Georgia Individual Entrepreneur Registration (Tax Resident)

Who qualifies

The permit covers two groups: foreign nationals engaged in entrepreneurial activity in Georgia, and immigrant workers with a registered employer. Self-employed applicants register as a sole trader or company first, then apply for the right to work, then file for the residence permit. The permit carries the right to work for the holder.

Two stages before the permit

The right to work is a separate grant. The applicant applies to the State Employment Support Agency and takes a video interview with the agency. Only after that decision can the residence permit application be filed. Applicants outside Georgia also apply for a D1 visa, which one law-firm source describes as a 30-day window.

Documents

The list runs from the application form and travel document to proof of income, the right-to-work decision and proof of fee payment. Two items, a Revenue Service document on annual turnover and a certificate of the number of foreign nationals employed, are framed around an employer. Both are written for an employer, so raise them at the Public Service Hall before booking a slot.

The income test

Monthly income must reach at least five times the subsistence minimum. Separately, one law-firm page describes a turnover test of at least GEL 50,000 per foreign national, or GEL 35,000 for educational and medical institutions. That page frames the turnover test around the employer or enterprise, so how it applies to a sole trader is open.

Fees and decision times

The state fee is GEL 300 for a decision in 30 calendar days, GEL 450 for 20 days and GEL 600 for 10 days. A residence card costs GEL 60 on top. Applications go through the Public Service Development Agency at a Public Service Hall.

Filing deadlines

One law-firm source says the permit application must be filed within 10 calendar days of the right-to-work decision. Another says it must be filed no later than 40 calendar days before lawful stay expires. Neither says which case each rule covers, so work to the earlier of the two.

Duration and permanent residence

A first term runs from 6 months to 1 year. Permanent residence requires 10 years of residence on a temporary permit. Dependants apply on a separate family reunion residence permit rather than being added to this one.

Tax

Georgia taxes residents at a flat 20 percent on Georgian-source income, and foreign-source income is generally exempt. A person becomes a tax resident after 183 days of physical presence in any continuous 12-month period. Individual entrepreneurs who hold small business status pay 1 percent of turnover while annual income stays within GEL 500,000, and the status is requested from the tax service after registration.