Most guides tell you a Georgian company takes one day to register. True, if you are standing in a Public Service Hall with your passport. Try to register a company in Georgia remotely and that one day turns into three weeks of notaries, apostilles and couriers. It is still worth doing. Here is the exact paperwork chain, what it costs, and the one step no power of attorney can complete for you.
Can you actually do this without flying in?
Yes. Georgian law does not require a founder to appear in person. The National Agency of Public Registry FAQ confirms that a representative may file on your behalf, provided the document granting that authority is notarised or signed under Georgia's law on electronic documents and electronic trust services.
That sentence is the whole mechanism. Everything else here is about getting a valid authorisation from wherever you are into the hands of someone standing in Tbilisi. "Remote" means remote for you, not for everyone. A human still walks into a registration desk. You are hiring that walk.
The three remote routes, compared
There is no single path. Which one you use depends on what identity documents you already hold.
| Route | Who it works for | What you need | Realistic timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power of attorney to a local representative | Foreign founders with no Georgian ID | Notarised and apostilled PoA, passport copy, courier | 2 to 4 weeks, mostly notary and post |
| Qualified electronic signature | People who already hold a Georgian ID card with active certificates | Georgian ID card, card reader, active e-signature | Days |
| Fly in and file yourself | Anyone who can travel | Passport, one morning at a Public Service Hall | 1 to 2 days on the ground |
Route two is the one people misread. In 2025 the Public Registry launched a remote registration session for individual entrepreneurs, and its own announcement of the digital service states it is available to Georgian citizens holding a valid national ID card or passport. Foreign founders without a Georgian ID cannot book that session. Plenty of blog posts skip that line.
The document chain differs depending on what you are forming, and redoing a notarised power of attorney is expensive. Settle the LLC versus individual entrepreneur question before anyone drafts anything.
The power of attorney: get this right or repeat it
This is where remote registrations fail, and the failure is always discovered after the courier has already delivered the envelope.
Notarisation
Sign the power of attorney in front of a notary where you are. The notary certifies your signature, not the contents. Keep the wording broad enough that your representative can also register the legal address, collect the extract and handle tax registration, or you will pay for a second document within a fortnight.
Apostille
Georgia has been a contracting party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2007, per the HCCH status table for the 1961 Convention. If your notary sits in another contracting state, you need an apostille on the notarised power of attorney, not full consular legalisation. If your country is not a party, you are back to legalisation through a Georgian diplomatic mission, which is slower.
Translation
The document arrives in a foreign language. It has to be translated into Georgian and the translation certified locally. Your representative usually arranges this in Tbilisi, where it is cheaper than doing it at home. Budget one extra working day and confirm the current rate with whoever you hire.
A signature at a Georgian consulate
Georgian diplomatic missions perform notarial acts, so if there is a Georgian embassy or consulate near you, signing the power of attorney there can remove the apostille step entirely. Availability varies by mission, so call first.
The documents your representative files
For a limited liability company, the core filing is the founding agreement, which contains the charter. The Public Registry's FAQ states it must be signed by all founders and notarially attested, unless it is certified by the agency itself or executed electronically under the trust services law.
The agency publishes ready-made templates, including LLC founding agreements under the standard charter, one of them drafted without stated capital. The standard charter is faster. An individual charter is worth the delay only when you have partners and real governance to agree.
You also need a Georgian legal address. If the property owner is not one of the founders, the FAQ requires their consent, certified in the appropriate form. Most remote founders rent an address from the law firm or accountant handling the filing, who supplies that consent as part of the package.
What it costs at the registry
These are the state fees, published on the Public Registry's own fees and terms schedule. They are not the whole cost of a remote registration, but they are the part nobody can mark up on you.
| Registry service | Standard term | Standard fee | Same-day fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration of an entrepreneurial entity (LLC and similar) | 1 working day | 200 GEL | 400 GEL |
| Registration of an individual entrepreneur | 1 working day | 26 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Registry extract | 1 working day | 20 GEL | 75 GEL |
| Electronic extract request | 1 working day | 13 GEL | 52 GEL |
| Extract issued in English | added to the service above | plus 26 GEL | plus 26 GEL |
Two things follow. Same-day processing doubles the fee and is rarely worth it remotely, because your bottleneck is the courier, not the desk. And order the English extract alongside the Georgian one, since foreign banks and payment processors will ask for it and requesting it later means paying twice.
Fees are set by decree and do change, so check the schedule on the day your representative files. Treat any quote that bundles state fees into one undivided lump sum with suspicion. Our breakdown of company registration costs separates state fees from service fees.
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
The bank account is the real bottleneck
The registration is the easy half. Georgian banks apply their own customer due diligence, and for a company owned by a non-resident who has never set foot in the country, that usually means the director appearing in a branch.
Some banks start the file remotely and finish it on arrival. Some decline a non-resident structure with no local substance and never say why. No power of attorney overrides a bank's onboarding policy, because the bank is not obliged to accept one.
Treat any package that promises a guaranteed Georgian bank account for a non-resident founder as a claim, not a fact. Banks make the decision, not your agent. Ask for the fee to be split so the account portion is only due once the account is actually open.
If the account matters more than the timeline, register remotely and then travel once, carrying the extract, the charter and a plausible explanation of what the company does. One trip solves what six weeks of correspondence will not.
Tax registration and the first month
Your company gets its identification number at registration, and that number is also its tax number. You are on the Revenue Service's books from day one, whether or not you have started trading.
Filing obligations begin immediately. Declarations fall due even for a company with no revenue, and penalties for silence compound quietly. This is where remote founders lose money, usually two or three months in.
Special regimes are a separate application and are never automatic. If you plan to trade under a reduced-rate regime or run an IT company, a qualified tax advisor in Tbilisi is worth an hour of your money, and our post-registration checklist covers the sequence. Put an accountant on retainer from month one: remote directors cannot see a missed filing until it has already happened.
Why remote registrations stall
Five failures cover almost everything we see. The power of attorney is drafted too narrowly, so the representative can form the company but cannot register the address or collect the extract. The apostille is attached to the wrong page, or to an uncertified copy.
The founder's name is transliterated one way on the passport and another in the Georgian translation, which the registry reads as two people. The company name is already taken, because nobody checked before drafting the charter. And the address consent is missing, because the founder assumed a rented flat would do and the landlord never agreed in writing.
None of these are legal problems. They are logistics problems, which is why a competent firm from our list of company registration specialists in Tbilisi saves more time than any procedural shortcut.
Registering a company does not give you residency
Owning or directing a Georgian company is not by itself a residence permit, and this catches out people who registered remotely expecting one to follow. Business-based permits are assessed separately, on their own criteria.
If residency is the goal rather than a side effect, talk to immigration lawyers in Tbilisi before you choose an entity type. The structure you pick shapes the application you can make later.
Key takeaways
- A representative may file on your behalf, so you never have to appear in person to form the company.
- The authorisation must be notarised and usually apostilled, then translated into Georgian.
- The Public Registry's remote digital session is limited to Georgian citizens with a valid national ID, so it does not help foreign founders.
- State fees are published and modest; same-day processing doubles them for no real gain when the courier is your delay.
- Order the English extract at the same time as the Georgian one.
- The bank account is the step that usually still requires a trip.
- Filing obligations start the day you register, not the day you start trading.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner register a company in Georgia remotely?
Yes. A foreign founder can appoint a representative in Georgia to file the registration, and the Public Registry accepts filings from an authorised representative. The authority must be notarised, or electronically signed under Georgia's electronic trust services law. You need neither a residence permit nor a Georgian address of your own to be a founder.
How long does remote registration take?
The registry decision takes one working day, or the same day if you pay the expedited fee. The realistic overall timeline is two to four weeks, because notarisation, apostille and courier all happen before anything reaches Tbilisi. Signing at a Georgian consulate compresses that considerably.
How much does it cost to register remotely?
The state fee for a limited liability company is 200 GEL for next working day processing, or 400 GEL for same-day, per the Public Registry's published schedule. On top of that come your notary, the apostille authority, courier, translation and the representative's fee. Confirm the state fees on the day you file, since they are set by decree.
Do I need to be in Georgia to be the company director?
No. A Georgian company can have a non-resident director, and company law does not require the director to live in Georgia. The practical constraints come from banks and from tax residency. Where the company is actually managed can affect its tax position at home, so take advice there.
Does my power of attorney need an apostille?
Usually yes. Georgia has been party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 2007, so a notarised power of attorney from another contracting state needs an apostille. Sign at a Georgian embassy or consulate instead and that step generally falls away. Documents from non-contracting states need consular legalisation.
Can I register an individual entrepreneur remotely?
Only through a representative, unless you are a Georgian citizen. The Public Registry's remote digital session for individual entrepreneur registration is open to Georgian citizens holding a valid national ID card or passport. Foreign founders use the same power of attorney route, at a much lower state fee.
What legal address can I use if I do not live in Georgia?
Any Georgian address whose owner consents in the required form. Where the owner is not one of the founders, the Public Registry requires their certified consent as part of the filing. Most remote founders rent an address from the firm handling the registration, which bundles the consent document.
Will I be able to open a Georgian bank account without visiting?
Often not. Banks set their own onboarding rules and commonly require the director to attend a branch, particularly for non-resident owners with no local activity. Some prepare the file remotely and finish it in person. Plan for one trip rather than assuming email will do.
Is the company registered for tax automatically?
Yes. The identification number issued at registration is also the tax identification number, and the company appears on Revenue Service records from that day. Special regimes such as reduced-rate or IT-sector status are not automatic and need a separate application afterwards.
Do I have to file anything if the company has no income?
Yes. Filing obligations start at registration, not at first revenue, and nil declarations still have to be submitted on schedule. This is the most avoidable cost for founders who registered remotely and then went quiet. Appoint an accountant before the first deadline, not after it.
Can I change the director or shareholders later without flying in?
Yes, by the same mechanism. Changes to registered data are filed with the Public Registry and can be submitted by an authorised representative, at the same state fee as the original registration. Each instruction needs its own valid authorisation, so a broadly drafted power of attorney saves repeat notary trips.