Most guides on how to register a company in Georgia stop at "it takes one day". That part is true. What costs people weeks is everything the registry checks before it says yes: the legal address consent, the charter, the name in Georgian script. Get those right and you leave the Public Service Hall with a certificate. Get one wrong and you file twice, and pay twice.
What you are actually registering
Georgia runs one registrar for businesses: the National Agency of Public Registry, which sits under the Ministry of Justice. You file at a Public Service Hall counter or through the agency's online channels, and your company is entered into the Registry of Entrepreneurs and Non-Commercial Legal Entities.
Registration and tax registration happen in the same act. The identification number printed on your extract is also your tax number, so there is no second trip to the Revenue Service to become a taxpayer.
That single-window design is why the process is quick. It is also why errors are expensive. The registry does not negotiate over a missing document. It suspends the application and waits.
Pick the legal form before you go
Deciding at the counter is how people end up with the wrong entity. The four forms foreign founders actually use look like this.
| Legal form | Who it suits | Liability | State fee, 1 working day |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC (შპს) | Most foreign founders, one or more owners | Limited to company assets | 200 GEL |
| Individual Entrepreneur | Solo freelancers and consultants | Unlimited, personal | 26 GEL |
| Joint Stock Company (სს) | Share-issuing and investor structures | Limited to company assets | 200 GEL |
| Branch of a foreign company | An existing overseas parent trading here | Parent company carries it | 200 GEL |
Fees come from the agency's published fees and terms schedule, where everything other than an Individual Entrepreneur is charged as an "entrepreneurial entity".
For most people the real decision is a two-way one, and it is driven by tax treatment and filing burden rather than prestige. Our breakdown of LLC versus Individual Entrepreneur walks through which one survives contact with a foreign client, a bank and an accountant.
What the registry wants to see
A name that clears the register
Search the existing register before you print anything. The public registry of entrepreneurs lets you look up any registered entity by name or identification code, and it is the same database the clerk checks.
The register runs its searches in Georgian, so a name you only ever tested in Latin script tells you nothing. Transliterate it first, then search, then decide.
A Georgian legal address plus the owner's consent
Your company needs a physical address in Georgia and written consent from whoever owns that address. A lease alone is not automatically enough. The consent is a specific document, and it is the single most common reason a filing stalls.
Filing without valid owner consent to the legal address gets the application suspended, and a re-filing is a fresh state fee. Confirm in writing that your landlord will sign before you book the appointment, not after.
A charter that matches your actual plan
The Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurs was rewritten and took effect at the start of 2022, which reset what a charter has to contain. Templates floating around from older expat forums are not reliable. Have the charter drafted or at least reviewed against the current law, especially if you have more than one founder or any non-standard share arrangement.
Identity documents
Bring your passport. A foreign passport normally needs a notarised Georgian translation, and if anyone else is filing on your behalf they need a notarised power of attorney naming the specific act. A Georgian phone number and a working email keep you reachable while the file is open.
What it costs at the counter
These are the agency's published state fees. They are the government's charge only, not a lawyer, translator or notary.
| Service | 1 working day | Same day |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurial entity registration (LLC, JSC, branch) | 200 GEL | 400 GEL |
| Individual Entrepreneur registration | 26 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Changes to registered data (Individual Entrepreneur) | 26 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Paper extract from the register | 20 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Electronic extract | 13 GEL | 52 GEL |
Same-day service roughly doubles the fee. Unless a bank appointment or a contract deadline depends on it, next-working-day is fine. Our full cost breakdown for registration adds the translation, notary and accounting line items that sit on top.
The fee schedule lists a surcharge for issuing documents in English. Order one on day one: foreign banks, Stripe, Payoneer and most overseas clients will ask for an English extract, and going back for it later is another trip and another fee.
The filing day, in order
- Confirm the name against the register.
- Collect the address consent, passport translation and charter.
- Take a ticket at a Public Service Hall and file the application.
- Pay the state fee and choose your speed.
- Collect the extract with your identification number.
- Order an English-language extract in the same visit.
Steps one to three are the work. Steps four to six are the easy part, which is why the "one day" framing misleads people. Firms that handle this daily compress the preparation, and our ranked list of company registration firms in Tbilisi shows who publishes flat fees for it.
Registering without flying to Tbilisi
The agency now offers remote registration as an Individual Entrepreneur using smart-contract technology, and it describes this remote registration service as available to Georgian citizens holding a valid national ID or passport. If you are not a Georgian citizen, that route is not open to you.
Foreign founders use a different mechanism: a notarised, apostilled power of attorney authorising someone in Georgia to file on your behalf. It works, it is routine, and it lives or dies on the wording of the power of attorney. We cover the sequence and the document wording in our guide to registering a Georgian company remotely.
The first two weeks after the certificate
The certificate is a starting line. Four things follow, and they are the part that decides whether year one is quiet or painful.
Open a business bank account. Georgian banks run their own compliance on foreign directors, and approval is not automatic just because the registry approved you. Expect questions about your clients, your revenue source and your residency.
Get access to the Revenue Service taxpayer portal. The agency's e-services directory covers taxpayer registration, declarations and the public registers of VAT payers and taxpayers, which is also how you check whether a counterparty is VAT-registered before you invoice them.
Decide your tax regime deliberately. Small Business Status for an Individual Entrepreneur, ordinary corporate treatment for an LLC, or a special status such as Virtual Zone for software work: each has conditions, and the rates and ceilings change. Confirm the current numbers with a professional rather than copying a figure from a forum post.
Put bookkeeping in place before month one closes. Working with English-speaking accountants in Tbilisi from the start is cheaper than reconstructing nine months of records in March. Our post-registration checklist lists the filings in the order they fall due.
We research the company registration services working in Tbilisi and rank the ones worth paying. Independently researched, re-checked quarterly, free to read.
See the ranked list
Where foreign founders lose time
Treating registration as a bank approval
The registry and the banks are separate gatekeepers with separate standards. A clean company file does not guarantee an account, and a rejection at one bank does not mean a rejection at the next.
Choosing the tax status after the fact
Some regimes have to be applied for, and some are harder to obtain once you have already been trading under a different treatment. A short session with tax advisors in Tbilisi before you file is worth more than a correction afterwards.
Assuming a company grants residency
Owning a Georgian company is not the same as holding a Georgian residence permit, and the two are assessed on different criteria. If your plan is to live here, run the immigration question in parallel with the company question and get an opinion from immigration lawyers in Tbilisi rather than assuming the company solves it.
Key takeaways
- One registrar handles it: the National Agency of Public Registry, filed at a Public Service Hall, with tax registration included in the same act.
- Published state fees are 200 GEL for an entrepreneurial entity next working day, 400 GEL same day, and 26 GEL or 75 GEL for an Individual Entrepreneur.
- The legal address consent, the charter and the name check are the three things that decide whether you file once or twice.
- Order an English-language extract in the first visit; foreign banks and payment processors will ask for it.
- Remote self-registration as an Individual Entrepreneur is a Georgian-citizen service. Foreigners register through a power of attorney.
- The certificate is the easy part. Banking, bookkeeping and your tax regime are where the first month actually goes.
FAQ
How long does it take to register a company in Georgia?
The registration itself is same-day or next working day, depending on the fee you pay. The preparation is what takes longer: gathering the address consent, the notarised passport translation and the charter usually adds a few days. Founders who arrive with a complete file genuinely walk out with an extract.
Can a foreigner own 100% of a Georgian company?
Yes. Georgian law does not require a local shareholder or a local director for a standard LLC, and full foreign ownership is ordinary. Certain regulated sectors carry their own licensing conditions, so check if you are entering banking, insurance or similar. For general trading, consulting and software work there is no ownership restriction.
Do I need to be in Georgia to register a company?
No. You can register through a representative acting under a notarised and apostilled power of attorney, which is the standard route for founders who never land in Tbilisi. The remote self-service registration the public registry advertises is limited to Georgian citizens with a valid national ID or passport. Budget extra days for apostilles and courier time.
How much does it cost to register a company in Georgia?
The state fee is 200 GEL for an entrepreneurial entity registered within one working day, or 400 GEL for same-day service, per the public registry's published schedule. An Individual Entrepreneur costs 26 GEL or 75 GEL on the same logic. Translation, notary, legal address and charter drafting are separate and are usually the larger share of the bill.
Is there a minimum share capital for a Georgian LLC?
Georgian law does not impose a fixed statutory minimum for a standard LLC; the founders set the capital in the charter. The Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurs was rewritten with effect from 2022 and changed several charter requirements, so confirm the current drafting rules with a lawyer before filing. Do not reuse a charter template from an older article.
Do I need a Georgian legal address?
Yes. Every registered entity needs a legal address in Georgia, and the owner of that address must give written consent to its use. Service providers offer legal address packages if you do not have your own premises. This is the most common single point of failure in a filing.
Does registering a company give me residency in Georgia?
No. Company ownership does not automatically produce a residence permit, and the immigration authority assesses permits on their own criteria. Some permit categories do consider business activity and investment, but they have separate requirements and documentation. Treat the company and the permit as two parallel projects.
Can I do everything in English?
Filings and the register itself operate in Georgian, so documents in other languages need certified translation. You can order an official extract in English for an additional fee, which is what banks and overseas counterparties want to see. Most registration firms in Tbilisi work in English with you and handle the Georgian-language side themselves.
What is the difference between an LLC and an Individual Entrepreneur?
An LLC is a separate legal person, so liability is limited to company assets and you can add shareholders later. An Individual Entrepreneur is you, personally, with an added registration, so liability is unlimited but the setup fee and admin load are far lower. Tax treatment differs significantly between the two. The right answer depends on your clients, revenue and risk exposure.
What happens if my application is refused or suspended?
The registry suspends rather than refuses in most cases, and tells you what is missing. You supply the missing document within the stated period and the file proceeds. If the period lapses, you start again and pay the state fee again, which is why a pre-checked file matters more than same-day speed.
Do I need an accountant immediately?
You need one before your first filing deadline, not after it. Even a dormant company has periodic obligations, and monthly declarations start once you are trading. Georgian accounting is inexpensive by Western standards, and the cost of catching up on missed filings is not.