Georgia's 2026 Labour-Migration Exemptions for Remote and Short-Term Work

Georgia's Labour Migration Law was amended in 2026 and now contains several specific exclusions from the labour-migration regime.

For remote professionals, one exemption is particularly important: the current law excludes an alien who carries out labour activity or provides services for a non-resident person where that work or service relates to activities carried out by the non-resident outside Georgia.

That is a defined statutory exemption. It should not be expanded into a claim that all online work performed while physically in Georgia is exempt.

Remote work for a foreign person or company

Article 1(4) excludes from the law a person who:

• performs labour activity or provides services for a non-resident person; and
• the work or services relate to the non-resident person's activities outside Georgia.

For many people working from Georgia for an overseas employer or client, this is the provision that needs to be tested against the real arrangement.

Key factual questions include who the counterparty is, whether that counterparty is a Georgian resident, and what business activity the work supports.

A separate remote-work exemption for a local employer is narrower

The law also contains a separate exclusion for a person carrying out work fully remotely for a local employer where the work does not require the person's entry into Georgia.

That wording is important. It should not be read as a general exemption for a foreign national who has entered and is living in Georgia while working remotely for a Georgian employer.

If the person is physically present in Georgia and working for a local employer, the normal right-to-work and residence analysis may still be relevant unless another exemption applies.

Short-term professional activities

Article 13⁹ creates a separate route for short-term professional activity without a right to work and corresponding residence permit where the statutory conditions are met.

The activity must:

• take place within a temporary visit;
• not constitute long-term employment in the local labour market; and
• relate to a specific short-term project, event, or service.

The Government determines the list of qualifying short-term professional activities, their duration, criteria and monitoring procedure.

A person performing a qualifying short-term professional activity is not treated as a labour immigrant or self-employed alien for this purpose.

Other statutory exemptions exist

Article 1(4) contains additional exemptions, including specified residence-permit holders, certain public-sector activities, qualifying management/governance roles, and other categories.

The correct approach is to identify the specific statutory exemption that fits the person—not to assume that a broad label such as "digital nomad," "consultant," or "short-term worker" creates an exemption on its own.

What if no exemption applies?

Where the Labour Migration Law applies, the current regime includes a right-to-work process and related immigration requirements for labour immigrants and self-employed aliens.

The exact procedure depends on whether the person is working for a local employer, acting as a self-employed alien, where the person is located, and what immigration status the person already holds.

Because the statutory framework changed materially in 2025-2026, older articles describing only registration in a labour-migration database may no longer be sufficient.

Tax is a separate analysis

A labour-migration exemption does not determine Georgian tax residence, source of income, Small Business Status, VAT, or other tax treatment.

For example, a remote professional may fall outside the Labour Migration Law under the non-resident-client exemption but still need a separate Georgian tax analysis.

For a current remote-work, tax and residence assessment, see Remote Work Law or contact TK Counsel.