What a Work Residence Permit for the Self-Employed Is
Article 15 of the Georgian Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons defines the types of residence permit, of which the work residence permit is decisive for the self-employed. It is issued to a foreigner who carries out entrepreneurial or labor activity in Georgia under the procedure established by legislation. An individual entrepreneur registered in Georgia and running their own business obtains the right of residence precisely through this permit. Particular emphasis must be placed on the fact that the permit rests on real, documented activity rather than formal registration: the agency verifies how the submitted documentation corresponds to actual income and turnover. Therefore the application is best planned in advance — a first refusal complicates subsequent applications as well. Careful preparation of income and turnover evidence before filing is what distinguishes a successful application.
Income and Turnover Requirements
The first subpoint of Article 15 requires a foreigner seeking a work residence permit to submit two documents. The first is a document confirming the carrying out of entrepreneurial or labor activity in Georgia. The second is a certificate confirming that the monthly income or remuneration from entrepreneurial or labor activity is not less than five times the average consumer subsistence minimum established in Georgia, and that the annual turnover of the employer enterprise is not less than 50 000 lari per each foreigner seeking the permit. An exception concerns educational and medical institutions: in their case the annual turnover must be at least 35 000 lari per each foreigner. For an individual entrepreneur this means that both the turnover of the enterprise they founded and their own monthly income must reach the thresholds, as proven by tax or banking documents. Where the numbers are close to the boundary, the structure of income and the timing of the application matter, and professional advice pays for itself.
Validity Period and Extension
Under Article 16, the work residence permit belongs to the group of temporary residence permits and is first issued for a period of 6 months to 1 year. The same article provides that the validity of temporary residence permits may be extended up to a maximum of 12 years, for the foreigner's expected period of stay in Georgia, under the same conditions on which the permit being extended was issued. On each extension the agency re-verifies the continuation of the activity and compliance with the income criteria — in other words, fresh evidence of turnover and income is required every time. In exceptional cases a temporary residence permit may first be issued for a period of 5 years. A self-employed person's residence is thus not unconditional, but with stable activity it is extended repeatedly over the years, and after a decade of residence other types of permit also become accessible.
Filing and Consideration of the Application
Under Article 17, a foreigner applies for a residence permit to the agency personally or through an authorized representative; the application and attached documents are submitted in the Georgian state language, although in cases provided for by legislation the agency may accept the application in another language, and a passport is accepted without a Georgian translation if it contains personal data in Latin transliteration. Documents may also be submitted electronically. The agency has the right to verify the information indicated in the documents by visiting the place, inspecting it and questioning the relevant persons — important for establishing the exact turnover. The aliens law itself does not fix the examination deadline: the issue of granting a residence permit is considered and decided under the procedure established by the Government of Georgia, and the agency verifies the existence of the grounds for granting the permit. The results are communicated to the foreigner electronically, and the decision may be appealed under the procedure established by Georgian legislation. Since the 30-day window starts only from complete submission, the composition of the file should be checked against the agency's requirements before filing.