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A Study Permit for Adults Only, and the Years on It Are Expressly Struck Out of the Permanent-Residence Count

Article 15(ბ) issues a study residence permit to an adult, for the purpose of studying on a higher or vocational education programme at an authorised educational institution in Georgia; the rules and conditions for enrolment and study are set by Georgian legislative acts and a Government ordinance. It is grouped with the work and family-reunification permits in article 16(1)(ა) and issued first for between six months and one year, extendable under article 16(3) on the same conditions to a ceiling of twelve years. The sting is in article 15(ზ). The ten years of temporary residence that earn a permanent residence permit expressly exclude the period lived in Georgia for the purpose of study - and the period lived here for medical treatment, and time working at a diplomatic mission. A degree and a doctorate in Tbilisi leave a person exactly where they started on the permanent-residence clock.

Verified with official sourceStable2026-10-11

At a glance

Who may hold a study permit
An adult only

Article 15(ბ) of the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons. A minor studying in Georgia is covered, if at all, by family reunification under article 15(გ).

First term
6 months to 1 year

Article 16(1)(ა), which groups the study permit with the work and family-reunification permits.

Do study years count towards permanent residence
No - article 15(ზ) excludes them from the ten-year count

The same sentence excludes years lived in Georgia for medical treatment and periods of work at diplomatic missions.

Requirements

  • Adulthood: the permit is issued to a სრულწლოვანი, an adult
  • A place on a higher or vocational education programme at an authorised educational institution in Georgia
  • Enrolment and study on the terms set by Georgian legislative acts and a Government ordinance

Exceptions by origin

No exceptions recorded

Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedუცხოელთა და მოქალაქეობის არმქონე პირთა სამართლებრივი მდგომარეობის შესახებ საქართველოს კანონი · მუხლი 15, ქვეპუნქტი ბ · consolidated to 2026-06-25
«ბ) სასწავლო ბინადრობის ნებართვა, რომელიც გაიცემა სრულწლოვან პირზე საქართველოში ავტორიზებულ საგანმანათლებლო დაწესებულებაში უმაღლეს ან პროფესიულ საგანმანათლებლო პროგრამაზე სწავლის მიზნით. ამ სახის ბინადრობის ნებართვის მისაღებად უმაღლეს ან პროფესიულ საგანმანათლებლო პროგრამაზე ჩარიცხვისა და სწავლის წესები და პირობები განისაზღვრება საქართველოს საკანონმდებლო აქტებითა და საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილებით;»

Our translation - not official

(ბ) a study residence permit, issued to an adult for the purpose of studying on a higher or vocational education programme at an authorised educational institution in Georgia. The rules and conditions for enrolment on and study of a higher or vocational education programme for the purpose of obtaining this type of residence permit are determined by legislative acts of Georgia and by an ordinance of the Government of Georgia.

Read it at the source
About this source

The official gazette and consolidated statute book of Georgia, a legal entity under public law under the Ministry of Justice. Every instrument lives at matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/<id>: laws, organic laws, Government resolutions, presidential decrees and ministerial orders, each page opening with a metadata block that gives the document number, the issuing body, the date of issue, the source and date of publication, the date of entry into force and the registration code, then listing every consolidated publication by date with its own publication index. Above the body of each page the site states which edition is being shown: კონსოლიდირებული ვერსია (საბოლოო) means the final consolidation, and a different line means it is not. Amending instruments are published separately and in full, each citing the registration code of the act it amends, so a schedule whose consolidation is paywalled can still be reconstructed from the original plus the amendments. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty, including million-character statutes: the Georgian Tax Code comes back at 1,190,393 characters.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: Three things it must not be cited for. First, it is not free for everything: for some Government resolutions - resolution No 255 of 5 June 2015 on visa-free entry, and resolution No 36 of 21 February 2013 on universal health care - the site serves only the text as originally published and prints დოკუმენტის კონსოლიდირებული ვარიანტის ნახვა ფასიანია, that viewing the consolidated version is a paid service requiring registration and the purchase of a viewing right. A reading of such a page is a reading of the original, however many consolidations have followed, and must be labelled as one. Second, it publishes the consolidated law and not the reasoning: no explanatory memorandum, no case law, no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Georgian immigration and tax practice sits in orders of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Internal Affairs which it holds but which are not linked from the parent act. Third, the Georgian pages are the law and the English pages at the matching address are not the same document - see ge-matsne-en. Pages render statutes inside HTML tables, so stored text carries table pipes and <br> markers around the publisher's own words.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedLaw of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, English translation · Article 15(b) · consolidated to 2026-06-25
«a study residence permit, which is issued to an adult for the purpose of studying a higher or vocational educational programme at an authorised educational institution in Georgia. The terms and procedures for enrolment and study in a higher or vocational educational programme for obtaining this type of residence permit shall be determined by legislative acts of Georgia and an ordinance of the Government of Georgia;»
Read it at the source
About this source

The same publisher's English rendering of Georgian instruments, served at matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/<id> - the same document id as the Georgian, so the two texts are one address apart. Where an English consolidation exists it is a full translation of that consolidation, with the same article numbering, the same amending-law footers and the same metadata block. For the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons the English kept pace with the Georgian through the amendments of 15 April and 25 June 2026, so the 2026 spouse permit and the interagency marriage commission can be read in both languages.

Standing:

Cannot be cited for: It may never be cited as the law, for four reasons found in the text itself. (1) It lags, silently to a reader who does not look up: on 11 October 2026 the Tax Code in English was the consolidation of 25 June 2026 while the Georgian was that of 30 September 2026, and the Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship in English was the edition of 7 March to 26 June 2025 while the Georgian was 25 June 2026. (2) The newest consolidation of a lagging instrument does not exist in English at all: the English page for Tax Code publication 246 and citizenship publication 12 carries no law, only 'Attention! The consolidation of the document is underway. You are not reading the latest version of the document.' (3) The default English address serves the last complete English edition under the line 'Attention! You are not reading the final edition', which is one line of body text above a million characters of statute. (4) Subparagraph letters are relabelled by alphabetical position rather than transliterated, so Georgian ფ becomes u, ჟ becomes p and თ becomes h - and the trap is live, because the Latin letter that a reader would reach for by sound lands on a different and sometimes repealed subparagraph: English article 99(1)(p) is Georgian 99(1)(ჟ), while Georgian 99(1)(პ) was deleted on 30 May 2018. It also mis-states one amending law's number, printing the law of 30 May 2018 as No 3591 in twelve places and as No 2391 in twelve others where the Georgian prints №2391 throughout, and it loses superscripts: article 21¹ appears as '211' and paragraph 6¹ as '61'. Cite it beside the Georgian, as a translation, never instead of it.

We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedLaw of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, English translation · Article 33 · consolidated to 2026-06-25
«Aliens residing in Georgia are entitled to education under the legislation of Georgia.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The same publisher's English rendering of Georgian instruments, served at matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/<id> - the same document id as the Georgian, so the two texts are one address apart. Where an English consolidation exists it is a full translation of that consolidation, with the same article numbering, the same amending-law footers and the same metadata block. For the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons the English kept pace with the Georgian through the amendments of 15 April and 25 June 2026, so the 2026 spouse permit and the interagency marriage commission can be read in both languages.

Standing:

Cannot be cited for: It may never be cited as the law, for four reasons found in the text itself. (1) It lags, silently to a reader who does not look up: on 11 October 2026 the Tax Code in English was the consolidation of 25 June 2026 while the Georgian was that of 30 September 2026, and the Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship in English was the edition of 7 March to 26 June 2025 while the Georgian was 25 June 2026. (2) The newest consolidation of a lagging instrument does not exist in English at all: the English page for Tax Code publication 246 and citizenship publication 12 carries no law, only 'Attention! The consolidation of the document is underway. You are not reading the latest version of the document.' (3) The default English address serves the last complete English edition under the line 'Attention! You are not reading the final edition', which is one line of body text above a million characters of statute. (4) Subparagraph letters are relabelled by alphabetical position rather than transliterated, so Georgian ფ becomes u, ჟ becomes p and თ becomes h - and the trap is live, because the Latin letter that a reader would reach for by sound lands on a different and sometimes repealed subparagraph: English article 99(1)(p) is Georgian 99(1)(ჟ), while Georgian 99(1)(პ) was deleted on 30 May 2018. It also mis-states one amending law's number, printing the law of 30 May 2018 as No 3591 in twelve places and as No 2391 in twelve others where the Georgian prints №2391 throughout, and it loses superscripts: article 21¹ appears as '211' and paragraph 6¹ as '61'. Cite it beside the Georgian, as a translation, never instead of it.

We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source

Practical notes

Fees, language requirements and the authorisation of institutions are set outside this Law, in legislative acts and a Government ordinance we have not read. No amount is published here.

Sources2 · all accessed 2026-10-11
  • consolidates
    უცხოელთა და მოქალაქეობის არმქონე პირთა სამართლებრივი მდგომარეობის შესახებ

    საქართველოს საკანონმდებლო მაცნე (Legislative Herald of Georgia) · consolidated to 2026-06-25

    About this source

    The official gazette and consolidated statute book of Georgia, a legal entity under public law under the Ministry of Justice. Every instrument lives at matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/<id>: laws, organic laws, Government resolutions, presidential decrees and ministerial orders, each page opening with a metadata block that gives the document number, the issuing body, the date of issue, the source and date of publication, the date of entry into force and the registration code, then listing every consolidated publication by date with its own publication index. Above the body of each page the site states which edition is being shown: კონსოლიდირებული ვერსია (საბოლოო) means the final consolidation, and a different line means it is not. Amending instruments are published separately and in full, each citing the registration code of the act it amends, so a schedule whose consolidation is paywalled can still be reconstructed from the original plus the amendments. Renders through Firecrawl without difficulty, including million-character statutes: the Georgian Tax Code comes back at 1,190,393 characters.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: Three things it must not be cited for. First, it is not free for everything: for some Government resolutions - resolution No 255 of 5 June 2015 on visa-free entry, and resolution No 36 of 21 February 2013 on universal health care - the site serves only the text as originally published and prints დოკუმენტის კონსოლიდირებული ვარიანტის ნახვა ფასიანია, that viewing the consolidated version is a paid service requiring registration and the purchase of a viewing right. A reading of such a page is a reading of the original, however many consolidations have followed, and must be labelled as one. Second, it publishes the consolidated law and not the reasoning: no explanatory memorandum, no case law, no ministerial guidance, and a great deal of Georgian immigration and tax practice sits in orders of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Internal Affairs which it holds but which are not linked from the parent act. Third, the Georgian pages are the law and the English pages at the matching address are not the same document - see ge-matsne-en. Pages render statutes inside HTML tables, so stored text carries table pipes and <br> markers around the publisher's own words.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

  • publishes
    Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (matsne English translation)

    Legislative Herald of Georgia, English translation service · consolidated to 2026-06-25

    About this source

    The same publisher's English rendering of Georgian instruments, served at matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/<id> - the same document id as the Georgian, so the two texts are one address apart. Where an English consolidation exists it is a full translation of that consolidation, with the same article numbering, the same amending-law footers and the same metadata block. For the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons the English kept pace with the Georgian through the amendments of 15 April and 25 June 2026, so the 2026 spouse permit and the interagency marriage commission can be read in both languages.

    Standing:

    Cannot be cited for: It may never be cited as the law, for four reasons found in the text itself. (1) It lags, silently to a reader who does not look up: on 11 October 2026 the Tax Code in English was the consolidation of 25 June 2026 while the Georgian was that of 30 September 2026, and the Organic Law on Georgian Citizenship in English was the edition of 7 March to 26 June 2025 while the Georgian was 25 June 2026. (2) The newest consolidation of a lagging instrument does not exist in English at all: the English page for Tax Code publication 246 and citizenship publication 12 carries no law, only 'Attention! The consolidation of the document is underway. You are not reading the latest version of the document.' (3) The default English address serves the last complete English edition under the line 'Attention! You are not reading the final edition', which is one line of body text above a million characters of statute. (4) Subparagraph letters are relabelled by alphabetical position rather than transliterated, so Georgian ფ becomes u, ჟ becomes p and თ becomes h - and the trap is live, because the Latin letter that a reader would reach for by sound lands on a different and sometimes repealed subparagraph: English article 99(1)(p) is Georgian 99(1)(ჟ), while Georgian 99(1)(პ) was deleted on 30 May 2018. It also mis-states one amending law's number, printing the law of 30 May 2018 as No 3591 in twelve places and as No 2391 in twelve others where the Georgian prints №2391 throughout, and it loses superscripts: article 21¹ appears as '211' and paragraph 6¹ as '61'. Cite it beside the Georgian, as a translation, never instead of it.

    We re-read it every 120 days. More about this source