Georgia Residence Permit Through Property Ownership (2026 Rules)

Yes — owning qualifying property in Georgia can make you eligible for a residence permit. It is not automatic from any purchase, and the threshold that matters is the property’s certified market value, not the price written in your sale contract.

This guide explains the two real routes — the short-term residence permit and the separate investment residence permit — what they actually require, and where buyers most often get the details wrong.

Last checked against primary sources: 10 October 2026.

The short-term residence permit: USD 150,000

Under Article 15(j) of Georgia’s Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, a short-term residence permit may be issued to a foreigner who holds the property right to an immovable thing in Georgia — except agricultural land — whose market value exceeds the equivalent of USD 150,000 in GEL. The same permit extends to the applicant’s spouse and child or children.

This threshold rose from USD 100,000 to USD 150,000 effective 1 March 2026. Content you find elsewhere online — including some real-estate and relocation sites — still quotes the old USD 100,000 figure. Check the publication date before relying on any number you read about this.

Market value is not purchase price

This is the point most buyers miss. The law does not ask what you paid, or what the contract states as the sale price. It asks for the property’s market value, established by a certified valuer from a body accredited by the Georgian Accreditation Centre.

A GEL-equivalent of USD 150,000 on your sale contract does not by itself prove eligibility. The valuation is a separate, required step — and it is the valuer’s assessed figure, not your invoice, that the authorities rely on. A property purchased for slightly under the threshold could still fall short even if marketed as “residence-eligible”; a property purchased near the threshold should have its market value independently confirmed before you treat eligibility as settled.

What property qualifies

Any immovable property in Georgia qualifies except agricultural land — apartments, houses on non-agricultural land, and commercial premises are all eligible if the certified market value clears the threshold. Georgia’s Constitution (Article 19(4)) restricts agricultural land ownership to the State, a self-governing unit, a citizen of Georgia or an association of Georgian citizens, with narrow statutory exceptions. That restriction is separate from, and not changed by, the residence-permit rules.

The threshold applies to the property right you hold, and current official guidance allows combining the value of multiple properly registered and valued holdings to reach it — a single unit does not have to clear USD 150,000 on its own, provided your combined, certified holdings do.

Buying off-plan: what the law does and does not say

We are not going to tell you that buying an off-plan apartment above USD 150,000 automatically qualifies you for residence. It does not work that way as a blanket rule, and anyone who tells you otherwise is simplifying past the actual legal requirement.

Residence eligibility depends on holding the property right to the immovable thing and on its certified market value — both of which connect to the property’s registration status. For an off-plan unit, what exactly you hold before the building is registered and completed, and when a certified valuation can meaningfully apply to it, depends on the specific project, its registration stage and the purchase structure. We have not found official guidance that states a single, simple rule for every off-plan scenario. If residence is part of your plan, verify the exact ownership and valuation position for that specific property and its registration status before relying on it — this is not something a reservation agreement or a developer’s price list can settle on its own.

The investment residence permit: USD 300,000

This is a separate regime from the short-term permit above — do not confuse the two thresholds. Under Article 15(h) of the same law, an investment residence permit may be issued to a foreigner who has either made a qualifying investment of at least USD 300,000 equivalent in GEL, or who holds property (again, excluding agricultural land) with a certified market value exceeding USD 300,000 equivalent in GEL. It also extends to family members under the statutory framework.

Indefinite residence after the investment route — not automatic, and not immediate

A residence permit for indefinite stay is available after the investment-residence route, under Article 15(k) and Article 16(5) — but only on specific conditions, not as a simple five-year countdown.

For the property-based path, you must have held the property right continuously for 5 years after receiving the investment residence permit, and you must apply to the Agency before that 5-year permit expires, with documentation from the National Agency of Public Registry confirming uninterrupted ownership throughout. Selling the property during that period, or letting the permit lapse before applying, breaks the pathway. This is not “buy a $300k property and get permanent residence” — it is a conditional route that depends on sustained compliance over the full five years.

Process, timelines and fees

Per the State Services Development Agency’s current published schedule, both the short-term and investment residence permits are processed on the same fee tiers:

Processing time	Fee
30 calendar days	300 GEL
20 calendar days	450 GEL
10 calendar days	600 GEL

Required documentation typically includes the application form, a copy of your travel document, proof of legal residence, property-ownership documentation, the certified market-value assessment, a passport-style photo and the service-fee receipt. Confirm the current document list directly with the Agency before applying, since requirements can be updated.

A practical due-diligence checklist

• Confirm the property is not agricultural land, from the Public Registry entry itself, not the sales description.
• Get an independent, accredited-body valuation before treating the threshold as met — not just the contract price.
• Decide which route applies to you: short-term (USD 150,000) or investment (USD 300,000) — they have different requirements and different outcomes.
• If buying off-plan with residence in mind, verify the registration and ownership status specifically, not generally.
• If the investment route interests you for its indefinite-residence pathway, plan for 5 years of continuous, documented ownership — not a one-time purchase.
• Confirm current fees, processing times and document requirements directly with the Agency before applying.

What RAUNF Group does — and does not do

RAUNF Group is not an immigration authority and does not approve, guarantee or influence residence-permit outcomes. We do not perform accredited property valuation ourselves. What we help with is the property side: identifying property consistent with your residence-planning objective, property and project selection, coordinating the transaction, and connecting you with independent certified valuers and qualified Georgian legal or immigration professionals where that is useful.

We do not label current inventory “residence eligible” on the basis of an asking price. A sale price above USD 150,000 is not the same thing as a certified market value above USD 150,000 — if residence planning matters to you, say so, and we will flag properties worth having independently assessed against the actual criteria, rather than assuming a price tag settles it.

Common questions

Does buying property in Georgia automatically give me residence?

No. It can make you eligible to apply for a residence permit if the property’s certified market value clears the relevant threshold and agricultural land is excluded. Eligibility is not the same as an automatic grant, and the application is a separate step.

Is it the purchase price or the market value that counts?

The certified market value, assessed by an accredited valuer — not the price on your sale contract. The two can differ, and only the certified figure is what the authorities rely on.

What is the difference between the USD 150,000 and USD 300,000 thresholds?

USD 150,000 (Article 15(j)) qualifies for the short-term residence permit. USD 300,000 (Article 15(h)) is a separate regime — the investment residence permit — reachable either through property of that certified value or a qualifying USD 300,000 investment. Only the investment-residence route can lead toward indefinite residence after 5 years of continuous, documented compliance.

Can my spouse and children get residence too?

Yes — the statutory framework extends both the short-term and investment residence permits to the applicant’s spouse and child or children.

Does RAUNF Group guarantee I will get a residence permit?

No. We are not an immigration authority and cannot guarantee any permit outcome. We help with property selection and coordination, and can connect you with independent valuers and qualified immigration professionals.

Looking for property with residence planning in mind?

Request a property selection from RAUNF Group — we will work from the actual thresholds above, not a sales assumption, and flag what is worth having independently valued.

Related reading: Can a Foreigner Buy Property in Georgia?, What Buying Property in Georgia Actually Costs, our purchase process guide, and our Batumi, Tbilisi, investors hub and Why RAUNF Group pages.

Sources

• Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons — Article 15(j) short-term residence permit (USD 150,000), Article 15(h) investment residence permit (USD 300,000), Article 15(k) and Article 16(5) indefinite residence; consolidated text reflecting Law No 1803 of 25 June 2026
• State Services Development Agency (SDA) — residence-permit processing times, fees and required documents
• Georgian Legislative Register (Matsne) — Constitution of Georgia, Article 19(4), agricultural land ownership