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Gergeti Trinity Church beneath Mount Kazbek, Kazbegi, Georgia
The Caucasus
Origin · US · CA · UK

Mobility brief

Georgia

Georgia offers residence to people who buy property or invest in the country, on a personal income tax that is territorial rather than worldwide. Foreign-source income of a resident is exempt, while income from work performed in Georgia stays taxable, so this is a territorial base and not a tax-free one.

Property residence
USD 150,000
Investment residence
USD 300,000
Tax basis
Territorial
Years to citizenship
10 years

Sources verified 2026-07-12

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Foreign-source income of a resident is exempt from Georgian income tax, so this is a territorial base for people who earn abroad. Income from work performed in Georgia is Georgian-source and taxed at 20 percent.

Investment residence

Best for this

For a mover who commits the higher investment amount and wants a path to permanent residence.

Investment amountUSD 300,000
To permanent residence5 years
Georgian-source incomeTaxed at 20%

Covers the alien and family members on one investment.

Short-term residence by property

Also fits

For a mover who buys residential or commercial property in Georgia above the value floor.

Property valueUSD 150,000
Excluded assetNo agricultural land
Permit term1 year, renewable

The permit renews one year at a time rather than converting on a fixed schedule.

Living in Georgia, and being taxed by Georgia

These are decided by different authorities, under different rules, on different clocks. The one people get wrong is the second.

Your right to live there

  • Short-term residence by property
  • Investment residence

Granted by the immigration authority. Says nothing about tax.

What makes you a tax resident there

Day count
183 days or more in ANY continuous 12-month period ending in the tax year. Not a calendar-year count
Tax Code of Georgia, Article 34 (Legislative Herald of Georgia)
What gets taxed
Georgian-source income only. Income of a resident that is not Georgian-source is exempt from income tax
Tax Code of Georgia, Article 82 (Legislative Herald of Georgia)

A residence permit lets you live in Georgia. Tax residency is counted separately, and the window slides: 183 days in any continuous 12-month period, not per calendar year, so splitting a stay across two years does not reset it. Becoming resident costs little either way, because Georgia taxes residents only on Georgian-source income.

  1. USD 150,000

    A short-term residence permit is issued to an alien who owns immovable property in Georgia, excluding agricultural land, with a market value over USD 150,000 equivalent in GEL.

  2. USD 300,000

    An investment residence permit is issued on an investment in Georgia of at least USD 300,000 equivalent in GEL, and it converts to permanent residence after five years.

  3. Territorial

    Georgia taxes resident individuals on a territorial basis, so income that does not belong to Georgian-source income is exempt from income tax.

  4. 10 years

    Ordinary naturalisation requires ten consecutive years of lawful residence in Georgia.

Quick eligibility read

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A generic read against Georgia's cited thresholds. Your plan weighs all six of your inputs against every destination.

The facts, each cited

  • USD 150,000

    A short-term residence permit is issued to an alien who holds the property right to an immovable thing in Georgia, other than agricultural land, with a market value exceeding USD 150,000 equivalent in GEL.

  • 1 year

    The short-term residence permit is issued to the alien, and its validity may be extended for one year each time.

  • USD 300,000

    An investment residence permit is issued to an alien and family members who have made an investment in Georgia of at least USD 300,000 equivalent in GEL.

  • 5 years

    A holder of an investment residence permit for five years may apply for a permanent residence permit.

  • Foreign exempt

    Income received by a resident natural person that does not belong to Georgian-source income is exempt from income tax, which places personal income tax on a territorial basis.

  • Work taxed

    Georgian-source income includes income earned from employment in Georgia and income from services delivered in Georgia, so work performed while present in Georgia is taxable.

  • 20%

    A natural person's taxable income is taxed at the rate of 20 percent, unless the Tax Code provides otherwise.

  • 10 years

    Ordinary naturalisation requires ten consecutive years of lawful residence, and a Georgian citizen may hold a foreign citizenship only in exceptional cases, so prior citizenship is otherwise given up.

What an expert actually does, and when

Moving to Georgia is four different jobs for four different people, and the order matters more than the choice of any one of them. Here is the sequence, what each person settles, and what to hold them to in writing.

  1. First

    A cross-border tax adviser in the country you are leaving

    Before you sell anything, move your family, or claim to have left

    This is the one whose answer can make the rest of the plan pointless, so it is worth knowing before you spend anything on the rest. A residence permit somewhere else is not the same thing as having stopped being tax-resident where you are.

    What only they can settle

    • Whether and when your tax residence at home actually ends
    • Which ties (home, family, accounts, memberships, company control) have to be dealt with, and in what order
    • What you owe on the way out, and what you can elect or defer
    • Which transactions to complete before you go rather than after

    Ask for it in writing. A written residence and departure-date memo, with the tax on leaving set out asset by asset, and a list of the evidence your position depends on.

  2. Second

    An immigration lawyer in the destination

    Six to twelve months before you intend to move

    Routes look interchangeable from outside and are not. Which one you qualify for depends on evidence you may not have gathered yet, and gathering it is often the long pole.

    What only they can settle

    • Which route your actual income, work history, and assets satisfy
    • Which authority handles each stage, and whether your entry status has to change first
    • What proof each requirement takes, and what is missing today
    • How a partner and children are included, and when

    Ask for it in writing. A route recommendation with the eligibility tested against your documents, plus a dated checklist of what is still missing.

  3. Third

    Document authentication and translation

    Only after the lawyer has frozen the list

    Ordering apostilles and translations before the list is settled is the most common way to pay twice. Certified documents also expire, so starting early can be worse than starting late.

    What only they can settle

    • Which authentication chain each document needs, in its issuing country
    • What has to be translated, by whom, and to what standard
    • The order to obtain things in, so nothing expires while waiting for something else

    Ask for it in writing. Authenticated originals and accepted translations, tracked so you know where every document physically is.

  4. Fourth

    Local advisers where you land

    Once your status is approved

    Approval is not the same as a working life. Banking, health cover, and a tenancy each have their own requirements, and several of them want the paperwork from the earlier stages.

    What only they can settle

    • What banking will require of you, and what to prepare before you ask
    • Which health cover satisfies the local requirement
    • What a lease commits you to, and what your obligations are on registering it
    • What you now have to file locally, and when

    Ask for it in writing. A working household: identity documents, an address, cover, banking, and a calendar of what renews when.

Before you retain any of them

A good introduction is not the same as a good engagement. These are worth asking on the first call, whoever made the introduction.

  1. 1Who is licensed, where, and who signs the advice?
  2. 2What exact written output will I receive, and by when?
  3. 3Which assumptions, if wrong, would reverse your recommendation?
  4. 4Who tracks deadlines and holds my original documents?
  5. 5What is excluded from the fee, including government charges?

OmniFlag is not a law firm or a tax adviser. Experts are retained independently and their engagement letter defines what they advise on, what they file, and what they deliver.

A note for US citizens and green-card holders. US federal tax follows US persons wherever they live. A move to Georgia does not reduce US federal tax, and OmniFlag makes no such claim.

What nobody puts on the Georgia brochure

  • Income from employment or services performed while present in Georgia is Georgian-source and taxed at 20 percent, so the territorial exemption does not cover work done on the ground.

  • Georgia allows a citizen to hold a foreign citizenship only in exceptional cases, so ordinary naturalisation after ten years means giving up the prior passport.

  • Government legal texts are published in Georgian first, so a mover relying on English translations should confirm current figures with a local adviser before committing funds.

    Indicator, not law · OmniFlag desk research, 2026

Common questions

How long until Georgian citizenship by naturalisation?

Ordinary naturalisation requires ten consecutive years of lawful residence in Georgia up to the day of applying.

Can I keep my current citizenship?

As a rule no. A Georgian citizen may hold a foreign citizenship only in exceptional cases under the law, so prior citizenship is otherwise given up on naturalisation.

Is income in Georgia tax-free?

No. Georgia is territorial, so foreign-source income of a resident is exempt, but income from work performed in Georgia is Georgian-source and taxable.

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OmniFlag helps you research and plan. It is not a law firm or tax advisor and does not give legal or tax advice. Licensed experts validate the plan before anything is filed: a cross-border tax adviser where you are leaving, then an immigration lawyer in Georgia.