Set Up Your Georgian Company Without Leaving Home

For a foreign founder evaluating Georgia, one of the recurring questions is operational: can the entire company setup be executed remotely, without flying to Tbilisi for a week of in-person appointments? The short answer is yes for the company registration itself. The longer answer involves a Power of Attorney, an apostilled passport copy, a Georgian legal address, and a coordinated sequence with a Georgian representative — and a more nuanced position on the banking side, where bank-level due diligence has tightened over the past few years.

This article walks through what's genuinely remote in 2026, what requires extra documentation, and where the practical reality of remote setup differs from the marketing claims that circulate online.

What Power of Attorney enables#

The mechanism that makes remote setup work is the Georgian Power of Attorney. A foreign founder authorizes a Georgian representative to act on the founder's behalf for specific defined purposes — in a Happy Georgia engagement, that representative is our team in Georgia: registering the company at the National Agency of Public Registry, completing tax registration with the Revenue Service, signing the corporate charter and founding documents, applying for special tax statuses (Small Business Status for IEs, Virtual Zone status for LLCs), and in many cases handling the bank account application. See our company setup services for how we run this for you.

The Power of Attorney itself follows a specific format. It must be:

• Drafted in bilingual form (typically English plus Georgian) so both the founder and the Georgian authorities can verify the scope of authority granted
• Notarized — through an online notary session or by a notary in the founder's country
• Apostilled (or legalized through the relevant consular process for non-Hague-Convention countries)
• Couriered as physical original to the Georgian representative

The notarization confirms the founder's signature is genuine. The apostille confirms the notary's authority is recognized internationally. Together they provide the Georgian authorities with the assurance that the PoA is valid and the representative has genuine authority. A digital scan or photograph is not sufficient; Georgian government and banking processes require the physical original document.

Alongside the PoA, the founder provides an apostilled copy of their passport. The passport copy is notarized in the same way, then apostilled by the appropriate authority, then couriered to the Georgian representative. Once received, the Georgian representative has the original document set required to act on the founder's behalf.

The PoA approach has been Georgian standard practice for foreign business setup for over a decade. It's not an exception, a workaround, or a special procedure. It's the regular path for any foreign founder who doesn't want to travel to Georgia for the registration phase.

The remote registration sequence#

For a foreign founder structuring Georgian operations from abroad, the practical sequence runs in a specific order.

Step one — pre-engagement scoping. Before any documents are prepared, the founder confirms the right structure with their Georgian representative. Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status (1% turnover tax up to 500,000 GEL annually) for solo professionals. LLC formation for foreign-owned companies needing limited liability or planning multi-shareholder structures. Virtual Zone status for software-creation IT companies with Georgian substance. International Company status for IT or Maritime companies with two years' eligible experience — in the company, a qualifying parent or, subject to review, its shareholder or director. Free Industrial Zone for export-led manufacturing or specific sector activities. The structuring decision shapes the documentation requirements that follow.

Step two — document preparation. The Georgian representative drafts the Power of Attorney with the appropriate scope (IE registration, LLC registration, bank account opening, tax status applications, legal address agreement) in bilingual form. The founder signs it before a notary — at Happy Georgia usually through an online notary session we arrange, or at a local notary where needed — and the notarized PoA is then apostilled (or legalized through the consular process for non-Hague-Convention countries). The same notarization-and-apostille procedure is applied to the passport copy.

Step three — courier to Georgia. The original notarized-and-apostilled PoA and passport copy are couriered to the Georgian representative; with Happy Georgia, standard courier shipping is arranged for you. Delivery times depend on the origin country. Tracking is essential — the documents are originals and the registration timeline depends on their arrival.

Step four — Georgian translation and notarization. Once the documents arrive in Georgia, the Georgian representative arranges translation into Georgian by a certified translator, followed by notarization of the translation by a Georgian notary. The translated-and-notarized document set is now in the form required by Georgian government authorities.

Step five — registration. For an Individual Entrepreneur, the representative submits the IE registration application to the National Agency of Public Registry. Standard processing completes within 1 business day; expedited processing on the same day is also available. The IE structure is established and the founder receives a Georgian tax identification number through the Revenue Service.

For an LLC, the representative submits the LLC registration to NAPR with the company's bilingual charter (which the representative typically drafts as part of the engagement, customized to the founder's specifications rather than the generic Public Service Hall template that creates downstream operational issues), the legal address agreement (the property owner's consent for the company to use the address), and the founders' authorization documents. NAPR's standard term is one working day from filing a complete application; a same-day option is available at a higher official fee.

Step six — special status applications (where applicable). For an IE, Small Business Status is a separate application to the Revenue Service after IE registration: Happy Georgia prepares and files your Small Business Status application and coordinates any required online interview, briefing you beforehand. For an LLC pursuing Virtual Zone or International Company status, the relevant special-status application follows separately through the Financial-Analytical Service of the Ministry of Finance or the Revenue Service respectively, with their own documentation requirements.

Step seven — legal address. Every Georgian company requires a legal registered address. The address must be a real property in Georgia, and the property owner must consent to the use. For foreign founders without a Georgian property, we arrange a legal address as part of the setup. The virtual address is the registered legal address for government correspondence, tax notices, and official communications. It is not a marketing or commercial address; that distinction matters for tax and corporate compliance purposes.

The total elapsed time from initial engagement to a registered Georgian company, executed through the Power of Attorney, is set mainly by the founder's side: notarisation, apostille and courier timing. The Georgian registry step itself is fast — one working day once the complete application is filed.

Where remote bank account opening sits in 2026#

The bank account is where the remote-setup story gets more nuanced.

Georgian banking law permits remote account opening through Power of Attorney. The two banks most foreign clients use — Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank — offer remote account opening procedures. The PoA must specifically authorize the representative to open the account; a general business-registration PoA may not be sufficient depending on the bank's compliance requirements. Documentation typically includes the Georgian company registration extract, the founder's apostilled passport, beneficial ownership disclosure, source-of-funds documentation, and the bank's specific account-opening forms.

That's the framework. The practical reality has tightened.

Georgian banks have substantially strengthened their know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering procedures over the past five years. For corporate accounts particularly, banks increasingly require demonstration of genuine business activity, identifiable beneficial owners, clear source-of-funds documentation, and in many cases proof of physical or economic ties to Georgia. A foreign-owned Georgian LLC with no Georgian operations, no Georgian-paid employees, and no demonstrable physical footprint may face additional scrutiny, document requests, or in some cases application rejection. The bank-side discretion is broad and exercised conservatively.

For personal accounts, the framework is generally more straightforward. A foreign individual can typically open a personal account remotely through PoA with passport documentation and standard KYC forms. The two-stage verification process — initial document submission, application review, then either acceptance or document-supplement requests — applies to both personal and corporate accounts but generally resolves more quickly for personal banking.

The honest framing for a foreign founder structuring Georgian operations remotely:

• Personal account opening through PoA: routinely available; the bank step typically completes within a few days of the original PoA arriving in Georgia, subject to the bank's review
• Corporate account opening through PoA: available, but bank-side due diligence has tightened; expect detailed documentation requests, possible additional clarifications, and a higher probability of additional requirements compared to in-person applications
• Specific bank-by-bank policy: varies. Some banks are more accommodating to remote corporate applications; others are more conservative. The Georgian representative's relationship with specific bank branches and their familiarity with the relevant compliance officers can materially affect the experience
• Source-of-funds documentation: essential. Banks expect to see clear evidence of the founder's wealth or income source. Foreign tax returns, employment contracts, business sale documentation, foreign bank statements showing the funds' origin — the bank-acceptable form depends on the founder's specific situation

For most foreign founders, the practical answer is: plan for remote corporate banking with realistic expectations on documentation and timeline, have the bank file prepared and submitted by a representative who knows the banks' current documentation expectations — our corporate account service does this under your Power of Attorney — and budget operational time for the application rather than treating it as a same-day administrative completion.

A planning consideration worth flagging: some founders elect to handle the corporate banking on a brief future visit to Tbilisi (a 2-3 day trip) once the business has begun operating and there's a more developed substantiation of activity. The company can be registered first and the corporate account opened once activity is easier to document — remotely through us, or during a visit if you prefer. This sequence is often smoother than pushing for full corporate banking on day one.

Ongoing operations after registration#

Once the Georgian company is registered and (where applicable) the bank account is operational, ongoing operations run through Georgian electronic systems that are accessible from anywhere with internet.

Tax declarations. Monthly tax declarations for Individual Entrepreneurs under Small Business Status, monthly VAT declarations where applicable, and annual reconciliations all run through the Revenue Service portal. A Georgian tax ID and access to the portal are established during registration; from then on, declarations are filed online — by our team through delegated portal access if you use our monthly accounting service — and tax is paid electronically.

Banking operations. Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank both offer comprehensive internet banking and mobile applications. Wire transfers, currency exchanges, deposits, and account management are available remotely once the account is operational. Multi-currency support (GEL, USD, EUR, GBP, others) means foreign-client billing in foreign currency is straightforward.

Accounting. Monthly bookkeeping, declaration preparation and filing are covered by our monthly accounting service: our team files through delegated access to the company's Revenue Service account and flags changes — VAT thresholds, payroll, structure — before they become problems. It is the day-to-day bridge between a foreign founder and the Georgian tax administration.

Legal updates. Changes to the company structure (director appointments, charter amendments, registered address changes, share transfers) typically require additional Power of Attorney scope or fresh PoA documentation. The same notarized-and-apostilled-and-couriered process applies, but the volume is generally low after the initial setup phase.

Ongoing compliance with special statuses. IEs with Small Business Status maintain the 1% rate by staying within the 500,000 GEL annual threshold and filing monthly declarations on time. LLCs with Virtual Zone status maintain compliance through ongoing software-creation activity, Georgian operating substance, and qualifying export revenue.

For a foreign founder operating their Georgian company entirely from abroad, the day-to-day experience is similar to operating any other foreign company — reviewing accounting reports, signing off on filings, monitoring banking, making strategic decisions — with the convenience that all of the underlying Georgian compliance is handled by the local accounting and legal infrastructure the founder engaged at setup.

Practical considerations#

A few operational realities worth flagging for any foreign founder planning remote setup.

The legal address is mandatory and substantive. Every Georgian company must have a registered legal address that's an actual property in Georgia. The property owner must sign the consent agreement. Government correspondence is delivered to the legal address. Tax notices arrive there. For foreign founders without a Georgian property, the legal address we arrange fills this requirement. Cutting corners on the legal address — using an address without proper consent, or one that's not actually being monitored for incoming correspondence — creates downstream compliance problems that surface unpredictably.

The bilingual charter matters. For LLC formation, the company charter (articles of association) must be bilingual. The generic charter available at the Public Service Hall is standard but generic; foreign founders typically benefit from a custom charter drafted to their specific situation, which the Georgian representative prepares as part of the engagement. The charter governs the company's internal operation and is consulted whenever corporate questions arise downstream — director appointments, share transfers, voting procedures, profit distribution. A poorly drafted charter creates downstream issues that are more expensive to fix than to draft correctly initially.

Document originals matter. The notarized-and-apostilled documents are required as physical originals. Digital scans, even high-quality ones, are not sufficient for Georgian government registration or banking purposes. Plan for the international courier timing as part of the setup sequence; courier delays push the entire registration timeline.

The representative matters. The PoA approach concentrates substantial authority with whoever acts on the founder's behalf, so competence and established practice with foreign-founder remote setups materially affect the experience. Foreign clients setting up in Georgia are Happy Georgia's entire practice: we draft the PoA scope, prepare the filing pack and the bank file, and act on your behalf in Georgia, so the PoA is used once and correctly.

Budget operational time, not just setup time. Registration itself is the quick part. The broader setup — bank account, accounting engagement, special status applications, virtual address, communications infrastructure, integration with the founder's existing operations — runs on separate clocks, and special-status decisions and corporate bank onboarding are usually the longest of them. Plan around the broader timeline rather than the registration timeline alone.

For most foreign founders structuring Georgian operations from abroad, the remote-setup framework is genuinely accessible and well-supported by the Georgian legal and banking infrastructure. The mechanism works. The constraints are operational rather than legal — courier timing, document preparation discipline, bank-side due diligence on corporate accounts, and a competent representative on the ground — the role our team takes in a Happy Georgia engagement.

Read more about Individual Entrepreneur registration on the Company Setup pillar.

See LLC formation service details.

See how we open Georgian bank accounts via Power of Attorney.

Have a specific question about your case? Send us a message.