Residency in Georgia by investment!

[GrumpyMess]

I don't know why you are afraid of Russian invasion, now is not the 19th century. You are more likely to face up with corruption and criminals. When I open the world safety ratings I see Georgia on the top of the list, however when I open a local Georgian news, I see "homicide", "murdered" etc quite every day. This scares me a lot more.

Slightly less likely the probability of getting blacklisted by EU/USA or international banks.

You are comparing it with Dubai, but it's in no form Dubai. Like Martin Everson said, with all its advantages Dubai lacks in logistics, you wouldn’t want to get stuck in the middle of a desert without any rights as an expat.

Somebody told that the same would be with Andorra. I don't think so. These small European countries are prestigious and has very close ties with other European countries.

Andorra is quite expensive in getting and maintaining a residency, they have 3 banks, which are hard to open an account with, they are non-english friendly and what's the most unpleasant they have no double tax treaties, so you can't benefit of it if your passport country has questions to you. And their logistics sucks too.

 

[khinkali]

when I open a local Georgian news, I see "homicide", "murdered" etc

That's because it's newsworthy. Individual homicides are front page news, unlike in many similar sized places. Intentional homicide is low; similar to Ireland or Germany. List of countries by intentional homicide rate - Wikipedia

There are pickpockets in the most touristy places, just like in most cities. There are some "proper" underworld criminal groups; the Security Police carry machine guns when they go to collect cash from shops. But lower level crime is rare. I see the engine running in unattended cars and vans outside shops (I don't mean upmarket cars with a secure idling feature). Women and surprisingly young kids walk around at night on their own in quiet streets.

Corruption was huge but that changed after the Rose Revolution when Saakashvili fired 16,000 police officers and the entire Ministry of Education staff. There are high profile scandals involving public officials, property deals, etc but you are unlikely to experience the day to day corruption of many other places. Just don't try to operate an anti-government TV station.

Sadly, Russian invasion is much more recent than 19th century. Two parts of Georgia are under Russian military control since 2008 and have de facto governments. It is dangerous to walk around near the "borders", but you won't be doing that by accident.

 

[Konstanz]

Andorra is quite expensive in getting and maintaining a residency, they have 3 banks, which are hard to open an account with, they are non-english friendly and what's the most unpleasant they have no double tax treaties, so you can't benefit of it if your passport country has questions to you. And their logistics sucks too.

If you are real resident and cut most of ties with home country even if no double tax treaty should be no problem. But I agree the point about it's much more expensive. However you live in continent europe, not some place in Asia near Russia

 

[unicorn]

Some really have a great sense of humor ; besides the interesting "real life" experiences, it's nice to have a laugh as well in the sometimes endlessly confusing seeming puzzle of the optimal live-work balance ...

 

[Jea]

It is not used for any of my bank accounts other than the local ones and and some other non-bank stuff.

Can you tell why you only use it for local banks? You have "better" residency option for foreign banks?

 

[Martin Everson]

Can you tell why you only use it for local banks? You have "better" residency option for foreign banks?

If your staying in the country for any period of time then its good to have local accounts in local currency.

 

[Jea]

Got a 1 bed new build flat but also bought a flat in Vake. Total investment was over $370k. My residency is permanent now.

You have permanent residence permit and are NOT a tax resident in Georgia, correct?

I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if there are any disadvantages of having either temporary/permanent residence permit or tax residence in Georgia compared to "just having a property and staying there as a non resident"...

 

[GrumpyMess]

You have permanent residence permit and are NOT a tax resident in Georgia, correct?

I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if there are any disadvantages of having either temporary/permanent residence permit or tax residence in Georgia compared to "just having a property and staying there as a non resident"...

He is lucky having not to bother with a tax residence, so it's quite of unique case.

Having a tax residence depends on your passport country, do you need to show them you are a tax resident in another country or not.

 

[Traveler]

I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if there are any disadvantages of having either temporary/permanent residence permit or tax residence in Georgia compared to "just having a property and staying there as a non resident"...

As far as I'm aware, the main (only?) advantage of having a residence permit here is the relative guarantee that it gives you, in case the government decides to tighten their immigration policies, which wouldn't be overly surprising, given Georgia has by far the most relaxed "tourist entry" terms out of all countries in the world. It won't help you in obtaining tax residency (you'll need to qualify for that separately, either under the HNWI scheme or by fulfilling the 183-day requirement. As for disadvantages, I cannot think of any obvious ones there, either. Having the permit is like having a visa (only it's not even in your passport). Whether you use it or not, and for what you use it, is your prerogative.

As for the advantages/disadvantages of Georgian tax residency, that's obviously a question no-one can answer without many more details about your situation.

 

[khinkali]

A residence permit also gets you a Georgian id card. A foreign passport is OK for many things such as opening a bank account, but you need local id for some services such as emoney or ecoins. I haven't yet found any reason why I need a residence permit, but I suspect there's something I haven't thought of yet. Also it's easier to replace a lost residence card than a lost passport.

A residence permit can lead to a permanent residence permit after a few years, which provides access to state health care, education etc.