Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia? Rules for 2026

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia? Rules for 2026

Can foreigners buy property in Georgia? Under the Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, foreigners in Georgia may own, inherit and bequeath any property, and the only limit that matters for most buyers is agricultural land, which the Constitution reserves to the state, local government, Georgian citizens and associations of Georgian citizens. Apartments, houses, commercial premises and non-agricultural land are not subject to that limit. This guide states the rules as they stand on 27 October 2026, using the texts published by the Legislative Herald of Georgia and the fee schedule of the National Agency of Public Registry.

The guide shows what a foreigner may and may not own, how the agricultural-land restriction is built (the definition, the exceptions, the company rules and the consequences), how ownership is registered under the Civil Code, what the Public Registry charges in lari and in US dollars, and how the residence-permit thresholds for property relate to ownership. Prices and fees are shown in US dollars and Georgian lari (GEL) at the National Bank of Georgia official rate of GEL 2.5966 per US dollar on 27 October 2026. Where a figure is a calculation rather than a published number, the text says so.

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia? The Short Answer

The short answer rests on one article of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons. Article 32(1) says aliens in Georgia may own, inherit or bequeath any property and may enjoy non-property rights under Georgian legislation. Article 32(2) adds that these rights may be limited only by a legislative act. So the question becomes: which acts limit them? For real estate, the relevant act is the Organic Law of Georgia on Agricultural Land Ownership (No 4848-IIს, adopted on 25 June 2019), which applies to agricultural land and to nothing else. Its first article states that it applies to the agricultural land within Georgia and regulates ownership of agricultural land parcels.

The table below collects the main points. Each row names the legal basis so that a reader can open the text and check the wording.

The Legal Basis: Constitution Article 19 and the Law on Aliens

Two texts frame the answer. The first is Article 19 of the Constitution of Georgia, headed the right to property. Paragraph 1 recognises the right to own and inherit property. Paragraph 2 allows the state to restrict the right in cases defined by law, by the established procedure, where the public interest requires it. Paragraph 3 covers expropriation, which must be provided for directly by law and, outside urgent cases, rests on a court decision, with preliminary, full and fair compensation exempt from taxes and fees. None of these three paragraphs distinguishes between citizens and foreigners.

Paragraph 4 is the exception. It describes agricultural land as a resource of special importance that may be owned only by the state, a self-governing unit, a citizen of Georgia or an association of citizens of Georgia, and it allows exceptional cases to be determined by an organic law adopted by at least two thirds of all members of Parliament. According to the consolidated text on the Legislative Herald (Matsne), this paragraph entered the Constitution through Constitutional Law No 1324 of 13 October 2017 and was reworded by Constitutional Law No 2071 of 23 March 2018; the latest consolidated edition listed on Matsne is dated 29 June 2020.

The second text is the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, in force since 1 September 2014. Its Article 32 is the general rule quoted above. It does not create a list of permitted assets; it gives foreigners the right to own any property and leaves limits to statutes. For real estate, the limiting statute that the National Agency of Public Registry lists on its legal-acts page is the Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership. The Civil Code of Georgia then supplies the mechanics of acquisition and registration, which later sections cover.

A practical consequence follows from this structure. A buyer does not need a permission, a quota or a declared investment to purchase an apartment or a house on non-agricultural land: the rule is a general right with one statutory carve-out, not a general ban with a list of licences. That is the reason this guide spends most of its length on the carve-out and on the records that show which side of it a parcel falls on.

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia? Asset by Asset

The table sets out the main asset types and how the texts treat them. The word “allowed” here means that the statutes read for this guide contain no restriction on a foreign buyer of that asset; it does not describe the price, the condition of the building or the seller’s title, which are checked separately.

Two points deserve emphasis. First, the Organic Law defines an “alien” in Article 3(c) as a natural person who is neither a citizen of Georgia nor a stateless person in Georgia, and defines a “citizen” in Article 3(b) to include a Georgian citizen who also holds another nationality. A dual national therefore counts as a citizen for agricultural-land purposes, and a stateless person in Georgia is not treated as an alien. Second, the buildings on agricultural land stay inside the Organic Law: Article 3(a) covers agricultural land “with or without buildings and structures on it”. A village house is therefore not automatically outside the restriction merely because it is a house.

Readers weighing the practical side of an apartment purchase can compare the figures on our own listing pages. Per our listing page, Mardi Hills in Batumi is a completed apartment building (2025) with units of 26.95 to 112.21 square metres priced from USD 45,276, and per our listing page Delux Horizon in Batumi offers studio and one-bedroom apartments of 28 to 57 square metres from USD 65,000. Both are apartments, so the agricultural-land rules do not enter the picture. The listing pages and the Batumi price-per-square-metre analysis cover prices; this guide covers the legal question that comes first.

Agricultural Land: The One Category With Restrictions

Agricultural land is defined in Article 3(a) of the Organic Law by category: a land area of the pasture, hayfield, arable land (including land under perennial crops) or homestead land category that is used or may be used for agricultural purposes, with or without buildings and structures. The Tax Code uses a parallel list in Article 200: arable land including perennial crops, grassland, pastureland and homestead land are agricultural land, and non-agricultural land is any land other than agricultural land. Two different codes therefore use the same four-part list, and the category recorded for a parcel is what ties it to either side.

The Organic Law states its purpose in a preamble: it treats the land of Georgia as a national treasure with special political, social, economic, ecological and cultural value, and it aims to protect national security and local farming. That purpose explains the structure. The law does not forbid foreign ownership of land in general; it controls who may hold land that is used or usable for farming.

What officials said in February 2026

Agricultural land was also the subject of public statements by the Prime Minister this year. According to Georgia Today of 13 February 2026, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said a constitutional amendment would prohibit the alienation of agricultural land to foreigners. According to Imedi of 18 February 2026, he told Parliament that constitutional amendments had completely banned the alienation of agricultural land to foreigners. Neither report quotes an amendment text. This guide therefore relies on the texts published on Matsne on 27 October 2026, in which Article 19(4) of the Constitution and the Organic Law are as described here; if a later amendment changes either, the amended text governs.

Why the restriction matters for ordinary buyers

For a buyer of an apartment, the restriction is unlikely to arise. It becomes relevant in three situations: a plot sold for a future house, a rural house with a garden, and a purchase through a company that also holds land. In each, the first question is the category recorded in the Public Registry, not the description in an advertisement.

Who May Hold Agricultural Land Under Article 4

Article 4 of the Organic Law is the core of the regime. Paragraph 1 lists the ordinary holders. Paragraph 2 lists the exceptions, which are available only within the limits of the law. Paragraph 3 exempts certain financial institutions. Paragraph 4 extends the test through chains of companies. The table summarises the structure.

The dominant-partner test with worked examples

A “dominant partner” is defined in Article 3(d) as a partner, or group of partners, of a Georgian-registered private legal entity that owns more than 50 per cent of the equity, shares or units (or forms the majority of partners or members, depending on the entity type) and at the same time has a practical ability to have a decisive influence on the entity’s decisions about agricultural land. The arithmetic matters, so three illustrative cases show how the definition works. They are constructed examples, not records of real companies.

• A Georgian LLC has two partners: a Georgian citizen with 60 per cent and a foreign individual with 40 per cent. The citizen owns more than 50 per cent, so, assuming the practical ability to decide, the dominant partner is a citizen and Article 4(1)(d) applies.
• The same LLC is held 50 per cent by a citizen and 50 per cent by a foreign individual. Nobody owns more than 50 per cent, so a dominant partner cannot be established. Article 4(2)(b) names this case: the company may own agricultural land only on the basis of an investment plan by a Government decision.
• A Georgian LLC “A” is 70 per cent owned by a Georgian LLC “B”, and “B” is 80 per cent owned by a foreign individual. Under Article 4(4), the title of “A” follows the dominant partner of its partner entity “B”, and the rule applies to each further entity in the chain. The dominant partner behind the chain is the foreign individual, so Article 4(2)(b) applies again.

These examples explain why the headline answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia changes when the buyer is a company and the asset is farmland, while it does not change for an apartment bought through the same company.

Inheritance, Banks and the State’s Priority Right

The Organic Law leaves four further features that readers often ask about. Each is stated here as the text puts it.

Inheritance

Article 4(2)(a) allows an alien to own agricultural land if the alien inherited it. Article 7(5) confirms that the bans on changing partners and on enforcing pledges do not apply to cases of inheritance of title by aliens. The text sets no obligation to sell inherited land; the sale obligation in Article 5(1) concerns companies that fail to perform an investment plan.

Banks and other lenders

Article 4(3) lifts the limitations for an international financial institution designated by a Government ordinance and for a financial institution determined by Georgian legislation, where title arises within permitted activities, including a creditor taking collateral. Article 6 generally bars pledging agricultural land with a condition that title passes to an alien or a foreign-controlled company, but Article 6(4) exempts the same Article 4(3) institutions.

Failure to meet an investment plan

If a company with a foreign dominant partner fails to fulfil the obligation set by its investment plan, Article 5(1) requires it to alienate the parcel within one year after an authorised body makes a decision. Under Article 5(3), if the obligee does not alienate the parcel, it passes into state ownership under the procedure set by Georgian legislation. Article 5(2) applies investment-plan requirements to privatisation of state agricultural land to such companies.

The state’s priority right

Article 8(3) establishes the Estate Fund of Georgia, financed from the State Budget, through which the state holds a priority right of redemption of agricultural land according to procedures and cases provided by legislation. For a buyer, this is a reminder that agricultural land is a regulated market even among citizens.

Titles that already existed

Article 10 protects earlier situations. Registration of title to agricultural land in lawful ownership or use under title documents issued before the 2019 law is not blocked (Article 10(1)); the obligations of the law do not apply to titles of aliens already registered when it took effect (Article 10(2)); and a registered owner who later loses Georgian citizenship is not made subject to the obligations of aliens for that registered title (Article 10(3)).

Reading the Land Category Before Paying

Because the rules depend on category, the category recorded in the Public Registry is the document to read first. The National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR) keeps the Real Estate Registry, the Restrictions Registry and the Pledge and Leasing Registry, among others, and issues extracts from them. Its published fee schedule shows that extracts cost GEL 20 in 1 working day or GEL 75 on the same day, and GEL 13 or GEL 52 respectively when requested electronically over the internet.

The same schedule lists a service titled registration of changes to the designated purpose and category of agricultural land, at GEL 150 in 4 working days, GEL 270 in 1 working day and GEL 350 on the day of filing. The existence of that service shows that the category is a registered attribute that can change by registration; it does not say who may apply or on what conditions, and this guide does not claim either. What a buyer can do is read the extract as it stands on the day of the transaction and keep a dated copy.

Three category checks are worth making in order:

1. Is the parcel recorded as pasture, hayfield, arable land or homestead land? If yes, the Organic Law applies to it, including any building on it.
2. If the parcel is recorded in another category, does the extract match the seller’s description and the contract?
3. Are there registered restrictions, pledges or leases on the parcel or the building?

A parcel can look residential and still carry an agricultural category, because Article 3(a) ties the definition to the recorded land category, not to appearance. That is why the buyer reads the register entry rather than relying on how the plot looks or is advertised.

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia Through a Company?

Many buyers ask whether a Georgian company changes the answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia. For apartments, houses and non-agricultural land, the Organic Law has nothing to say, because it regulates agricultural land only. The Law on Aliens also gives aliens the right to own any property, and the company route is therefore a question of preference (for example, shared ownership or business use), not a legal workaround for a restriction.

For agricultural land, the company route is the one the Organic Law addresses explicitly. A Georgian-registered private company with a foreign dominant partner can own agricultural land only on the basis of an investment plan and a decision of the Government of Georgia (Article 4(2)(b)). The investment plan is defined in Article 3(e) as documents on the use of the parcel that provide for investment in production of agricultural or other products, innovation, tourism infrastructure, or projects of international, state or local importance, serving social and economic development, national security and job creation. A company that does not perform must alienate the parcel within a year of the authorised body’s decision, and a company whose partners change after acquisition is subject to Article 7: a change that makes an alien the dominant partner is barred unless allowed under an investment plan by Government ordinance (Article 7(3)), although partners of an Article 4(2)(b) company may be changed without further agreement unless the plan says otherwise (Article 7(4)).

The same logic means a company is not a way to buy a farm plot that a foreign individual could not buy. It is a regulated route with an approval step.

How Ownership Is Registered: the Civil Code and the Public Registry

Title to real estate in Georgia is acquired through two steps. Civil Code Article 183(1) states that to acquire an immovable thing, the transaction must be made in writing and the acquirer’s ownership right must be registered in the Public Registry. Civil Code Article 311 describes the Public Registry as the collection of records of the origin, modification and termination of rights to things, together with attachments and liens.

Article 311-1 sets out how a written transaction reaches the register. A transaction made in writing is submitted to the Public Registry to register the right, and the transaction or the signatures of the parties are authenticated under the procedure laid down by law. If the parties sign the transaction in the registration authority in the presence of an authorised person, authentication is not needed for the transaction to be valid. The same article adds that, where the law so provides, transactions take effect on registration.

Article 312 gives the register its legal weight. Register records are presumed accurate until proved incorrect, and an entry is deemed accurate in favour of a person who acquires a right from the registered transferor, unless a complaint has been filed against the entry or the acquirer knows the entry is wrong. Article 185 says the same from the acquirer’s side: the transferor is treated as owner if registered as such, except where the acquirer knew the transferor was not the owner. The Constitutional Court of Georgia, in Decision No 3/4/550 of 17 October 2017, held the content of Article 185 unconstitutional where the register entry has been appealed and the acquirer is aware of that fact. For a buyer, the point is practical: the register is the starting document, and a known dispute over an entry changes the position.

NAPR publishes sample documents for the paperwork. Its list includes a purchase agreement, a purchase agreement for immovable property with payment by instalments, an instalment version for amounts below GEL 20,000, and a combined purchase and mortgage agreement with instalments. NAPR also states that immovable property rights can be registered online through a smart contract, with a virtual meeting booked in advance. Its service-centres page lists the Adjara Regional Office in Batumi at Sh. Khimshiashvili Street 7, and the page refers to branches and Houses of Justice more generally.

What the Public Registry charges

The fee page of NAPR lists the cost of registering a change in the right to immovable property by speed of service. The dollar column below is a calculation at the National Bank of Georgia rate of GEL 2.5966 per US dollar on 27 October 2026.

The schedule is silent on who bears each fee, and this guide does not assume it; the sale contract is where parties allocate costs. The schedule gives the amounts for the service, nothing more.

Registry Costs in Dollars: Worked Arithmetic

Readers who ask can foreigners buy property in Georgia usually also ask what the registration costs. To see how small the registry fee is against the price, take the two apartments cited earlier and convert them at GEL 2.5966 per dollar. The prices are the “from” prices on our listing pages, so the figures are illustrations, not quotations for any unit.

• Mardi Hills, from USD 45,276: 45,276 x 2.5966 = GEL 117,563.66. The fee of GEL 150 is 0.128 per cent of that price (150 / 117,563.66), GEL 270 is 0.230 per cent and GEL 350 is 0.298 per cent.
• Delux Horizon, from USD 65,000: 65,000 x 2.5966 = GEL 168,779.00. GEL 150 is 0.089 per cent, GEL 270 is 0.160 per cent and GEL 350 is 0.207 per cent.
• An illustrative USD 80,000 apartment: 80,000 x 2.5966 = GEL 207,728. GEL 150 is 0.072 per cent, GEL 270 is 0.130 per cent and GEL 350 is 0.168 per cent.

These percentages describe the registry fee only. They exclude notarial costs where a notary is used, any legal-service costs and the taxes discussed below. The next guide in this batch, how to buy property in Georgia, follows the purchase step by step with offices, documents and timings, and the guide on mortgages for foreigners in Georgia covers financing. Because the register fee is a flat amount in lari, a purchase priced in dollars sees the dollar value of the fee move with the exchange rate: on the National Bank’s rate of 2.5966, GEL 150 is USD 57.77, and a different rate on another day changes that figure.

Can Foreigners Buy Property in Georgia Without Living There?

Yes, as far as the ownership provisions go. Article 32 of the Law on Aliens does not make ownership conditional on residence, and the Civil Code mechanics apply to every acquirer. Our legal-tips guide and our residence-permit guide take the same position on ownership of non-agricultural property, and the guide on buying property in Georgia from abroad deals with the practicalities of doing it remotely.

Ownership and residence are separate questions. The Law on Aliens sets residence-permit categories by grounds, and three of them involve real estate or investment:

The USD 150,000 figure in Articles 7(3)(d.e) and 15(j) replaced USD 100,000. The consolidated edition of the law dated 26 June 2025 on Matsne marks the new figure as becoming effective from 1 March 2026. The text speaks of market value established by a certified assessor of a body accredited by the Georgian Accreditation Centre, so the valuation, not the price in the sale contract, is the measure.

At the National Bank rate of 27 October 2026, USD 150,000 equals GEL 389,490 (150,000 x 2.5966), and USD 300,000 equals GEL 778,980. A unit priced from USD 45,276 or USD 65,000 is well below the lower threshold on its own price. Owning property does not itself grant a permit: the permit is a separate application under the Law on Aliens, and the law says a permit “may be issued” on the stated ground. The residence-permit mechanics, documents and renewal are covered in our guide to the residency permit in Georgia.

Taxes at Purchase: What the Tax Code Lists

Whether there is a tax on buying property is a frequent follow-up to the question can foreigners buy property in Georgia, and the Tax Code gives a structural answer. Article 5(2) says no tax obligation may be imposed that is not provided for in the Code. Article 6 lists national taxes as income tax, profit tax, value added tax, excise tax and import duty, and states that property tax is a local tax. The Code’s list contains no separate tax on registering a change of owner. VAT, income tax and profit tax can still arise from particular transactions, for example on a developer’s supply or on the profit from a sale, and the rules depend on the seller and the buyer.

Property tax is the ongoing tax for owners. Article 201 makes a natural person a payer of property tax on real estate that the person owns, Articles 202 and 206 contain the rate and exemption provisions for taxable property other than land, and land has its own rules in Articles 203 and 204. These provisions have been amended several times, so the current consolidated text on Matsne is the reference. The details, worked examples and the treatment of rental income are in the batch guide on property tax in Georgia, and rules differ by person.

A Document Checklist for the Ownership Question

The following sequence turns the answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia into documents. It follows the order in which each rule matters, not an order of payment.

1. An extract from the Public Registry for the property, dated as close to the transaction as possible. It shows the registered owner, the land category and recorded restrictions, pledges and leases.
2. A check that the seller named in the contract is the registered owner. Civil Code Articles 185 and 312 protect an acquirer who relies on the register in good faith, but not one who knows the entry is wrong or under appeal.
3. A land-category check for any house or plot, with a dated copy of the extract.
4. Where a company is involved: its partners and their shareholdings, to apply the dominant-partner test if any agricultural land is involved.
5. A written contract. NAPR’s sample purchase agreements show the form; Article 311-1 lets the parties sign at the registration authority before an authorised person or have signatures authenticated under the law.
6. Payment records that match the price in the contract.
7. The registration application and fee for the chosen speed (GEL 150, GEL 270 or GEL 350), and the new extract showing the buyer as owner.
8. If a residence permit is planned: an appraisal by a certified assessor of an accredited body, since the Law on Aliens uses market value rather than price.

City-level questions of price, supply and districts are separate from these legal steps. The Georgia country page, the Batumi page and the Tbilisi page list projects and areas, the guide to Tbilisi real estate prices sets out price data, and the guide to off-plan property in Batumi covers buildings still under construction. Those who compare markets by budget can look at what USD 100,000 buys in six property markets and at living in Georgia as a foreigner. For the wider picture of the market, see the Georgia real estate market guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can foreigners buy property in Georgia without a residence permit?

Yes. Article 32 of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens lets aliens in Georgia own, inherit and bequeath any property and allows limits only by a legislative act. The residence-permit provisions are a separate regime with their own thresholds, so the practical answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia is that ownership does not depend on holding a permit.

Can a foreigner buy an apartment in Batumi or Tbilisi?

Yes. For apartments the answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia is a plain yes: an apartment is not agricultural land, and the Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership applies to agricultural land only. Ownership is acquired by a written transaction and registration of the buyer’s right in the Public Registry under Civil Code Article 183(1).

Can foreigners own land in Georgia?

On land, the answer to can foreigners buy property in Georgia splits by category. Foreigners can own non-agricultural land. Agricultural land (pasture, hayfield, arable land and homestead land, with or without buildings) can be acquired by a foreign individual only by inheritance. The land category recorded in the Public Registry decides which rules apply, which is why the category check comes before the contract.

Can foreigners buy property in Georgia through a Georgian company?

For apartments, houses and non-agricultural land, a company is an ownership choice, not a legal requirement. For agricultural land, a Georgian-registered company with an alien or foreign-registered dominant partner, or one whose dominant partner cannot be established, may own it only on an investment plan approved by a decision of the Government of Georgia (Organic Law Art. 4(2)(b)).

Can a foreigner inherit property in Georgia?

Yes. Article 32(1) of the Law on Aliens covers inheriting and bequeathing property, and Article 4(2)(a) of the Organic Law allows an alien to own agricultural land that the alien inherited.

Is there a minimum price or a limit on the number of properties?

The rules on can foreigners buy property in Georgia read for this guide set no minimum purchase price and no cap on the number of properties for foreign buyers. The dollar thresholds in the Law on Aliens (USD 150,000 and USD 300,000) are conditions for residence-permit grounds, not conditions for owning.

What does it cost to register a purchase?

According to the National Agency of Public Registry, registering a change of right to immovable property costs GEL 150 in 4 working days, GEL 270 in 1 working day and GEL 350 on the day of filing. At the National Bank rate of GEL 2.5966 per dollar on 27 October 2026, those are about USD 57.77, USD 103.98 and USD 134.79.

Does buying property give a residence permit?

Reading can foreigners buy property in Georgia as a residence question mixes two regimes. No purchase gives a permit by itself. The Law on Aliens provides that a short-term residence permit may be issued to an alien who owns non-agricultural immovable property with a market value above USD 150,000 equivalent in GEL, established by a certified assessor, and the permit is a separate application. It lasts one year at a time and ends if the ownership ends.

Is there a transfer tax on buying property in Georgia?

The national taxes in Article 6 of the Tax Code are income tax, profit tax, VAT, excise tax and import duty, and property tax is a local tax; the Code lists no separate tax on registering a change of owner. Other taxes can arise from the particular transaction, as covered in our guide to property tax in Georgia.

Last checked: 27 October 2026. Sources: Constitution of Georgia (Legislative Herald); Organic Law on Agricultural Land Ownership; Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons; Law on Aliens, edition of 26 June 2025; Civil Code of Georgia; Tax Code of Georgia; NAPR fees and terms; NAPR sample documents; NAPR smart contract service; NAPR service centers; NAPR legal acts; National Agency of Public Registry; National Bank of Georgia official exchange rates; Georgia Today, 13 February 2026; Imedi, 18 February 2026.