period becomes a Georgian tax resident. An IT permit holder who meets the presence condition will in most cases also be a Georgian tax resident, which is worth planning for together with an accountant.
Extending the permit every three years
Each three-year extension is a fresh application, checked against the conditions in force at that moment: the IT activity, the pay and the time spent in Georgia over the period. Prepare for it the way you prepared the first time. Keep payslips or bank statements that show the remuneration, keep the travel log up to date, and make sure the right-to-work decision or the business registration that the permit rests on is still valid. File well before the current permit ends: a gap between two permits is a gap in lawful stay, and it affects both your residence history and your ability to keep working.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm how early an extension of the IT residence permit may be filed and which documents the agency asks for at extension that it did not ask for the first time.
Who the IT permit does not suit
- People who live mainly elsewhere. Spending half the year or more abroad breaks the presence condition.
- Early-career specialists. Fewer than two years of IT work does not meet the experience test.
- Lower earners. Pay below the lari equivalent of USD 25,000 a year does not qualify, however skilled the work.
- Fully remote workers who own qualifying property. If your work needs no Georgian work permit, the property permit may be the simpler route, with no presence condition.
IT permit, work permit or property permit?
| Question | IT permit | Work residence permit | Property permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can you work in Georgia? | Yes, on the right-to-work basis | Yes, on the right-to-work basis | No, not by itself |
| How long does it last? | 3 years at a time, up to 12 | As long as the right to work | 1 year at a time |
| Presence required? | Yes, no 183-day absence | Ask the lawyer | No minimum in the law |
| Depends on owning property? | No | No | Yes |
| Pay threshold? | USD 25,000 a year | Five times the subsistence minimum | None |
An IT professional who owns qualifying property can therefore choose. If you work in Georgia, the IT permit is usually the stronger basis. If you work entirely remotely for a foreign employer and mainly want to live in Georgia, the property permit may be enough, as our page on remote work and digital nomads explains.
Does the IT permit lead to permanent residence?
The permanent residence route counts ten years on a temporary residence permit. Whether years on the IT permit count towards it depends on how the IT permit is classified in the law's list of temporary permits, which our partner lawyer is checking alongside the same question for the property permit. Until that is confirmed, plan the long term on the basis of what is certain: the IT permit can run for up to twelve years in three-year steps. The routes are described in our permanent residence guide.
Risks and exceptions
- Too long abroad. 183 days or more outside Georgia in any twelve months ends the permit, including time for treatment.
- Pay paid only once. The agency asks for remuneration received at least twice in the last year, 30 days apart.
- No right to work first. For employees, the IT permit builds on the right-to-work decision.
- Tax residence by surprise. Meeting the presence condition usually makes you a Georgian tax resident.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to own property for the IT permit?
No. The IT permit rests on your IT work and pay, not on property.
Can freelancers get the IT permit?
Yes, as IT entrepreneurs registered in Georgia with small business status and engaged in IT activity, if they meet the experience and pay conditions.
Can my family come with me?
Yes. Family members of the IT permit holder are covered and apply separately.
How many times can it be extended?
In three-year periods each time, up to twelve years in total.
What if my salary falls below USD 25,000?
The pay condition is checked when you apply and extend. Ask the lawyer before an extension if your pay has changed.
What happens if I change employer?
An employee's permit rests on a right-to-work decision linked to the work, so a move to a new employer is a change the labour migration system needs to know about. Speak to the lawyer before you sign the new contract, not after.
Does the IT permit change how my apartment is taxed?
No. Property tax and the tax on rental income depend on the property and the income, not on which residence permit you hold.
The right to work that underpins this permit is explained in our page on the work permit from 2026.
Sources
- Migration and residence permits: IT residence permit, conditions, documents and fees, Public Service Development Agency (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Georgia introduces new residence permits for IT workers, 1TV, 3 June 2025 (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
- Georgia work permits, Andersen in Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
Change log
- - Guide published from the agency's IT permit conditions and fees and the 2025 amendments; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.