Georgia residence permit through real estate

Two grounds, not one

The law lists the types of residence permits in a single article, and real estate appears in it twice — in different sub-clauses and with different thresholds.

First — a short-term residence permit. It is issued to a foreign national who, in accordance with the procedure established by law, holds ownership rights to real property in Georgia (excluding agricultural land) with a market value exceeding the equivalent of $150,000 in Georgian lari, as well as to their spouse and child or children.

Second — an investment residence permit. It is issued to a foreign national and their family members who have either made an investment in Georgia of at least $300,000 in lari equivalent under the law on investment promotion and guarantees, or hold rights to immovable property other than agricultural land with a market value exceeding $300,000.

The difference is not only in the amount. The investment ground covers a broader range of family members — the law expressly names a spouse, a minor child, a fully dependent person or a person with a disability, and a fully dependent person declared legally incapacitated. And only the investment ground leads to an open-ended status.

The valuation is not done by an agency or the seller

The law specifies, equally for both grounds, who determines the value: a certified appraiser from a body accredited by the single national accreditation authority — the Accreditation Centre of Georgia. Neither the contract price, nor an agency valuation, nor the cadastral value fulfils this role.

This is the practical consequence that causes deals to fall apart: the threshold amount is checked against the market valuation, not the price paid. A property purchased right at the threshold may be appraised below it — and then the basis for the permit collapses after the money has already changed hands.

This is why the valuation is ordered before the transaction, not after. It is the only way to know in advance what amount the law is actually looking at.

• The value is determined by a certified appraiser from an accredited body.
• The price in the contract does not confirm the threshold
• A valuation below the threshold undermines the basis for the permit after payment has been made
• Agricultural land is excluded under both grounds

Your status holds as long as your property does

This is what is never mentioned at the point of sale. The law states explicitly: a D5 immigration visa and a short-term residence permit cease to be valid when ownership of the corresponding property is transferred.

In other words, the status here is not granted once and for all — it is tied to the property. A sale, division in divorce, foreclosure, or any other loss of ownership also terminates the basis for status. The same applies to family members: they received their status on the same grounds.

For an investment residence permit there is a specific obligation: anyone who obtained it on the basis of an investment must submit to the agency each year, before the expiry of each year of validity, information from the revenue service on the turnover of their business activity in Georgia.

And one thing that almost nobody writes about: the agency finds out about a sale on its own. The law requires the public registry to notify the agency within two weeks of the termination of your ownership of the property on which a short-term or investment residence permit was based. There is no room to assume a transaction will go unnoticed until the next renewal — this is an automatic data exchange, not a check triggered by an application.

• Loss of property terminates the short-term residence permit
• Your family’s ground is the same as yours — it lapses when yours does
• Under the investment basis, a turnover report is filed annually
• Failure to submit information cancels the document
• The public registry notifies the agency of a change in ownership within two weeks

The property can be replaced — but only before it is sold, not after

The law makes one exception to the ’no property, no status’ rule, and it is worth knowing about in advance, because it operates on a strict timeline.

This concerns an investment residence permit obtained for a property worth more than $300,000. Such status is not terminated if, before the transfer of ownership, the foreign national submits to the agency a public-registry extract showing that they own another property of equal or greater value. The value of the new property must be determined by the same certified appraiser from an accredited body.

The key word here is ’before’. The rule allows you to swap the property, not to restore your status after a sale. The sequence is: acquire the second property and deregister at the agency, then complete the transaction on the first. Done in reverse, the same pair of transactions eliminates the basis entirely.

The same rule applies when counting five years of ownership for permanent status: in a public registry certificate, the five years are totalled cumulatively, including for a property that replaced a previous one, provided this condition was met.

What five years of ownership gives you

The investment ground has a natural continuation that is usually the real reason people choose it — permanent residence. The law describes two paths to it.

The first applies to those who obtained investor status through an investment of $300,000: they must demonstrate annual business turnover in Georgia of at least $50,000 in year one, at least $100,000 in year two, and at least $120,000 in years three, four, and five. The same ladder works in reverse: if the turnover is not confirmed, the investor status lapses.

The second applies to those who obtained investment status through real estate worth more than $300,000: they must retain ownership of that property for five years after receiving their documents. There is no turnover requirement or reporting obligation — only the requirement not to sell.

Both routes extend to family members, whose definition is set out separately by law.

Renewal: what is re-examined and what is not

Temporary residence permits are renewed under the same conditions as the permit being renewed, and cumulatively for no more than twelve years in total. Twelve years here is not a promise but a ceiling: beyond that point there is nothing left to renew along this route, and the question shifts to permanent residence or a different basis.

An important concession applies specifically to property. If a foreign national retains ownership of the property on the basis of which their short-term residence permit was issued, they are exempt from the requirement to provide a fresh market valuation. In other words, there is no need to pay for a new appraisal at each renewal — as long as it is the same property and it remains yours.

However, the basis for a permit can be verified not only through documents. The law explicitly gives the agency the right to check information stated in documents by visiting the address indicated, inspecting the premises, and interviewing relevant individuals. For property-based permits, this means the address in the documents must match reality.

• Renewal — on the same terms as the original grant, with a combined cap of 12 years
• The property was retained — no re-valuation required
• The property has changed — a new valuation is needed, and the order of transactions is critical
• The agency may visit the site, inspect it, and interview people
• The agency’s decision may only be appealed in court, within 10 calendar days of service

What these grounds do not provide

They do not grant citizenship and do not shorten the path to it on their own. The law ties permanent residence, beyond family grounds, to ten years of living on a temporary residence permit, while indefinite status under the investment track comes with its own conditions.

They do not replace a work permit where one is required: a work residence permit is issued to a foreign national who has obtained the right to employment, and it is a separate document with its own procedure.

And they do not settle the question of taxes: that is governed by tax law and has no direct bearing on the residence permit. We have deliberately left it out of this breakdown — it is a separate subject that needs its own dedicated analysis.

Frequently asked questions

Verified September 11, 2026. The thresholds and amounts are tied to indicators that are reviewed annually — check the official source for your country before filing.