Registering a Company in Georgia as a Non-Resident: What Foreigners Need to Know
Can a foreigner own a Georgian company, do you need residency or a visa, and can you do it without visiting? A practical guide to non-resident company formation in Georgia - ownership, the remote process, tax options with their conditions, banking, and the home-country question most guides skip.
Georgia (the country) is one of the easiest places in the region for a foreigner to own and run a company. There is no citizenship requirement, no need for a local partner, and - in most cases - no need to set foot in the country. This guide answers the questions non-residents ask most before they start, and one question most of them do not ask but should: what your own country thinks about the company you are about to create.
100%
Foreign ownership permitted
Sole foreign founder and director is fine
0
Residency or visa requirement
Ownership and immigration are separate questions
2-3 weeks
Realistic remote timeline
Authentication and courier, not the registry
Can a foreigner own a Georgian company?
Yes. Georgia permits 100% foreign ownership of a Limited Liability Company (LLC). A non-resident can be the sole founder and the sole director; there is no requirement for a Georgian citizen or resident to hold any share. Ownership can be held by individuals or by a foreign company - though a corporate shareholder adds document requirements, because its own good standing and authority to act must be evidenced and authenticated.
A limited liability company may be founded by one or more persons, natural or legal, resident or non-resident; the liability of a partner to creditors of the company is limited to the value of that partner's contribution, and the law imposes no requirement that a founder, partner or director hold Georgian citizenship or residence.
Do you need residency, a visa, or a residence permit?
No. Owning or directing a Georgian company does not require Georgian residency, a visa, or a residence permit. Company ownership and immigration status are separate legal matters - you can own a Georgian LLC while living anywhere in the world. If you later want to live in Georgia, that is a separate immigration question with its own rules, and company ownership can be relevant evidence in some permit categories without ever being sufficient by itself.
Two different "residencies" get confused constantly: the company's residency (a Georgian company is a Georgian tax resident) and your personal tax residency (which depends on where you live and each country's rules). Owning a Georgian company does not, by itself, make you a Georgian tax resident - and does not remove your tax obligations where you live.
The question most guides skip: your home country
A Georgian company owned by a foreign founder exists in two legal systems at once, and the second one is the one that surprises people. Many countries have rules - controlled foreign company regimes, management-and-control tests, permanent establishment doctrines - under which a company you own and run from your sofa may be taxable at home regardless of where it is registered. Whether any of these applies to you depends on your country, your role, and where the real decisions are made. The honest position is this: Georgia's side of the structure is straightforward; whether the structure works as a whole is a question that includes your own tax adviser, and asking it after incorporation is asking it late.
Reasoning through a real decision: consultant in Germany, clients worldwide
A consultant living in Germany wants a Georgian LLC for invoicing international clients, drawn by the Estonian-model deferral.
- 1Georgian side: formation is clean, remote route available, 15%/5% only on distribution - all as advertised.
- 2German side: a company managed day-to-day from Germany risks being treated as German tax resident under management-and-control rules, which would tax it as if it were German.
- 3The deciding fact is not the registration certificate but where decisions are actually made - and for a one-person company, that is wherever that person sits.
- 4The realistic options: build genuine Georgian substance and management, relocate, or accept that the structure may not deliver the deferral while German residency continues.
The founder postponed incorporation until after a planned relocation - a better outcome than a company that looked Georgian on paper and German to the German tax office.
Illustrative. Home-country rules differ sharply by jurisdiction; take advice where you live before forming, not after.
Do you have to travel to Georgia?
Usually not. Non-residents typically incorporate remotely by granting a notarised Power of Attorney to a local representative, who signs and files the incorporation documents on their behalf. The Power of Attorney and your passport copy generally need to be apostilled (for Hague Apostille Convention countries) or consular-legalised, and accompanied by a certified Georgian translation. The POA should be narrow: formation powers only, express exclusion of fund disposal, a stated expiry.
The non-resident process, step by step
- Choose the company name and describe the main activity - accurately, because the description follows the company into tax and banking.
- Prepare the Charter, the founders' decision, and the director's consent (usually bilingual Georgian/English).
- Sign a notarised Power of Attorney in your country, then apostille or legalise it together with your passport copy.
- Obtain a certified Georgian translation and courier the originals to Georgia.
- Your representative files with the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) and completes tax registration with the Revenue Service.
- Apply for any preferential tax status separately, and approach a bank or payment provider for onboarding.
The registry filing itself is fast - often about one business day once documents are ready. For non-residents the realistic end-to-end timeline is two to three weeks, dominated by document authentication and courier time rather than the registration.
Tax options a non-resident should understand
The Georgian company that was taxed at home anyway
A founder resident in a country with controlled-foreign-company rules sets up a Georgian LLC, keeps profit inside it, and expects to pay nothing until distribution.
- 1Georgia does exactly what it promises: undistributed profit is not taxed as it is earned.
- 2The founder's own country applies CFC rules, which attribute the profit of a low-taxed foreign company to the resident shareholder whether or not anything is distributed.
- 3It also applies a management-and-control test: the company is directed from the founder's kitchen table, which can make it tax resident there regardless of where it is registered.
- 4The Georgian deferral is real and the home-country charge is also real, and they arrive in the same year.
Georgia's rules describe what Georgia will charge. They say nothing about what your own country will charge, and for a non-resident founder that second question is usually the larger number. It has to be answered by an adviser in your country of residence, before the company exists.
Illustrative. CFC and residence rules differ by country; this is exactly the question this article cannot answer for you.
| Route | Headline | The condition that decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard LLC (Estonian model) | 15% on distributed profit + 5% dividends | None special - this is the default, and reinvested profit is untaxed until distribution |
| Small Business Status (IE) | 1% of turnover to the ceiling | Natural person, eligible activity - advisory professions excluded - and the cap |
| Virtual Zone Person | 0% profit tax on exported IT services | Genuine IT development substance in Georgia; substance-tested, not automatic |
| International Company | 5% profit, 5% payroll, 0% dividends | Qualifying IT/maritime activity with track record; granted case by case |
No status is automatic: each requires a separate application and is substance-tested by the Revenue Service. Which structure fits depends on who pays you, from where, and for what activity. The headline rate is never the whole picture - dividends, payroll, VAT and compliance cost all move the result, and so does your home country's claim, as above.
Banking as a non-resident
A Georgian company is not legally required to hold a Georgian bank account, and many non-resident founders operate through international providers such as Wise, Revolut or Payoneer. If you do want a Georgian account, the bank runs its own onboarding and makes an independent decision - clear ownership, a plain-language activity description, and evidence of your business (website, contracts, invoices) make approval smoother. Registration never guarantees an account, and anyone who promises otherwise is promising something that is not theirs to give.
Common questions
- Do I need a Georgian address? Yes - the company needs a registered legal address in Georgia, with the address owner's consent, and it should be an address where mail is actually handled.
- Can one person be the only owner and director? Yes.
- Do I need a local phone/email? A Georgian contact (phone and email) is used for the registration.
- Is the company registration time-limited? No - registration is indefinite, with no annual renewal fee.
- Does registering guarantee a bank account? No - banking is a separate decision by the financial institution.
- Can a foreign company be the shareholder? Yes, with additional authenticated documents evidencing its existence and the signatory's authority.
What to decide before you start
Three questions, in order: does your home country's tax system leave room for this structure to work; which Georgian tax route fits your actual activity; and how will the company receive money. Founders who answer them in that order incorporate once. Founders who answer them in reverse sometimes incorporate twice.