What exactly is the $150,000 threshold?
The threshold is one sentence of Georgian law. Article 15(j) of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons grants a short-term residence permit to a foreigner who, under the procedure set by Georgian legislation, has a property right to an immovable thing in Georgia, other than agricultural land, whose market value exceeds 150,000 US dollars in its lari equivalent, as established by a certified assessor of a body accredited by the Unified National Body of Accreditation. The permit covers the owner's spouse and children on the same ground. Every part of that sentence is a condition, and an application can fail on any one of them while the others are met.
This page takes the sentence apart. It explains what each phrase requires in practice, which kinds of property count and which do not, how the market value is produced and converted, and where owners most often misread the rule. The procedure itself, from the documents to the card, is covered in the complete guide to the residence permit by property; here the subject is the number and what stands behind it.
What does each phrase of the law require?
| Words in the law | What it means for you | Where the rule comes from |
|---|---|---|
| "under the procedure established by the legislation of Georgia" | The right has to exist in Georgian law, which for real estate means ownership registered in the Public Registry on the basis of a written transaction. | Civil Code, Article 183 |
| "property right" | You must be the owner. A tenant, a buyer with a reservation or a holder of a power of attorney does not hold the right. | Law, Article 15(j) |
| "immovable thing" | Land together with the buildings firmly attached to it, and separately owned flats or non-residential spaces in a building. | Civil Code, Articles 149 and 208 |
| "except for agricultural land" | Pasture, hayfield, arable land, land under perennial crops and homestead land are all agricultural, with or without a building on them. | Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership, Article 3(a) |
| "market value" | What the property is worth on the market, not what you paid for it or what a developer lists it at. | Law, Article 15(j) |
| "exceeding USD 150 000" | Strictly more than $150,000. A value of exactly $150,000 does not qualify. | Law, Article 15(j) |
| "equivalent in GEL" | The test is expressed in dollars but measured in lari, so the exchange rate affects a value close to the line. | Law, Article 15(j) |
| "certified assessor of a body accredited by the Unified National Body of Accreditation" | Only a report by an assessor working for an accredited body proves the value. Other estimates are not evidence. | Law, Article 15(j); agency document list |
Two of these phrases carry most of the weight in practice. "Property right" decides when you can apply, because the right begins at registration and not at signature. "Market value" decides whether you can apply at all, because the assessor, not the contract, sets the figure that the agency compares with the threshold.
Which property counts towards the total?
The law does not limit the route to apartments, to one city or to residential property. What it requires is an immovable thing outside the agricultural category, owned by the applicant. The table below applies that test to the situations owners ask about most. Where the answer depends on facts that the text of the law does not settle, the table says so; those cases go to the partner lawyer before any money is spent on a valuation.
| Situation | Counts? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A flat registered in your name, in any city or resort | Yes | A separately owned flat is an immovable thing, and the ownership is registered. |
| Commercial premises: an office, a shop, a hotel room sold as a unit | Yes | The article does not require residential use, only a non-agricultural immovable thing. |
| A house on a plot in an urban or non-agricultural category | Yes, house and plot together | Land with the buildings attached to it is one immovable thing. |
| A village house whose plot is registered as homestead land | No | Homestead land is a category of agricultural land under the Organic Law, building or no building. |
| Two or three properties, each in your name | Not confirmed | Advisers say values can be combined, but the article speaks of one immovable thing; our lawyer is checking agency practice, and each property would need its own report. |
| A flat bought off-plan, not yet registered as your property | Not yet | A contract and payments do not create the property right; it starts when the unit is registered to you. |
| A share of a property owned with another person | Ask the lawyer first | The Civil Code knows joint and shared ownership; whether the whole value or your share is tested is not settled by the text of Article 15(j). |
| Property owned by your company | Ask the lawyer first | The article speaks of the applicant's own property right; a company's property belongs to the company. |
| A flat with a registered mortgage | Usually yes | A mortgage does not take away ownership, but it is visible on the registry extract and the lawyer should read it. |
The off-plan case deserves a word, because it is where most early plans go wrong. The Public Registry can record a preliminary ownership right for an apartment under construction, at its standard registration fee. A preliminary right is not the same as ownership of a finished unit, and we treat it as not counting until the lawyer confirms otherwise. For a buyer in a new building, the realistic date of the application is the date the unit is registered as property, which depends on the developer and the commissioning of the building.
Who sets the market value, and how?
The law hands the decision on value to a specific kind of professional: a certified assessor working for a body accredited by the Unified National Body of Accreditation. That body, known as the Accreditation Center, is Georgia's national accreditation body. It accredits conformity assessment bodies such as laboratories, certification bodies and inspection bodies. A valuation for the residence permit therefore has to come from an assessor whose organisation holds that accreditation, and the report is the document the agency's list calls the document proving the market value.
The report is ordered and paid for by the owner, not by the agency. It describes the property, records its condition on the day of the visit and states a market value. Because the agency compares that value with a dollar threshold expressed in lari, the report's figure in lari and the exchange rate together decide the outcome. Before you commission one, ask the firm to confirm in writing that it is an accredited body and that its report is intended for a residence permit application; a valuation prepared for a bank loan or for an internal purpose may be addressed and structured differently.
To be added by the team: the partner lawyer to confirm three points the published texts do not state: how old a valuation report may be on the day of filing, which date's official exchange rate the agency uses for the lari equivalent, and how a shared or joint ownership share is valued for the threshold.
A worked example with numbers
Assume an assessor values a finished two-bedroom flat in Tbilisi at GEL 400,000. At 2.624 lari per dollar, the official rate the National Bank of Georgia set for 5 August 2026, that is about $152,439. The threshold at the same rate is GEL 393,600 (150,000 multiplied by 2.624). The flat clears the line by about GEL 6,400, or roughly 1.6%.
Now change only the exchange rate. If the lari stood at 2.70 per dollar, a rate we use purely for illustration, the same GEL 400,000 would be worth about $148,148, and the application would fail without anything about the flat having changed. Nobody can plan around a future exchange rate, which is why a value that sits only a percent or two above the line is a fragile basis for a permit.
| Valuation in lari | Rate, GEL per USD | Value in dollars | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GEL 400,000 | 2.624 | $152,439 | Above $150,000 |
| GEL 400,000 | 2.70 (illustration) | $148,148 | Below $150,000 |
| GEL 250,000 + GEL 150,000, two flats | 2.624 | $152,439 in total | Open: combining is not confirmed |
| GEL 340,000 flat + GEL 60,000 homestead plot | 2.624 | $129,573 counted | Below: the plot is agricultural land |
The last row is the one that surprises people. The owner holds property valued at GEL 400,000 in total, exactly as in the first row, but GEL 60,000 of it is a plot in the homestead category, which the Organic Law treats as agricultural land. Only GEL 340,000 counts, about $129,573, and the application fails. Our residence permit checker applies the same arithmetic to your own figures.
Which misreadings of the rule cost owners the most?
- "I paid $160,000, so I qualify." The price is evidence of what one buyer paid on one day. The test is the market value in an accredited report, and a developer's list price, an instalment price or a price paid in a hurry can all sit above it.
- "$150,000 is the minimum." The law uses "exceeding". A report that lands exactly on $150,000 equivalent does not meet the condition.
- "My house in the village counts." Only if the plot is outside the agricultural categories. A homestead plot is agricultural land, and a house on it does not change that.
- "I have signed, so I can apply." The property right starts with registration. Until the Public Registry shows you as the owner, there is nothing to value for the permit.
- "I will need a new valuation every year." Article 16(3) of the law exempts an owner who keeps the property on which the permit was issued from submitting a new valuation when the permit is extended. What has to continue is the ownership itself: the permit ends when the property right ends.
- "The old $100,000 limit applies to my purchase." It applies, according to our sources, only to people who already held a permit on that basis before 1 March 2026 and still own the qualifying property. A new application is judged against $150,000.
Risks and exceptions
- The exchange rate moves. A value close to the line can pass or fail depending on the rate on the day of the first application; an owner who keeps the same property is not valued again at renewal.
- The report is not accepted. A valuation by a firm that is not an accredited body, or one prepared for another purpose, may not serve as proof of market value.
- The land category is wrong. Check the category on the registry extract before you value a house with land; a homestead plot ends the application before it starts.
- Shared or company ownership. These structures can be sound for other reasons and still be the wrong shape for this permit. Ask before you buy, not after.
- The rule changes again. The threshold was $35,000 until July 2019, then $100,000, and $150,000 since 1 March 2026. The law in force on the day you file is the one applied.
Frequently asked questions
Does the property have to be in Tbilisi or Batumi?
No. The article covers immovable property anywhere in Georgia, as long as it is not agricultural land and its market value is above the threshold.
Can a parking space or a storage room be added to the total?
Only if separate properties can be added together at all, which agency practice has not confirmed. If they can, a parking space registered in your name outside agricultural land would need its own valuation, and its value is usually too small to change the result.
Does furniture or a renovation count?
Furniture is movable property and does not count. Finishing work that becomes part of the flat can raise its market value, because the assessor values the property in the state it is in on the day of the visit.
Can my spouse and I each use the same flat for our own permits?
The article already covers the owner's spouse and children on the owner's ground, so a family normally relies on one owner's property. How a jointly owned flat is treated is a question for the lawyer before filing.
Is the assessor's fee fixed by the state?
No. The state sets the agency's fee for the permit, not the assessor's fee, which you agree with the valuation firm.
What if the valuation comes in below the line?
You can increase the value of the one you have, move to a property that clears the line on its own, or look at another ground for residence. A second property is an answer only if our lawyer confirms that values can be combined. Applying with a report below the threshold only produces a refusal.
Next in this section: the documents checklist and how to apply step by step. Rule changes are logged in our residency rules tracker.
Sources
- Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (Article 15(j)), consolidated 25 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Civil Code of Georgia (Articles 149, 173, 183, 208), consolidated 25 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 11 October 2026)
- Organic Law of Georgia on Agricultural Land Ownership (Articles 3 and 4), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Government Resolution No 520 on the procedures for residence permits (Article 15), consolidated 26 August 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Migration and residence permits: short-term residence permit, Public Service Development Agency (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Immovable property registration: fees and terms, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 11 October 2026)
- Unified National Body of Accreditation, Accreditation Center (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Lari strengthens in July too, GBC, 4 August 2026, citing official rates of the National Bank of Georgia (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Georgia to hike property-based investor visa to $150,000 next month, IMI Daily (accessed 10 October 2026)
- Georgia toughens residency permit requirements, OC Media (accessed 12 October 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from Article 15(j), the Civil Code, the Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership and the agency's document list; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.