Georgian citizenship: the routes, the exam and dual citizenship

Can buying property lead to Georgian citizenship?

Not on its own. Georgia has no citizenship-by-investment programme with a published price, and owning an apartment does not shorten the road to a Georgian passport. Property can be one of the conditions for naturalisation, because the law asks an applicant to have a job, real estate or a business in Georgia, but the main conditions are time and knowledge: ten years of lawful residence and an exam in the Georgian language, history and the basic principles of law. There is also a route by exception, decided by the President, and a shorter route for the spouse of a citizen.

For most foreign owners, the more practical question is whether citizenship is worth pursuing at all, because Georgia generally does not allow dual citizenship. This page sets out the three routes, the exam, the fees and timing, and the rules on keeping your current nationality, so that you can weigh citizenship against permanent residence, which leaves your passport untouched.

What are the routes to citizenship?

Ten years, not five

Search results and some guides still say that five years of residence are now enough. That figure comes from reports in late 2023 about amendments then before Parliament. The Organic Law as consolidated in 2025 and the Public Service Development Agency's current page both state ten consecutive years for regular naturalisation, with five years only for stateless persons and for the spouse of a citizen. We follow the law and the agency. If you read otherwise elsewhere, check the date of the source.

"Lawful residence" and "consecutive" are the words that carry the weight. They mean that each year must rest on a valid basis for being in Georgia, and that the chain should not break. How the agency treats years on different kinds of permit, gaps between permits and long absences abroad is a question for a lawyer before you file.

The citizenship exam

Every applicant on the regular and the spouse's route must show knowledge of the official language, the history of Georgia and the basic principles of its law. The test is taken at the Public Service Development Agency before the formal application, and the agency publishes how it works:

• Subjects: the Georgian language, Georgian history and the basic principles of Georgian law.
• Cost: the first attempt is free; each further attempt costs GEL 40.
• Validity: a pass is valid for one year, so apply within a year of passing.
• Exemption: a person whose physical, psychological, intellectual or sensory condition prevents the assessment may ask the commission for an exemption.

The language part is the one most foreign residents underestimate. Ten years in Georgia is time enough to learn Georgian well, but only if the learning starts early; an owner who intends to apply in a decade should treat the language as part of the plan from the first year.

Fees and decision times

The law caps the total review at three months. Paying for a faster decision moves the date; it does not change the assessment.

Can you keep your current citizenship?

As a rule, no. The Organic Law allows a Georgian citizen to hold another citizenship only in the cases provided for in two articles: citizenship granted by exception by the President, and the case of a Georgian citizen who obtains the state's consent to keep Georgian citizenship before acquiring a foreign one. A foreigner who naturalises by the regular route should expect to give up the other nationality, and should check what the law of their own country says about losing it.

This is why many long-term foreign residents stop at permanent residence. It gives the right to live in Georgia permanently without touching the passport they hold; citizenship adds the right to vote and a Georgian passport, at the price, in most cases, of the old one.

Citizenship by exception: what it is and is not

The President may grant citizenship by way of exception for exceptional merit to Georgia or where it is in the interest of the state. The law's examples include people who have made a significant investment, as well as accomplished athletes, scientists and artists, political emigrants and residents of the occupied territories. It is not a programme: there is no published investment amount, no right to the decision, and no way to buy it. Offers that promise a Georgian passport for a property purchase of a given size are offering something the law does not provide, and our guide to real estate scams describes how such offers are used.

What counts as a job, real estate or a business?

The law asks an applicant on the regular route to have employment, real estate or a business in Georgia, as evidence of a real connection to the country. For a property owner, the registry extract showing the apartment in your name is the natural evidence of the real estate condition; an employment contract with a Georgian employer or the registration of a company you run in Georgia would serve for the other two. Whichever you rely on, keep it current at the time you apply, because the condition is assessed then, not at the start of the ten years.

A realistic timeline

Take a buyer who arrives visa-free in 2026, buys an apartment and receives a residence permit the same year. If every year from then on rests on a permit that counts as lawful residence, without gaps, the ten years are complete in 2036. Allow the months before that for the exam, whose result is valid for a year, and for the application itself, which the agency must decide within three months. In practice, the earliest realistic date for such a buyer to hold a Georgian passport is therefore the second half of the 2030s, and only if the years and the exam both work out as planned. Anyone whose plan depends on an earlier date should look at the routes for a citizen's spouse or by exception, which have their own conditions.

Citizenship and tax are separate

Becoming a Georgian citizen does not by itself make you a Georgian tax resident, and not being a citizen does not keep you out of the Georgian tax net. Tax residence follows presence: 183 days or more in Georgia in any continuous twelve-month period makes you resident for that tax year. Your home country may also tax you by citizenship or residence under its own rules. Before changing your citizenship, it is worth asking a tax adviser in both countries what will change.

The path in practice

1. Build the ten years

   Hold permits whose years clearly count, without gaps, and keep every decision and card.

   Ten years; the file grows each year.

2. Learn the language early

   Start lessons in the first years rather than the last, and practise history and law topics before the exam.

   Ongoing; the exam's first attempt is free.

3. Pass the exam

   Take the test at the agency. The result is valid for one year.

   GEL 40 for each retake.

4. Apply with proof of your link to Georgia

   File with evidence of residence and of a job, real estate or a business in Georgia, such as your registry extract.

   GEL 65 to 390, by decision time.

5. Settle your other citizenship

   Before the final step, know what your own country's law requires if you acquire Georgian citizenship.

   Depends on your country.

Risks and exceptions

• Outdated five-year claims. The regular route requires ten years under the law as published by the agency today.
• Losing your current nationality. Dual citizenship is the exception, not the rule.
• Promises of citizenship for property. No price buys a Georgian passport; exception decisions belong to the President alone.
• Breaks in residence. Gaps between permits can undo years of the count.
• An expired exam result. A pass is valid for one year only.

Frequently asked questions

Does owning property count towards citizenship?

Real estate in Georgia satisfies one condition, the link to Georgia, but the ten years of lawful residence and the exam are still required.

Is the residence requirement five or ten years?

Ten consecutive years for regular naturalisation; five for stateless persons and for the spouse of a Georgian citizen.

Can I take the exam in English?

The exam tests knowledge of the Georgian language itself, so that part is in Georgian. Ask the agency about the format of the history and law parts.

How long does a decision take?

No more than three months; you can pay for a decision in 20, 40, 60 or 80 days.

Can I apply from abroad?

The conditions require ten years of lawful residence in Georgia, so in practice an applicant is living in Georgia when applying. Ask the agency about filing arrangements.

Will my children become citizens too?

The Organic Law has its own rules for children; ask the lawyer how they apply to your family before you apply.

Sources

1. Organic Law of Georgia on Georgian Citizenship (Articles 3, 12, 14, 17, 21-1, 24 and 26), consolidated 7 March 2025, Legislative Herald of Georgia (accessed 13 October 2026)
2. Georgian citizenship: requirements, exam, fees and terms, Public Service Development Agency (accessed 13 October 2026)
3. Amendments to Georgia's citizenship law have been approved. What has changed?, JAMnews, 2 November 2023 (accessed 13 October 2026)

Change log

• 13 October 2026 - Explainer published from the Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship and the agency's citizenship page; being reviewed by the partner lawyer.