Georgian Residency Through Real Estate: The 2026 Rules

The headline change: $100,000 became $150,000 on March 1, 2026

For years, the figure repeated across relocation blogs and agency pages was $100,000 — buy real estate appraised at that value and qualify for a Georgian temporary residence permit. That figure is now wrong. As of March 1, 2026, the threshold is $150,000 of appraised real estate value. Any page still quoting the old number was written before the change, and there are many of them on the first page of search results. The structure of the route is otherwise familiar: the permit is temporary, renewed annually, and extends to the applicant's spouse and children. What changed is purely the bar. For buyers who had budgeted around the old threshold, the practical effect is a shift in which properties qualify. At Batumi's Q1 2026 primary-market average of $1,893 per square metre (per Galt & Taggart), $150,000 corresponds to roughly 79 square metres of new-build stock — a large two-bedroom — while in Old Batumi, at around $3,146 per square metre, a compact one-bedroom of about 48 square metres can clear the line on its own. The threshold is measured in appraised value, not purchase price, a distinction we unpack below — and, importantly, it can be met by combining several properties rather than a single purchase.

How the $150,000 route works

Four features define the standard route. First, the test is appraised value: an accredited appraiser determines the market value of the property, and that figure — not the number on your purchase contract — is what counts toward the threshold. A property bought at a favourable price can still qualify if its appraised market value reaches $150,000. Second, the threshold is combinable. Two or more properties whose appraised values together reach $150,000 satisfy the requirement; there is no rule that a single unit must clear the bar alone. Third, the permit is renewed annually. You hold the property, and each year the permit is extended on the basis of continued ownership — this is not a one-time stamp but an ongoing relationship between the asset and the status. Fourth, family is included: the applicant's spouse and children qualify alongside the main applicant, making a single qualifying purchase a household solution rather than an individual one. What the route does not require is as notable as what it does: there is no minimum physical-presence rule tied to the property route in the way some European golden-visa programmes impose, no local employment requirement, and no obligation to rent or occupy the unit in a particular way. The asset qualifies you; how you use it is your decision.

The $300,000 route: five years, immediately

Above the standard route sits the investor residence permit. Invest $300,000 or more in Georgian real estate and the permit granted is a five-year investor residence — issued immediately, without the annual renewal cycle of the $150,000 route. Who does this suit? Primarily buyers for whom the renewal calendar is the friction point: families relocating with school-age children who want five years of certainty in one document, and investors assembling a multi-unit Batumi portfolio who would clear $300,000 anyway across two or three properties. At current Batumi pricing, $300,000 buys meaningful scale — roughly 158 square metres of primary-market stock at the Q1 2026 average, or a pair of well-located seafront units. It is worth being clear-eyed about what the premium buys: the underlying rights during the permit's life are substantially similar. Both routes put you inside Georgia's territorial tax system, both extend to family, and both rest on continued ownership. The $300,000 route buys duration and administrative quiet, not a different class of residency. For a buyer whose plans are firm and whose budget already sits near that level, consolidating into the investor route is often the tidier structure. For a buyer testing Batumi with a single apartment, the $150,000 route with annual renewal is the proportionate choice — the upgrade path remains open if the portfolio grows.

Appraisal mechanics: how the value is set, and what renewal looks like

The appraisal is the load-bearing document of the property route. An accredited appraiser inspects the property and issues a report stating its market value; that report, not the sale contract, is what the authorities read against the $150,000 line. This cuts both ways. A buyer who negotiated below asking price is not penalised — the appraised market value governs. Equally, a contract price cannot be inflated to manufacture eligibility, because the appraiser's independent figure is the one that counts. Because the standard permit renews annually on the basis of continued ownership, valuation is not a one-time event. Batumi's market context matters here: primary prices rose 8.7% year-on-year to Q1 2026, and Galt & Taggart's 2026 forecast is consolidation at +4–6% growth. In a rising market, a property appraised near the threshold at purchase tends to sit more comfortably above it at renewal. Prudent buyers nonetheless build in margin rather than buying exactly at $150,000 — a property appraised at $160,000–$170,000 absorbs normal valuation movement without drama, and the combinable rule means a second, smaller unit can top up a portfolio if needed. Practical advice: commission the appraisal from an accredited appraiser as part of the purchase process itself, so you know where you stand before committing rather than after.

What residency unlocks: Georgia's tax position

The permit itself is a legal status; the reason many owners want it is the tax system it puts within reach. Georgia taxes territorially: income earned outside Georgia is not taxed in Georgia. For a remote worker, a retiree drawing a foreign pension, or an investor with income from other jurisdictions, that is the headline term. On the property itself, the numbers are unusually clean. Rental income from Georgian property is taxed at a flat 5% for individual owners — no brackets, no complex deductions regime. Capital gains on property held for more than two years are taxed at 0%, which materially changes the arithmetic of a medium-term hold. Annual property tax runs roughly 0–1% of value, and most individual owners fall within exemptions and pay nothing. One framing note this publication insists on: none of this makes returns automatic. Batumi's gross rental yields have compressed from 8.8% in 2024 to 7.1% in Q1 2026 (per Galt & Taggart), and honest net figures after management fees, utilities and seasonality sit around 6–7%. The tax regime does not manufacture yield — it lets you keep more of the yield the market actually delivers, which is the correct way to read it.

What residency does not require — and the alternative to it

It is worth stating plainly, because sales pages blur it: you do not need a residence permit to own property in Georgia. Foreigners hold apartments freehold — full ownership, registered in your name at the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR), with only agricultural land excluded. Registration takes about four business days for roughly 50 GEL, or same-day for around 200 GEL, and a purchase can be completed entirely remotely through a notarized power of attorney. Ownership and residency are separate decisions. Nor do you need a permit to spend serious time here. Citizens of roughly 95 countries — including the EU, UK, US, Israel and most Gulf states — may stay in Georgia visa-free for a full 365 days, renewable by a border exit. For many buyers, particularly remote workers and seasonal residents, this regime already covers their actual life: own the apartment, live in Batumi most of the year, and never file a residency application. The permit earns its keep in specific situations — nationalities outside the visa-free list, families wanting children's status formalised, owners planning to become Georgian tax residents deliberately, or anyone who wants a durable legal status rather than a tourist stay. Decide which situation is yours before treating the $150,000 line as a constraint on your property search.

Worked examples: one apartment or two

Consider two realistic Batumi structures. Buyer one takes a single Old Batumi apartment. The heritage core trades at roughly $3,146 per square metre against a citywide primary average of $1,893 — scarcity and walkability price at a premium. A 51-square-metre one-bedroom in a renovated building appraises at about $160,000: comfortably over the $150,000 line with margin for valuation movement at renewal, qualifying the buyer, spouse and children on one asset. The trade-off is concentration — one property, one district, one appraisal doing all the work. Buyer two combines two New Boulevard units. The dense high-rise seafront strip carries full city utilities and year-round life, and primary stock there prices nearer the citywide average. Two units — say a 45-square-metre one-bedroom appraising at $85,000 and a 40-square-metre unit at $78,000 — total $163,000 of appraised value, clearing the threshold jointly under the combinable rule. The buyer gains two rentable assets, two floors, potentially two buildings of diversification, and the option to sell one after the two-year capital-gains-free horizon while keeping enough value in place to consider the position at the next renewal. Neither structure is inherently better. The single-asset route is administratively simpler; the combined route is more flexible. Both are fully within the rules — the threshold tests total appraised value, not the number of title deeds.

Finding qualifying property in Batumi

The residency threshold quietly reorganises a Batumi property search. Below $150,000 sits the bulk of the market — Q1 2026 saw 4,049 apartments sold citywide (per Galt & Taggart, up 15.8% year-on-year), much of it compact investment stock in the Airport district and the newer high-rise corridors. Above the line, the qualifying inventory concentrates in three places: larger New Boulevard seafront units, Old Batumi's heritage core where per-metre pricing does the work, and the emerging Gonio corridor, where the announced $6.6 billion Eagle Hills Gonio Yachts & Marina project has drawn attention to the southern coast. Practical points when shortlisting: verify that the appraised value — not the developer's list price — will clear the threshold, and remember that published USD prices with interest-free installments of 24–48 months are the market norm, though the residency application rests on owned, registered value. For off-plan purchases, register the preliminary contract at NAPR; Georgia has no mandatory escrow, and NAPR registration is what gives a buyer priority over the developer's creditors. Batumi Verified maintains a catalogue view filtered to properties at $150,000 and above for exactly this use-case, alongside our current recommendation — every listing checked against the claims made for it. It is the natural next step once the rules above are clear.

Questions buyers ask

• Galt & Taggart Batumi residential market reports (2024–Q1 2026)
• Georgian residence permit regulations effective March 1, 2026
• National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) registration procedures
• Georgian Tax Code — territorial taxation, 5% rental income tax, capital gains exemption