If you sell the property or its value falls: what happens to your residence permit

Two different events: losing the property and losing value

Owners often worry about both at once, but the law treats them in opposite ways. Selling the property, or losing it in any other way, removes the ground on which a short-term residence permit stands, and the permit ends. A fall in the property's market value, on the other hand, does not touch a permit you already hold: as long as the same property stays yours, no one asks what it is worth when you renew. This page explains both, and what to do in each case so that you are not left without a lawful basis for staying in Georgia.

Everything below concerns the short-term permit granted on property worth more than $150,000. The investment permit for property above $300,000 has its own rules, including the option of replacing the property, which are covered in our investment permit guide.

When exactly does the permit end after a sale?

Article 21(11) of the aliens law states that the short-term residence permit is terminated when the right of ownership of the property is terminated. The decisive moment is therefore not the day you agree a price, sign a preliminary agreement or receive a deposit. Under the Civil Code, ownership of real estate passes when the Public Registry registers the transfer to the new owner. Until that registration, you are still the owner and the ground for your permit still exists; from that day, it does not.

This gives you some control over timing. A sale can be negotiated, signed and even partly paid while you still hold the permit, and the registration can be scheduled for a date that suits your plans, for example after a new ground for your stay is in place. What you cannot do is keep the permit while someone else is registered as the owner.

Which events count as losing the property?

What happens to your family's permits?

Your spouse and children hold their permits on your ground: their applications rest on a copy of your permit, and the law grants their permits as family members of the owner. In the provisions we have read, the law does not say in so many words what happens to a family member's permit when the owner's ends. The safe assumption is that their ground ends with yours, and that each of them needs a basis for staying from the same date. Plan the family's position together with your own before you register any sale, and ask the lawyer how the agency treats family permits in your case.

How do you stay lawfully after the permit ends?

We did not find a provision in the aliens law that gives a set number of days to leave after a permit ends, and we do not want to guess one. What you need instead is a basis for staying that exists on the day the ownership ends. In practice, owners use one of these:

• A new residence permit on another property. Buy and register another property, have it valued above $150,000, and apply before the old property is transferred.
• Another ground altogether. Work, family reunification, study, the IT residence permit or the investment permit, each with its own conditions.
• Visa-free stay. Citizens of the countries listed by the Government may stay up to one year without a visa. How that period is counted after a residence permit ends is a question for the lawyer; do not assume a fresh year starts.
• Leaving before the transfer. If you do not intend to stay, schedule the registration of the sale for after your departure.

How to change property without losing your status

The investment permit has a replacement rule: it is not terminated if, before the old property right ends, the holder submits an extract showing ownership of property of the same or higher value. The short-term permit has no such rule. Moving from one property to another on the short-term route is therefore a new application, and the order of the steps decides whether you have a gap.

1. Buy and register the new property first

   The new property must be registered in your name before it can carry an application. Keep the old property in your name meanwhile.

   The new purchase, with its own checks and costs.

2. Have the new property valued

   A new report from an accredited firm, showing a market value above $150,000 in its lari equivalent at the time you apply.

   Usually a few working days.

3. Apply for a new permit on the new property

   File while your current permit is still valid, with the new extract and the new valuation.

   GEL 300, 450 or 600, by the decision speed you choose.

4. Sell the old property after the decision

   Schedule the registration of the sale only once the new permit is granted, so that one ground is always in place.

   Registration is the moment the old ground ends.

Whether the agency will consider a new application while you still hold a permit on the old property, and how the two permits relate in the meantime, are practical questions for the lawyer before you start. The sequence above is designed so that whatever the answer, you are never without a ground.

If the value of the property falls

A permit you already hold is not affected by a fall in value while you keep the property. Under Article 16(3), an extension is granted without a fresh market valuation for as long as the original property remains yours, so the value is never tested a second time. The same applies to a change in the exchange rate: a weaker dollar or a stronger lari can move the lari equivalent of the threshold, but it is not recalculated for an existing permit.

A fall in value does matter in three situations. It matters if your permit ends for another reason and you want to apply again on the same property, because a new application is judged against the threshold on the day you file. It matters if you replace the property, because the new one must clear the line on its own valuation. And it matters if you hold a permit granted under the earlier $100,000 rule: according to our sources, that protection is tied to keeping the property that qualified you, so selling it means any new application is judged against $150,000.

The tax side of a sale

Selling the apartment has a tax consequence that is separate from the permit. Under the Tax Code, a gain from selling a residential apartment owned for more than two years is exempt from income tax, while a gain on an apartment sold within two years is taxed at 5%. Holders who bought recently and sell to move to another property should check the dates before they agree a sale: waiting until the second anniversary of registration can remove the tax entirely. Our guide to money and taxes for a foreign buyer explains how the gain is reported.

Risks and exceptions

• Registering a sale with no new ground. The permit ends on registration; without another basis, your stay may no longer be lawful.
• Gifting the property to a family member. The gift ends your permit, and the family member does not take it over.
• Expecting a replacement rule. Only the investment permit can move to another property; the short-term permit cannot.
• Forgetting the family. Your spouse's and children's permits rest on yours; plan their basis on the same date.
• Selling within two years without checking the tax. A 5% tax on the gain may apply that a short wait would avoid.

Frequently asked questions

Does signing a preliminary agreement end my permit?

No. The permit ends when ownership ends, which happens when the buyer is registered in the Public Registry, not when an agreement is signed or a deposit paid.

Do I have to tell the agency I sold the property?

The law requires holders to report changes of phone number and address at once. We have not found an express duty to report a sale, but the permit ends on registration in any case; ask the lawyer how to close it properly.

Can I keep my permit if I buy a cheaper property instead?

Not on the short-term route. The new property needs its own application and must be worth more than $150,000.

Will a drop in prices cost me my permit at renewal?

No. While you keep the same property, the renewal does not require a new valuation.

What if the bank sells my apartment because of a mortgage?

Once the buyer at that sale is registered, your ownership, and with it the permit's ground, ends. Talk to the bank and to a lawyer early if repayments become difficult.

Can I transfer the apartment to my spouse and keep living here?

The transfer ends your permit. Your spouse would need a ground of their own, such as a permit on the property now registered to them, with its own application and valuation.

The yearly routine for a permit you keep is in our renewal guide; a new valuation is described in accredited valuation: process, time and cost.

Sources

1. Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (Articles 15, 16(3), 20-1 and 21), consolidated 25 June 2026, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
2. Civil Code of Georgia (Article 183), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
3. Tax Code of Georgia (Articles 81(3) and 82(1)(f.a)), Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
4. Government Ordinance No 255 on visa-free stay, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
5. Migration and residence permits, Public Service Development Agency (accessed 13 October 2026)

Change log

• 13 October 2026 - Explainer published from Articles 16, 20-1 and 21 of the law, the Civil Code and the Tax Code; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.