The New Work Permit Regime: What Entrepreneurs Must Do Before 2027

For years Georgia took a relaxed view of foreigners working within its borders. That era has ended. A new permit regime now requires most foreign nationals who work, are self-employed or carry on paid activity in the country to hold the right authorisation, and the change reaches further than many expats expect, because it captures entrepreneurs and sole traders, not just employees.

The shift is deliberate. The government wants more structure around labour migration, including the ability to manage the inflow of foreign workers and to weigh local availability. Whatever one makes of the policy, the practical reality is clear. Working in Georgia as a foreigner now sits inside a formal system rather than an informal tolerance.

Crucially, running your own business does not exempt you. A foreign founder who works in their own company, or a self-employed professional operating here, falls within the regime just as an employee would. Assuming that registering a company is enough, and that the work itself needs no separate authorisation, is exactly the misunderstanding the new rules are designed to close.

There is a transition for those already in the system. People formally registered as labour migrants when the rules took effect are not penalised immediately, but they have until a set deadline to bring their status into line. That window is a gift, not a guarantee, and the sensible move is to regularise well before it closes rather than at the last moment.

Practically, compliance means paperwork and planning. Expect documentation around your role, your business and your right to be working, and expect inspections to follow over time. For employers, it means weaving permit checks into hiring. For founders, it means treating work status as part of your setup rather than an afterthought to deal with later.

Employers carry real obligations under the new regime, not just individual workers. If you hire foreign staff, you will need to weave permit checks into your recruitment and human resources processes, keep the right documentation, and be ready for the inspections that come with an enforceable system. Treating compliance as part of how you hire, rather than a problem to solve only when someone asks, protects both the business and the people who work for it. A missed permit is not only the worker’s problem. It can expose the employer to penalties and disruption. We help businesses build the new requirements into their hiring so that bringing on foreign talent stays an asset rather than a liability, and so that growth is not interrupted by an avoidable compliance gap that could have been closed with a little planning.

We help entrepreneurs and businesses navigate the permit regime, from understanding whether it applies to you to getting the right status in place before the deadline. If you work in Georgia or employ people who do, talk to us now, while there is still room to plan, rather than once enforcement begins.