Parliament begins consideration of planned amendments to the Law on Labor Migration.

On April 14, the Economic Policy Committee, and then the plenary session will discuss a draft law, according to which, in a number of cases, a foreigner may be allowed to carry out professional activities without residence and labor permits.

This possibility will apply only to cases where the labor activity is related to a specific project and does not lead to a long-term establishment in the local market.

The initiative was prepared by the deputies of the Georgian Dream.

According to the draft law, a foreigner will have the right to carry out short-term professional activities in Georgia without the right to labor activity and the corresponding residence permit, if the said activity is carried out within the framework of a temporary visit, does not constitute long-term employment in the local labor market and is related to a specific short-term project, event or service.

Short-term professional activity by a foreigner is permitted if the activity is related to a specific short-term project, event or service. The list, duration and criteria for considering short-term professional activities by a foreigner as short-term professional activity shall be determined by a resolution of the Government of Georgia.

A foreigner carrying out short-term professional activity shall not be considered a labor immigrant or a self-employed foreigner in Georgia.

In addition, the following types of labor relations are added to the article of the Law “On Labor Migration” that provides for activities that are exempt from the requirements of the said Law: - a person with a valid special residence permit issued on the basis of a written initiative of a member of the Government of Georgia; working in a public institution or an enterprise established with the share participation of the state; working remotely from another country for the benefit of a local employer; labor activity/services for the benefit of a non-resident person related to the implementation of activities outside Georgia; relevant activities in the management or audit committee of an enterprise of the first, second and third categories defined by the Law “On Accounting, Reporting and Audit”.

As the initiators of the law explain, the current legislative framework “On Labor Migration” does not provide for a differentiated approach depending on the duration and specificity of labor activity, which makes all types of professional activities subject to standard immigration procedures. According to them, practical challenges have shown that in cases where the visit of a foreign specialist is short-term and related to a specific, one-time project or service, the use of common immigration filters creates unnecessary administrative barriers.

“Such an approach is often incompatible with the deadlines for the implementation of urgent professional tasks, which hinders economic and operational processes.

Accordingly, the need to free such legal relations from bureaucratic pressure and separate them into a separate regime has become a priority. The amendment aims to create a mechanism that ensures the legal legalization of short-term professional visits without the obligation to obtain a residence permit.

Given the specificity of the issue, it is appropriate to grant the Government of Georgia the authority to determine the relevant detailed criteria. Regulation by a subordinate normative act provides greater flexibility and efficiency of the system, as it allows for timely clarification of the types and terms of activity in accordance with the current needs of the country, which ultimately contributes to the optimization of the labor migration management process.

At the same time, given the dynamics of the labor market and the necessity of optimization of administrative barriers, which in many cases imposed a disproportionate burden on the work process, it became appropriate to exempt a number of specific activities from the requirements of the Law on Labor Migration. In particular, this applies to employment in public institutions and state-owned enterprises, as well as such forms of remote work as working from another country for the benefit of a local employer or providing services to a non-resident person outside of Georgia. In addition, activities in the management or audit committee of enterprises of the first, second and third categories defined by the Law on Accounting, Reporting and Auditing are exempted from regulations, which will significantly increase the effective functioning of the sector,” - reads the explanatory note to the draft law.