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Good practice Imported

Remotely from Georgia — A Free, Fast Pandemic-Era Registration for Digital Nomads

Georgia · Tbilisi · See the Georgia profile · See the Tbilisi profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 93% 43/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Georgia's fee-free digital-nomad registration drew 2,700+ remote workers in its first five months of 2020, but growth then plateaued and the scheme was later superseded by a standard year-long visa-free policy.

2,700+
Registered participants (first 5 months) (Aug-Dec 2020)
2,700+
Registered participants (as of March 2023) (Mar 2023)
Remotely from Georgia — A Free, Fast Pandemic-Era Registration for Digital Nomads

Details

Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
Georgian National Tourism Administration, Government of Georgia
Period
2020–2023
Keywords
migration policy, remote work, tourism, talent attraction

Context

In August 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic emptied Georgia's tourism-dependent economy, the Georgian National Tourism Administration launched 'Remotely from Georgia': a free, online registration scheme letting remote workers from roughly 95 visa-free countries enter and legally work from Georgia for up to 360 days.

Activities

Unlike Barbados' fee-based Welcome Stamp, the Georgian scheme charged no application fee: applicants registered online, agreed to a mandatory 12-day quarantine and produced proof of health insurance and sufficient funds, provided they showed either $2,000 in monthly income or $24,000 in savings.

Results

The programme drew more than 2,700 registered participants in its first five months (August-December 2020); Georgian Journal reported figures still at 'over 2,700' as of March 2023, suggesting growth largely plateaued after the initial pandemic-era surge.

Conclusions

The programme has since been superseded: as Georgia's standard visa-free stay was extended to a full year for many nationalities, 'Remotely from Georgia' lost its distinct advantage and multiple outlets describe it as phased out and largely obsolete by the mid-2020s.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Free scheme with no application fee; administrative cost not disclosed.
Time to results
Short (< 1 year) — Launched August 2020; described as phased out and largely obsolete by the mid-2020s.
Staffing & skills
Georgian National Tourism Administration

Conditions for success

  • no application fee, unlike comparable schemes elsewhere
  • design built around Georgia's already-low cost of living

Common failure modes

  • growth plateaued after the initial pandemic-era surge
  • superseded once standard visa-free stay was extended to a full year, removing its distinct advantage
  • no public data on downstream economic impact

Where it fits

Governance type
national tourism administration
Scale
national
Income level
upper-middle income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

Attachments

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