Visa-free entry and stay for citizens of listed countries
A unilateral waiver letting citizens of 94 listed states and territories enter Georgia without a visa and stay for one full year.
Two things about it are misreported. The year runs from your entry date, not from January, so arriving on 1 September gives you until 31 August. And the year is a permission to stay, not a residence status, so it builds no time toward permanent residence.
Programme snapshot
| Item | Current rule |
|---|---|
| Main audience | Citizens of 94 listed states, including the US, UK, all EU states, Canada, Australia, Japan, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Serbia, Kazakhstan and most Gulf states |
| Route family | Visa-free entry, not residence |
| Validity | No visa document issued |
| Stay per entry | 365 days |
| Threshold | No fee; insurance of at least GEL 30,000 (about USD 11,000) since 1 January 2026 |
| Renewal | Leave and re-enter. A new entry restarts the year in practice, not by written entitlement |
| Settlement | None |
| PR clock | None. Visa-free time does not count |
| Citizenship clock | None |
| Family | Yes, each member qualifies on their own passport |
| Local employment | No. A Georgian employer needs a right-to-work permission and a residence permit |
| Tax headline | 183 days in any 12 month period makes you tax resident at 20%, with an exemption for income with no Georgian source (2026) |
| Processing | At the border, minutes |
Application flow
- Confirm your passport nationality is on the Ordinance No. 255 list.
- Buy health and accident cover of at least GEL 30,000, running from arrival to departure inclusive, in Georgian or English.
- Travel to the border with the policy and passport. No application, fee or invitation.
- Receive an entry stamp valid 365 days. To stay longer, leave and re-enter, or apply for a permit.
Good fit
A remote worker or retiree who wants a year to test the country with no income test and no paperwork. Someone whose money arrives from abroad and who does not need a local contract or a residence card for a bank. It also buys time to open an account, view property and gather documents for a permit application.
Poor fit
Anyone who needs a local job, because a Georgian employer cannot lawfully hire you without a right-to-work permission tied to a residence application. Anyone whose bank demands a residence card. And anyone treating a decade of border runs as a settlement plan.
Watchpoints
- The year is per entry, not per calendar year. Plan backwards from your arrival date.
- The re-entry reset is custom, not statute. Ordinance No. 255 does not promise a fresh year, but border officers grant it. A long run of back-to-back years is the profile most likely to be questioned, and there is no appeal at the border.
- Insurance is checked at entry. Since 1 January 2026, no cover means buying at the border or being refused.
- Working without permission carries a GEL 2,000 fine since 1 March 2026, rising on repeat. Work for foreign clients is outside the regime. Work for Georgian clients or employers is not.
- Visa-free time is legally invisible. It produces no residence record and nothing to point at in a permanent residence or citizenship file.
Sources
- Legislative Herald of Georgia, Ordinance No. 255 of 5 June 2015, checked 2026-10-22
- US Embassy Tbilisi, insurance requirement from 1 January 2026, checked 2026-10-22
- Public Service Development Agency, residence permit categories, checked 2026-10-22
- State Employment Support Agency, right-to-work permission and penalties, checked 2026-10-22