Employment law · Checked 17 July 2026
Georgia’s 2026 right to work
Foreign employees and self-employed foreigners now need to assess a formal right-to-work regime. Incorporating a company or registering as an Individual Entrepreneur does not, by itself, answer the immigration question.
Who is covered
Foreigners performing paid work for a local employer and covered self-employed foreigners, unless an exemption applies.
Decision period
The law sets a maximum of 30 calendar days after a complete application; deficiencies can interrupt a successful file.
Official fee ceiling
The statutory service fee may not exceed GEL 500; the applicable service selection should be confirmed when filing.
Core penalty
Work without the required right can expose the worker, self-employed person and/or local employer to GEL 2,000 fines.
Employee, director or self-employed?
A local employer applies in an employment case; a self-employed foreigner applies for the relevant speciality and entrepreneurial field. Company shareholders and directors should not assume that a registry title resolves whether their real activity is covered. Map the actual work, remuneration, contracting parties and place of performance.
Exemption screening comes first
The rules contain exclusions and exemptions, including specified residence holders and categories of remote or non-resident-facing activity. The July 2026 amendments also refined the scope. Record the legal basis and evidence for any exemption rather than relying on a verbal description such as “digital nomad” or “company owner.”
The practical sequence
1. Identify employer/self-employed status and exemption. 2. Prepare the employment, corporate, professional and identity evidence. 3. Submit the right-to-work application. 4. If outside Georgia, apply for D1 within 30 days after approval; if already in Georgia, generally apply for work or IT residence within 10 days. 5. Monitor expiry, employer and activity changes.
Contracts and changes matter
Employment agreements for labour immigrants must contain prescribed information, be fixed-term and written in Georgian plus the worker’s native language or another language understood by them. A right is employer-specific for an employee and field-specific for a self-employed applicant. Changing employer or activity without renewal can itself trigger a GEL 2,000 fine.
Transitional cases
Workers with active registration in the former unified labour-migration database as of 1 March 2026 have a statutory transition requiring the new right and appropriate residence permit by 1 January 2027. A separate transition for existing self-employed activity began enforcement from 1 May 2026. Verify the live consolidated legislation because July amendments changed the implementation rules.
The deeper read
What the rules mean
in real life.
What changed in everyday terms
The older system encouraged a dangerous habit: people treated registration in a labour database as the whole immigration task. The 2026 framework is more consequential. It creates an individual right connected to a specific employer or, for a self-employed foreigner, a stated speciality and field. Approval also starts short follow-up clocks.
This means compliance can no longer sit in a forgotten HR spreadsheet. Hiring, contract drafting, corporate roles, payroll and immigration timing need to agree. A company that recruits first and asks about status after the employee starts may expose both sides to avoidable risk.
For founders, the change is psychological as much as procedural. Owning shares is a property position; actively directing, selling, consulting or delivering services may be work. The label placed on a business-registry extract does not replace analysis of what the person actually does.
Four profiles—and the question each must answer
Local employee: Which Georgian employer is responsible for the application, and is the proposed fixed-term bilingual contract complete? Active director: Is the individual performing remunerated management in Georgia or holding a formal title without the same activity?
Individual Entrepreneur: What speciality and entrepreneurial field accurately describe the work, and does the applicant need a residence route to remain? Foreign-company remote worker: Is the work genuinely for a non-resident’s overseas activity, or is a Georgian customer, employer or local establishment actually receiving it?
These distinctions are fact-sensitive. Two software developers sitting at adjacent café tables can have different legal answers because one works for Berlin, while the other invoices and manages a Georgian business.
The contract is now part of the immigration architecture
A compliant contract should not be treated as a generic template with a job title inserted. The law calls for a fixed term, Georgian plus a language understood by the worker, and prescribed details about the parties, workplace, duties, rights and responsibility.
The description should also make commercial sense beside the right-to-work application, payroll and residence evidence. A “consultant” contract that reads like permanent employment, or an executive salary inconsistent with the company’s activity, invites questions.
When employment ends, the compliance work does not simply disappear. Notifications, termination timing and the effect on the worker’s right and residence position must be considered promptly.
A practical employer control system
Before onboarding, record nationality, current status, residence card, role, work location and proposed start date. Classify exemption or application route in writing. Do not permit work to start merely because documents have been submitted.
Calendar the right’s expiry, contract expiry, passport expiry and residence deadline separately. Require advance notice of role, employer, remuneration or work-location changes. Keep the bilingual signed contract and approval evidence accessible for inspection.
For existing workers, run an audit rather than assuming the transition protects everyone equally. The 1 January 2027 date applies to a defined group with active registration as of 1 March 2026; it is not a universal grace period.
Practical FAQ
Questions to settle before acting.
Does an IE certificate give a foreigner the right to work?
No. Business and tax registration are separate from labour-migration and residence compliance.
Does every foreigner need the permit?
No. The legislation contains exemptions. The correct test depends on residence status, activity, counterparty and where work is performed.
Can I change employers?
The employee right is tied to the specific local employer. A change generally requires renewal before working under the changed conditions.
Can a refusal be appealed?
The law allows a court appeal within one month, but an appeal does not itself grant work permission or postpone an obligation to leave.
Local, accountable support
Bring us the facts.
We’ll map the next step.
Initial discussion by appointment. We will identify what can be answered directly and when legal, tax or bank review is needed.
Published and reviewed 17 July 2026. General information, not an individual legal, tax, immigration or banking decision. Administrative practice and bank risk appetite can change; verify before acting.