Bringing a parent to Georgia and legalising his or her stay is often assumed to be a formality, but the law draws strict boundaries here: the statutory concept of a "family member" does not cover every parent, and access to a permit depends directly on who the child in the country is and what status that child holds. This page explains which parent scenarios are covered by the Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, which visa and permit routes operate, and where the law is deliberately silent. Our goal is to make completely clear what the law gives a parent — and what it does not.
Who counts as a family member under the law
The key to any parent route is the statutory definition of a family member. Under the law, family members are: the spouse of an alien or of a stateless person with status in Georgia, his or her minor child, and a minor, support-receiving or incapacitated person under guardianship or fully supported; the parent of a minor alien or of a minor stateless person with status in Georgia; and the foreign spouse of a Georgian citizen, his or her minor child, and the parent of a minor Georgian citizen. The limitation is visible from this list: a parent is a family member only where the child is a minor. The parent of an adult child does not fall within the definition — accordingly, the family-reunification permit route is not directly available to the parent of an adult resident.