A work residence permit in Georgia now leans on one number: 50,000 lari of turnover per foreign employee

For a work residence permit, the test does not sit with the applicant so much as with the employer. The business must normally show turnover of 50,000 lari for each foreign employee it wants to sponsor, measured over the preceding twelve months. Educational and medical institutions face a lower figure of 35,000 lari per employee. The practical effect is that a small company sponsoring two or three foreign staff needs to demonstrate six-figure turnover before anyone's paperwork is considered on its merits, and that an otherwise sound application can fail on the sponsor's accounts rather than the person's qualifications.

An amendment to Ordinance 520 dated 9 July 2026 lets a business registered within the previous three months apply without meeting the turnover figure, and the same exception extends to labour permit applications. The catch is the duration: a permit granted on this basis lasts six months. After that the business has to meet the standard turnover requirement or the permit holder cannot renew. So the exception is a runway, not a waiver. Anyone relocating staff into a newly incorporated Georgian entity should plan on the company having to show real revenue inside half a year, not on the concession carrying them indefinitely. The source notes this amendment closed a gap that had existed from 1 March to 9 July 2026.

The same package of amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons took effect on 1 September 2026. Study residence permits were narrowed to students at universities and professional institutions, so school pupils no longer qualify, and a new D6 visa was created for minors studying at Georgian schools, valid a year, multi-entry and renewable, with cover for parents, guardians and minor siblings until the minor turns eighteen. Spouses of Georgian citizens now get a one-year temporary permit renewable for two years up to five in total, reviewed by an interagency commission looking for signs of a marriage of convenience, with cooperation mandatory. Appeals against agency decisions go to court within ten calendar days, and filing one does not automatically suspend deportation.

The summary above comes from a specialist secondary source, which itself advises checking the official texts before relying on the detail, and notes that several implementing decrees were still pending when it was written. Immigration rules here have moved more than once this year, and the date on a figure matters as much as the figure. Before committing to a relocation, a hire or a company registration on the strength of any of these numbers, confirm them against the current law and the agency's own published requirements, or take advice from a Georgian immigration lawyer.