The residence permit floor is $150,000 — and $300,000 buys a different permit

The minimum property value that supports a short-term residence permit in Georgia is now above USD 150,000, measured in its lari equivalent and certified by a valuer accredited through Georgia's Unified National Accreditation Body. The change took effect on 1 March 2026, replacing a USD 100,000 floor that had stood since July 2019 — itself a rise from USD 35,000 before that. The legal basis is amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons passed in June 2025. Anyone still working from a guide, a listing or an agent's pitch quoting $100,000 is working from a figure that expired more than eight months ago.

Non-agricultural property counts: apartments, houses and commercial units. Agricultural land does not. Several properties can be combined to reach the threshold, which matters if you were planning two smaller purchases rather than one large one. The property must be delivered and ownership formally registered before the residence application goes in, so an off-plan contract with payments running into next year does not buy you a permit this year. A spouse and children can be included on the strength of the same investment.

Above the short-term permit sits an investment residence permit, which requires at least USD 300,000 in qualifying investment or real estate. Its attraction is the end point rather than the start: if the qualifying property is held for five years, the holder may apply for a residence permit for indefinite stay. That is a different thing from citizenship, which generally follows ten consecutive years of lawful residence. The arithmetic is worth doing before you buy: two apartments at $150,000 each can satisfy the short-term threshold, but whether a combination satisfies the $300,000 investment route on the same terms is a question for a Georgian lawyer, not a brochure.

The short-term permit is a renewable one-year document, and reporting on the amendment says existing holders can renew on the old terms without a fresh appraisal provided they keep ownership of the qualifying property. What is less clear, by the same reporting's own admission, is what happens to a permit that lapses after March 2026 and is then re-applied for — whether it is treated as a renewal or as a new application against the higher threshold. If you hold a permit bought in at $100,000, the safe assumption is that letting it expire is expensive, and the question is worth putting to the Public Service Development Agency in writing before a renewal window closes.