Georgia Launches Foreigners' Registry With Biometric Tracking Sept. 1

Georgia is rolling out a centralized Foreigners' Registry on September 1, 2026, a database designed to track the legal status, entry and service use of every foreign citizen in the country. For digital nomads and long-stay expats, it signals a shift from occasional paper checks to automated, cross-referenced verification of residency and work status.

What changed

Under amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, the State Services Development Agency will run a single registry that consolidates records previously scattered across border, labor and justice systems. Biometric data, including fingerprints, will feed the system. A separate Ministry of Internal Affairs database tracking foreigners who stay without legal grounds has already been operating since October 1, 2025.

Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze described the registry to parliament as enabling "detailed accounting and control" of entry and service use, comparing it to the civil registry used for Georgian citizens. Importantly, the system covers every category of foreigner — tourists included. Tourist entries get logged, so overstays flow into the violators' database that drives entry bans.

The work-permit squeeze

A bigger change actually landed earlier. Since March 1, 2026, most foreigners doing paid work in Georgia have needed a work permit — and that explicitly includes remote workers earning from Georgia-based activity and contractors serving Georgian clients. Penalties are steep: fines around 2,000 GEL per violation, doubled for repeat offenses, plus possible deportation and re-entry bans of up to 10 years.

Labor migrants already on the Ministry of Labor's registry as of March 1 have until January 1, 2027 to regularize their permits and residence documents. That transition window is the one firm deadline current holders can't afford to miss. From September, labor status and residence permits will be queried from the same unified system rather than reconciled afterward, so anyone in that group who hasn't begun the paperwork should start now.

What it means for nomads

Georgia has long been popular with nomads for its relaxed one-year visa-free entry for many nationalities. These changes tighten that reputation. The government has not yet published the ordinances defining exactly which agencies and private providers will query the registry in real time, so everyday friction points — banks, mobile contracts, notary transactions — aren't fully mapped yet.

The practical takeaway: assume residence and work status will be checked more often and more automatically than a year ago. If you plan a longer stay in Georgia or earn income tied to Georgian clients, confirm whether you need a work permit and keep your residency documents in order. Casual overstays that once went unnoticed are more likely to surface in a linked database — and translate into entry bans down the line.

Originally reported by Stamped Nomad.