"Telemedicine licensing" is terminologically imprecise: the Georgian system gives the physician not a licence but a state certificate, and telemedicine requires no separate certificate — Article 90 links the remote consultation directly to the very status of a subject of independent medical practice. That correction is the value of this page: it restates the question in its correct form — how does a physician obtain the state certificate that then covers telemedicine as well.
The Right and Its Basis
Article 7 provides that the right of independent medical practice belongs to a citizen of Georgia or of a foreign country or to a stateless person who has graduated from a Georgian state-accredited higher medical institution and, in the manner established by the law, has received a state certificate; the person holds this right only in the specialty indicated in the certificate. The law also erects one important barrier: a person whose right to medical practice has been stripped by a court under the Law on Combating Crimes against Sexual Freedom and Inviolability may not hold that right again — not even in the remote form. The grounds for issuing the certificate are detailed in Article 21, and in that list every document carries its own role: a written application in the established form, a copy of the higher medical education diploma, a state certificate confirming completion of the postgraduate (professional training) course in the relevant specialty, a submission-recommendation of the course supervisor or of the head of the institution where the applicant worked, a state certificate confirming the passing of the state certification examination, where applicable a document confirming an employment relationship, and a description of the works carried out in the relevant specialty during the last 2 years.
For physicians trained abroad, Article 21 shows two paths. A holder of a postgraduate course completed in a country on one statutory list, together with a foreign certificate received there, obtains in Georgia the certificate for permanent practice in the same specialty on the strength of an application, a diploma copy and that foreign certificate; where the course was completed in a country on the second list, a certificate of the passed state certification examination is added to those documents. This difference settles the question at the gate of the examination in advance, and it determines how quickly a foreign physician reaches the right to remote services.
The Examination — The Single Gate
Article 28 declares the state certification examination unified and standardized across the whole territory of the country. Admitted to the examination is a person who has completed the postgraduate (professional training) course in the relevant specialty, in Georgia or in a country on the statutory list. Where the assessment is negative, the person may retake the examination only twice within the following year, with a 6-month interval between examinations. These numbers operate for "telemedicine licensing" exactly as for any specialty — the examination is specialty-specific, not form-specific.
The Telemedicine Link
Article 90 completes the picture: the right to receive a consultation using telemedicine belongs only to a subject of independent medical practice, the recommendation is given only by such a subject, and it answers for the results of the service. The lawfulness of remote care is therefore verified with a single question: does the provider hold subject status, confirmed by the certificate, in the relevant specialty. The United States model of state medical board licensure — where each state issues its own licence — does not translate into the Georgian system: here there is one certificate, one unified examination and one registry.
What Partners and Patients Verify
Knowing the grounds of subject status is decisive for external parties too. A platform arranging remote services must verify, for every provider, the certificate and the specialty indicated in it — because the lawfulness of the recommendation stands exactly on these two elements. A patient receiving a remote consultation carries the right to ask the same question: who gives the recommendation and what right do they have to practise in that specialty. The employing institution, hiring a physician under an employment contract, likewise records the certificate in its documentation — a fact that matters in a dispute over qualification as well.
The terminological correction matters in contracts too: an agreement that demands or grants a "telemedicine licence" creates an unsound document, because no such document exists in the system. The correct formulation is always one: a state certificate in the relevant specialty, confirming the right of independent medical practice — without it the service is lawful neither in the office nor on the screen.
Is a separate telemedicine licence required?
No. What is required is the state certificate confirming the right of independent medical practice; Article 90 extends this right to the remote form.
What documents does the certificate require?
Application, diploma copy, postgraduate course certificate, recommendation, examination certificate, proof of employment where applicable and the description of works of the last 2 years (Article 21).
How often may the examination be retaken?
Only twice within the following year, with a 6-month interval (Article 28).
What if a court has stripped the right to practise?
A right stripped by a court under the law on combating crimes against sexual freedom and inviolability cannot be held again — Article 7 bars it directly.
Who answers for a remote recommendation?
The certified subject that directly gives it (Article 90).
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team approaches telemedicine questions with correct terminology: we establish the grounds of subject status under Articles 7, 21 and 28, verify the lawfulness of remote services against Article 90, and correct contractual frameworks where the imprecise language of a "licence" creates risk. Contact Legal.ge — correct naming is the first step of legal accuracy, and the remaining steps — the verification of grounds, of the examination rule and of the certificate — we walk to the end together with the client.