Staying longer in Georgia: the 365-day visa-free rule, remote work, residence permits, banks and taxes for digital nomads

Most passport holders who qualify for Georgia’s visa-free regime, including citizens of the EU and EEA, the UK, the United States, Canada, and dozens of other countries, can stay for up to 365 days without applying for any visa or permit, and this entitlement is real enough to build a year of remote work around. It is not a renewable calendar-year quota and it is not something you top up by leaving and re-entering; it is better understood as a single continuous allowance that the Georgian border service tracks against your passport, and whether you qualify, and for how long, depends on your nationality. Always check your own passport against the official list before committing to flights or an apartment lease, because the list and the permitted number of days have changed for specific countries in the past.

The second question nomads ask is what happens after day 365, and the honest answer is that Georgia expects you to either leave, or to hold a proper legal basis to remain, such as a residence permit tied to work, study, property ownership, or investment. The “border run” workaround, a short trip to Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Turkey and straight back, is widely discussed online but is not a documented right, and immigration officers have discretion to refuse entry or to count your prior stay against the new one. This guide sets out, conservatively, what is documented about the 365-day rule, the residence permit routes, banking, the 183-day tax threshold, the 1% small business regime, and the practical side of coworking and renting, with links to the official pages to verify before you act.

Who actually gets 365 days visa-free

Georgia’s visa-free list is one of the broadest in the world and includes the EU and EEA states, the UK, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the Gulf states, and many others, each with a permitted stay length set out by the government and published on the e-Visa portal. For the large majority of these nationalities the permitted stay is 365 days; a smaller number of nationalities are granted shorter periods, commonly 90 days within a defined window, and the list is amended from time to time by government decree, so a passport that qualified for a full year two years ago is not guaranteed to still do so.

If you are planning a long remote-work stay, check your own nationality on the official list the week you book flights, not months in advance, and check again before any trip you plan to use as a “reset.” Our nationality guides summarise the position for the passports we see most often, but the e-Visa portal and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs remain the sources of record.

The border-run myth

A persistent idea among long-stay travellers is that once you approach day 365, a quick exit to a neighbouring country and a fresh entry stamp restarts the clock. This is not confirmed in writing by Georgian border authorities, and in practice it is risky for two reasons. First, border officers can and do refuse entry, or grant a much shorter stay, to travellers who appear to be cycling in and out purely to extend residence without a legal basis. Second, Georgia’s immigration law looks at total presence, not just the date of the most recent stamp, so a border run does not erase the days you have already used. If you need more than 365 days in Georgia, the documented and durable route is a residence permit, not a border hop. Anyone relying on repeated short exits should treat it as unverified folklore rather than a plan, and should instead speak to a Georgian immigration lawyer or apply through the Public Service Development Agency process referenced by the government’s own residency guidance.

Residence permit routes

Georgia issues several categories of residence permit, each tied to a specific basis for staying, and each with its own documentary requirements that are periodically revised. The table below gives the broad shape of the system as understood in 2026; treat the thresholds as indicative and confirm current figures before applying, since investment and property amounts in particular have moved over the years.

Applications are processed through the Public Service Development Agency, and the government’s general information on residence permits, along with the underlying Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, is the place to check current fees, document lists, and processing times before you start. Because requirements for notarised and apostilled documents, criminal record certificates, and proof of funds vary by route and change without much notice, budget extra weeks for paperwork and, for anything beyond a straightforward student or work permit, use a local immigration lawyer.

Opening a Georgian bank account

Georgian banks, chiefly the two largest retail banks, have historically allowed non-residents to open a basic lari account with a passport alone, though anti-money-laundering rules have tightened in recent years and branches increasingly ask for a Georgian personal number (issued automatically once you cross the border on most passports), proof of address such as a rental agreement, and sometimes evidence of the source of funds, particularly for larger deposits or for nationalities flagged under international sanctions compliance regimes. A residence permit is not strictly required to open an account, but it makes the process faster and gives access to a wider range of products, including local debit cards tied to salary deposits and better terms on multi-currency accounts. Policies differ bank to bank and branch to branch, so confirm current requirements directly with the bank before travelling with the expectation of opening an account on day one, and do not assume a verbal quote from a friend or forum post reflects this month’s compliance rules.

Tax residency and the 183-day rule

Under the Tax Code of Georgia, an individual becomes a Georgian tax resident after spending 183 days or more in the country within any continuous 12-month period, regardless of nationality or visa status. Tax residency triggers Georgian filing obligations and affects how Georgian-source income is taxed; the treatment of foreign-source income for resident individuals is a genuinely technical area that has shifted in interpretation over the years, and a remote worker paid by an overseas employer or overseas clients should not assume either full exemption or full liability without professional advice. Georgia has double-taxation treaties with many countries, which can also affect where tax is ultimately owed. Because the consequences of getting this wrong include penalties and back-taxes, anyone expecting to cross 183 days in Georgia while earning from abroad should consult a Georgian tax adviser, and check the consolidated Tax Code and current guidance before structuring income around residency status.

The 1% small business status

A separate and popular route for freelancers and small online businesses is to register as an individual entrepreneur and apply for Small Business Status, which taxes qualifying turnover at a flat 1% rate up to an annual threshold set in the Tax Code, with a higher flat rate applying to turnover above that threshold and standard rules resuming if the business exceeds a further ceiling or falls outside eligible activities. The regime is attractive to consultants, developers, designers, and similar service providers invoicing overseas clients, and registration is handled through the Revenue Service once you hold a Georgian personal number. The exact turnover thresholds and the list of excluded activities are set by resolution and have been adjusted before, so confirm the current figures with the Revenue Service or a local accountant rather than relying on numbers circulated in nomad forums, and remember that Small Business Status concerns your Georgian tax filing, not your home country’s tax obligations, which may still apply depending on your citizenship and tax residency elsewhere.

Coworking, long-term rentals, and daily logistics

Tbilisi has a working coworking scene concentrated around Vake, Saburtalo, and the creative hub at Fabrika in the old town, where desks, meeting rooms, and reliable fibre internet are rented by the day, week, or month; prices and amenities vary enough that it is worth visiting two or three spaces in person before committing to a monthly plan. Long-term apartment rentals are typically agreed directly with landlords or through local agents, paid monthly in lari or sometimes in US dollars by informal agreement, with a one- or two-month deposit the norm; written contracts are advisable even for short stays, and registering your address can matter later if you apply for a residence permit or a bank account. For the practical first days, before you have settled on an apartment, a Tbilisi Airport Transfer or a Car with Driver by the Day arranged in advance removes one layer of friction while you view flats and open accounts, and our Today page tracks weather, road, and seasonal conditions worth knowing before you plan your first weeks.

Practical summary

• Check your passport’s visa-free entitlement on the official e-Visa portal before booking, not after.
• Do not rely on a border run to reset the 365-day allowance; treat it as unverified and risky.
• If you need to stay beyond 365 days, start a residence permit application (work, study, property, or investment) well in advance.
• Open a bank account with a passport first, then upgrade documentation once you have a personal number and address.
• Track your days in Georgia carefully: 183 days in any 12-month period triggers Georgian tax residency.
• Consider Small Business Status (1% turnover tax) for freelance income, but confirm current thresholds with the Revenue Service.
• Get a written rental agreement and keep it, since you may need it later for a permit or bank application.
• Re-verify every rule in this guide against the official pages before making an irreversible decision.

Sources

• Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons
• Tax Code of Georgia, consolidated text
• Geostat average wages and cost indicators
• Civil.ge coverage of visa-free regime policy
• Georgia's Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons Law
• Geostat – International Visitor Arrivals Statistics
• Agenda.ge – Georgia Launches "Remotely from Georgia" Program