Immigration lawyer in Georgia - a country that is easy to enter and a procedure to stay in
Georgia admits citizens of more than a hundred countries visa-free for a full year - one of the most open regimes in the world, and precisely what creates the illusion that legal status here will sort itself out. It will not: the year ends, a residence permit is obtained by application, documents and a decision of the Public Service Development Agency, and a refusal - often in one sentence, "in the interests of state security" - has become the most widespread immigration dispute of recent years.
An immigration lawyer plays two roles here: the strategist, who chooses the ground on which the risk of refusal is lowest, and the defender, when a refusal, an overstay or an expulsion order is already on the table and the clock is running. This page covers both: what decides each immigration issue, which rules and thresholds apply today, how the four routes to residence differ, what happens after a refusal and how residence turns into citizenship. Written for the people who actually need it - foreign nationals living, working and investing in Georgia.
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Call: 568 330 3186 immigration issues in Georgia and what decides each
In an immigration case the opponent is the state, and it has two advantages: discretion and time. The lawyer's job is to limit both - with procedure, deadlines and documents that leave the Agency no room for "we did not know".
Refusal of a residence permit
Decisive: the ground for refusal. A formal defect - a document, a translation, a deadline - is fixed by a new application. The "state security" ground comes from an inter-agency opinion the applicant never sees, and challenging it in court is the only route where the Agency is required to justify itself. The lawyer does both in parallel: a claim within one month and a new application on a different ground.
Overstaying
Decisive: the number of days and the moment of exit. The visa-free year is counted by the calendar, and a "visa run" across the border does not automatically restart it - the border police have discretion to refuse entry. An overstay ends in a fine that grows with its length and may become a ground for a ban on the next entry. The fine is paid on exit at the border, and a "forgotten" fine resurfaces next time.
Expulsion
Decisive: procedure and judicial review. An expulsion decision must be in writing, state its ground and set a period for voluntary departure, and it is challenged in court. Family ties in Georgia, children, health and danger in the country of return are the arguments that force the court to examine proportionality. Expulsion also triggers an entry ban, and that period is challenged separately.
Marriage and family reunification
Decisive: the genuineness of the marriage. The Agency checks for sham marriages through interviews, shared residence, photographs, relatives. Marriage to a Georgian does not grant residence automatically - it is a ground for an application, and the procedure is the same. On divorce the permit may be cancelled if it rested on the marriage alone - which is why the lawyer asks for a parallel ground while the marriage still stands.
Citizenship
Decisive: the route. Naturalisation after ten years of lawful residence, an exam in language, history and law, and income in Georgia; citizenship by exception by decision of the President for special merit or investment; restoration for former citizens. Dual citizenship is possible but not automatic - a Georgian citizen acquiring another nationality must apply to retain the Georgian one.
Asylum and humanitarian status
Decisive: an individual justification of the danger in the country of origin - not the general situation, but yours personally. The application goes to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the interview is with an interpreter, the decision takes months, and a refusal is challenged in court. Refugee and humanitarian status give different rights for different periods. Expulsion is suspended for the duration of the procedure.
8 rules and thresholds that define a foreigner's status in Georgia
These rules come from the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons and its implementing acts. The thresholds change, and are checked against the current wording with every application.
- One visa-free year
- Citizens of more than a hundred countries enter without a visa and stay for one year. This is not a "tourist" regime - working, doing business and buying property are permitted during this period. But the year is counted by the calendar, and its expiry without a residence permit is an overstay, whatever you are doing.
- No work permit exists
- Employing a foreigner in Georgia requires no separate permit - neither for the employer nor for the employee. A work residence permit, needed to stay beyond one year, instead examines the employer's economic standing: the company's annual turnover per foreign employee must exceed the statutory minimum.
- Decision period
- The Agency examines a residence application in 30 days as standard, or 20 or 10 days under the accelerated procedure at a higher fee. The application is filed while you are lawfully in the country - after an overstay, an application is, as a rule, not accepted. So the last month of your stay is not the best time to apply but the last possible one.
- Two investment thresholds
- Investment residence - an investment in the Georgian economy of the statutory amount (currently the equivalent of USD 300,000), giving a five-year permit and then a permanent one. Short-term residence - owned real estate from the equivalent of USD 100,000, for one year with renewal. In both cases the value is confirmed by an accredited appraiser's report, not by the contract price.
- From temporary to permanent
- A temporary residence permit is initially issued for up to one year and extended; after a long period of lawful residence the right to apply for a permanent permit arises, which no longer needs renewal. Continuity of the periods is decisive here - one missed renewal restarts the count.
- The form of documents
- A foreign document - a criminal record certificate, a marriage certificate, a diploma - is submitted with an apostille or legalisation and a notarised Georgian translation. Most certificates have a validity period, and an error in the translation is a formal ground for refusal. The document package begins before the application, not with it.
- Refusal and the court
- A refusal of residence is an administrative act and is challenged in court within one month. Where the ground is "security", the court examines the closed material and checks whether a real basis exists - the only mechanism in which the authority is required to justify itself. A refusal does not bar a new application.
- Children and citizenship
- Birth in Georgia does not confer citizenship automatically - a child takes the parents' citizenship, unless both parents are stateless or unknown. One Georgian-citizen parent gives the child Georgian citizenship regardless of the place of birth.
4 routes to residence - which is for whom, and where each one is weak
An immigration lawyer's first question is not "what documents do you have" but "which ground will carry you for five years". Every route has a condition whose loss cancels the permit.
"The interests of state security" - mass refusals and what happens after them
In recent years the number of residence refusals in Georgia has risen sharply, and a large share of them repeat one formula: the interests of state security or public order. The ground comes from an inter-agency check whose content the applicant does not see, the Agency does not explain, and a repeat application, as a rule, receives the same answer. In this situation "let us just try again" is not a strategy - it is a loss of time and fees. Citizens of certain countries have met this refusal far more often than others, regardless of their individual history.
The court is the only place where this ground is required to have content: the judge examines the closed material and checks whether a real fact exists, or whether the refusal is merely the inertia of nationality or an absent check. Court practice here is uneven, but a share of refusals are annulled precisely through the court - especially where the applicant has family, a business, property and years of lawful residence in Georgia. The claim is filed within one month of the refusal, and that deadline is not restored on the excuse that "we tried again first".
A parallel strategy works separately: an application on a different ground - investment instead of work, family instead of business - sometimes produces a different result, because the depth of the check differs by ground. The immigration lawyer's value here is not filling in the form but knowing which ground is being checked how, this month.
From residence to citizenship - three routes and one exam
Naturalisation is the standard route: ten years of continuous lawful residence in Georgia, an exam in the Georgian language, history and the basics of law, and income or property in the country. The period is counted on residence permits, not visa-free years, and "continuity" means specific days - a long absence breaks the count. The exam is oral and passing it takes real work; the lawyer does not sit the exam but checks that the ten years are documentarily "continuous" and that the application contains no formal ground for refusal.
Citizenship by exception is a decision of the President - without the period or the exam - for those with special merit before Georgia, or who make an investment significant for the country. It is a discretionary procedure in which a refusal is neither reasoned nor appealable, and in which the quality of the application - recommendations, documentation of the investment, ties to the country - is the only instrument. The third route is for former citizens: restoration of citizenship under a simplified procedure, with the possibility of dual citizenship.
Dual citizenship has been permitted since 2018 but is not automatic: a Georgian citizen acquiring another nationality must apply in advance to retain the Georgian one - otherwise it is lost. And a foreigner acquiring Georgian citizenship may be barred from holding two by the law of their own country; this is checked from both sides before the application goes in.
Questions about immigration lawyers in Georgia
My visa-free year is running out. If I cross the border and come back, does a new year start?
Formally a new period starts on entry, but the border police have the right to refuse entry - and after a series of "visa runs" they do so increasingly often, especially if you actually live and work in Georgia. This is not a strategy but a risk. If you intend to stay, the ground for residence should be chosen and the application filed before the year ends.
I was refused residence on "security" grounds. Should I apply again?
On the same ground with the same documents - no, the answer will be the same. Two steps in parallel: a court claim within one month of the refusal, where the Agency is required to show a real basis, and an application on a different ground if one exists. Your lawful presence in the country until the year ends must be secured separately - a refusal does not automatically create an obligation to leave, but the clock keeps running.
I am marrying a Georgian. Will I get residence automatically?
No - the marriage is the ground on which you apply, and the procedure is the same: documents, the Agency, 30 days, verification. The Agency checks that the marriage is genuine and refuses if it suspects a sham. The permit depends on the marriage until you have another ground - which is why building a work or business ground in parallel is worth doing from the first year of the marriage.
I overstayed by three months. What am I facing?
A fine that grows with the length of the overstay and is paid on exit at the border, and potentially an entry restriction next time. After three months a residence application is, as a rule, no longer accepted - the overstay must first be "closed" by leaving and paying the fine. If leaving is impossible, the lawyer checks the exceptional routes to legalisation, but they are narrow.
I have received an expulsion decision. How much time do I have?
The decision must state a period for voluntary departure, and it is challenged in court within the same deadlines as any administrative act. An application to suspend enforcement is filed together with the claim. Family, children, business, health and danger in the country of return are proportionality arguments the court must weigh. Expulsion is followed by an entry ban, and its length is challenged too.
Can I work and set up a company while visa-free?
Yes - Georgia has no work permit institution, and while visa-free you may take employment, register as a sole entrepreneur and found a company. The limit is in time, not activity: after one year you need a ground to stay. That same activity then becomes the ground for work or business residence - if the turnover and the documents are kept from the start with that in mind.
My child was born in Georgia. Is the child a Georgian citizen?
No, if neither parent is a Georgian citizen - the child takes the parents' citizenship, and the child's status in Georgia follows the parents' residence. The exception is where both parents are stateless or the child's citizenship cannot otherwise be established. Registering the birth and formalising the child's residence are separate procedures to be planned together with the parents' renewal.
I hold a residence permit but spend several months a year abroad. Is that a problem?
A residence permit does not require permanent presence, but long absence affects two things: the genuineness of the ground at renewal - a person on a work permit who does not work in Georgia raises questions - and the count of "continuous residence" for naturalisation. If citizenship is in your plans, count the days now, not in ten years.
Immigration lawyer by city
The application is filed at a Public Service Hall in any city, while a refusal is challenged in the Tbilisi court - but foreign residents of Batumi, Kutaisi and the regions choose a local lawyer who prepares the documents on the spot and acts by representation in Tbilisi.
Adjacent practice areas
Residence through property starts with a real estate transaction, business residence with the right company structure, work residence with the employer's contract, and after 183 days tax residency begins independently of immigration status.
Your visa-free year is ending, or you have been refused - either way the clock is running
Within 15 minutes the coordinator will contact you and match you with an immigration lawyer who, at the first consultation, tells you which ground will carry you and by which day the application or the claim must be filed.