Obtaining an activity license in Georgia begins with a written application submitted to the license-issuing authority. The legislation precisely regulates how the application must be prepared, which documents accompany it, who participates in its examination, and within what timelines the issuing authority must decide. This page sets out the complete rules for license applications — from the form of the administrative proceeding to the rights and duties of the issuing authority.
Form of the Administrative Proceeding
An activity license is, as a rule, issued through a simplified administrative proceeding, in the manner established by the legislation on licenses and permits. There is a single exception: activity license types precisely defined by law are issued through a public administrative proceeding. This means the form of the proceeding is determined not by the discretion of the issuing authority but by the law itself — only those license types expressly named in the law are issued through a public administrative proceeding.
It is impermissible for the issuing authority to grant a license through a type of administrative proceeding not contemplated by the law, or to substitute the type of proceeding prescribed by law for a specific license with another type. The decision on issuing a license is taken under the public administrative proceeding rules established by the General Administrative Code, and the decision itself — on issuance, refusal, or cancellation — is an administrative act that must meet the requirements the General Administrative Code sets for administrative legal acts.
The Application and Required Documentation
A license seeker submits a written application to the issuing authority; the submission follows the procedure established by the General Administrative Code. The application must satisfy the requirements provided for by the General Administrative Code and must also indicate which type of activity license the seeker requests, together with a list of the attached documents.
The application must be accompanied by extracts from the state registry for private-law legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, and for natural persons — copies of identification documents established by legislation. A public-law legal entity must attach certified copies of its founding documents. The application must also be accompanied by proof of payment of the license fee, except where the license seeker is a ministry or a state subordinated institution under its administration, as provided for by the law on the structure and competence of the Government of Georgia.
The amount of the license fee, its payment into the budget, and the procedure for refunding any overpayment are determined by the law of Georgia on license and permit fees. An important guarantee is that additional attached documents, and additional licensing conditions arising from the specifics of the activity, may be prescribed only by law — the issuing authority has no power to attach extra requirements to an application on its own initiative.
Participation of Another Administrative Body
Another administrative body also takes part in examining the application. The license seeker is obliged to submit the factual circumstances satisfying the additional licensing conditions whose confirmation is not directly connected with the administrative proceeding of issuing the license. At the same time, the seeker is entitled not to submit documents that are issued by another administrative body and serve as the basis for issuing the license, and the issuing authority may not demand their submission.
As soon as it establishes that the application complies with the statutory requirements, the issuing authority transfers copies of the application and attached documents to the other administrative body, in the manner established by the General Administrative Code, providing them no later than 3 days. The other administrative body participates in the public administrative proceeding and is obliged to establish the factual circumstances whose confirmation is not the seeker's duty; it is entitled to lodge a substantiated refusal to establish those circumstances.
The other administrative body must adopt a decision on establishing the factual circumstances — or refusing to do so — no later than 25 days from the submission of the copies to the issuing authority. If this period is insufficient, it may, no later than 5 days from receiving the materials, request an extension by a substantiated motion, and must submit its decision to the issuing authority no later than 27 days from the submission. If within the established period the factual circumstances are neither confirmed nor refused with justification, the additional licensing conditions are deemed satisfied. Where the issuing authority rejects the other body's substantiated motion for an extension, the issuing authority is answerable for damage arising from that matter.
If the seeker already holds a license in the same licensed field of activity, the issuing authority does not re-examine the factual circumstances satisfying the licensing conditions that were established when the previous license was issued.
General Rule and Timelines
After the application enters the proceeding, the issuing authority immediately publishes a notice on the submission of documents for public familiarization. Within 20 days of the submission for public familiarization, any person may submit written opinions, and no later than 7 days after the expiry of the opinion period the issuing authority holds an oral hearing. Where the license is refused, the issuing authority is obliged to notify the license seeker of the substantiated refusal in writing immediately.
An extension of the issuance period is possible only for license types defined by law and for no more than 3 months. The decision on extension must be taken within 15 days of the submission of the application, and the seeker must be notified of it within 20 days of submission — otherwise the extension is impermissible. On the basis of the issuing authority's substantiated motion, the Government of Georgia may extend the period by a further up to 3 months; the issuing authority must notify the seeker immediately and address the Government within 2 months of the submission of the application.
Where a license type is characterized by increased danger to human life and health, affects a broad range of state and public interests, and 3 months is insufficient for establishing the relevant circumstances, the issuing authority may address the Government with a substantiated motion to extend the period by a further 3 months; and where those conditions are known to the issuing authority already at the time of submission — with a motion to extend the period by up to 6 months. Where the proceeding is extended by up to 3 or 6 months, the period for confirming the factual circumstances by the other administrative body may, on the basis of its substantiated motion, be extended by up to 2 months.
The issuing authority is obliged to adopt a decision on issuing the license within 30 days of the submission of the application. If no decision on issuance or refusal is taken within that period, the license is deemed issued, and after the expiry of the period the seeker may request the license certificate, which the issuing authority is obliged to issue immediately.
Rights and Duties of the Issuing Authority
The license-issuing authority issues activity licenses in the cases and by the procedure established by law, modifies them, or cancels them. It maintains the departmental license registry, keeps the documentation submitted by the license seeker, and exercises, in the manner established by law, control over the licensee's compliance with the licensing conditions.
For transparency, the issuing authority publishes, within 10 days of adopting a decision, information on the issuance, modification, or cancellation of a license in the official printed organ of Georgia — the Legislative Messenger. This obligation does not extend to secret information defined by the General Administrative Code and to information on licenses issued through the use of unified automatic management means.
Notifying Changes and the Authority of a Branch
Where the data indicated in the application change, the licensee is obliged to notify the issuing authority in writing and to submit the relevant documents within 7 days of the change. Where the activity covered by the license is carried out by a legal entity, its branch is also entitled to carry out that activity.
The licensee must notify the issuing authority in advance of the branch's exercise of the licensed activity and confirm the branch's satisfaction of the licensing conditions. It is impermissible for the issuing authority to impose an additional condition or regime that implies the issuance of a separate license to the branch — one license extends to the legal entity's branch as well.