Moving to Georgia (the country)
A practical guide to relocating to Georgia (the country) — how long you can stay, what it costs, how the tax system treats you, and what order to do things in.
Last reviewed
How long can you stay?
Citizens of many countries can stay in Georgia visa-free for 365 days. Enter the date you last entered the country.
365 days left
You have been here 0 days. Your visa-free period runs until 18 October 2027.
Visa-free length depends on your nationality — 365 days is common but not universal. Check your own country’s terms before relying on this.
Georgia is one of the easiest countries in the world to move to, and one of the least understood. This guide covers what actually matters in the first year.
First, a clarification that saves confusion: this site is about Georgia the country — the one in the Caucasus, between Russia and Turkey, with Tbilisi as its capital. Not the US state.
Why people come
Three reasons account for most arrivals:
- The 365-day visa-free stay. Citizens of many countries can simply arrive and live here for a year. No application, no sponsor, no minimum income.
- The 1% tax regime. An Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status pays 1% of turnover. For freelancers and remote workers, that is close to unbeatable.
- Cost of living. Tbilisi remains substantially cheaper than Western Europe, and cheaper than most of its regional neighbours.
The sequence that works
- Come and see it first. The visa-free regime makes a trial run almost free. A month in Tbilisi tells you more than any amount of research.
- Sort your income before your paperwork. If you plan to use the 1% regime, check that your activity is eligible before building plans around it — see Small Business Status.
- Open a bank account early. This takes longer than everything else and gates the tax registration.
- Decide about a residence permit later. Many people live here for years on the visa-free regime. A permit is about stability, not permission to be here.
There is a fuller version of this in how to move to Georgia.
What it costs
A single person lives comfortably in Tbilisi on roughly $1,300–1,800 a month, and modestly on around $1,000. Rent is the variable that moves most — it has risen sharply since 2022 and central one-bedroom flats now cost multiples of what they did.
The cost of living page has a calculator you can adjust to your own situation, and is Tbilisi expensive compares it against seven cities people weigh it against.
Tax
If you become a Georgian tax resident, the Individual Entrepreneur route is what most self-employed newcomers use. The headline is 1% of turnover, with a 500,000 GEL annual limit and a separate VAT threshold at 100,000 GEL over any rolling twelve months.
The obligation people underestimate is that declarations are monthly, not annual.
Residency
Georgia issues a dozen distinct residence permit categories, from work and study to investment and — unusually — a permit aimed at IT specialists that is explicitly open to an Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status. The residence permit guide covers every category and what each requires.
What is genuinely harder than people expect
- Banking. Account opening has tightened considerably. Expect questions about the source of your funds.
- The language barrier in officialdom. Day-to-day Tbilisi runs fine in English. Government offices, contracts and utility companies often do not.
- Long-term housing. Short-term furnished rentals are easy. Unfurnished annual leases with a proper contract take more effort.
- The Georgian alphabet. Not required, but learning to read the 33 letters takes a weekend and makes the place far more navigable.
Frequently asked questions
Citizens of many countries can stay for 365 days visa-free, which is unusually generous. The exact length depends on your nationality, so check your own country's terms rather than assuming.
Not necessarily. Many people live in Georgia on the visa-free regime for years. A permit becomes useful when you want stability, a route to permanent residence, or a status that does not depend on leaving and re-entering.
Geographically it straddles the boundary between Europe and Asia, and culturally and politically it orients towards Europe. It is not in the European Union or the Schengen area, so time spent in Georgia does not count against Schengen limits.
Georgia has low rates of violent crime and most people find Tbilisi comfortable to walk around at night. The usual caveats about traffic, driving standards and occasional political demonstrations apply.
Where these numbers come from
Verified on against the primary sources listed below. This is information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and individual circumstances differ — confirm anything you intend to act on with the Revenue Service or a qualified adviser.
This page may state a superseded rule
- Changed on 1 September 2026: The study residence permit is narrowed to adults enrolled in a higher or vocational education programme, with enrolment terms set by government ordinance. (Article 15(b))
- Changed on 1 September 2026: The permanent residence permit route for a spouse of a Georgian citizen changes to 5 years of residence on a spousal residence permit. The 10-year temporary-permit route is unchanged. (Article 15(g))
- Changed on 1 September 2026: A new spousal residence permit is created, held before the permanent permit — this is the permit the new 5-year clock in Article 15(g) runs on. (Article 15(g¹))
- Changed on 1 September 2026: The IT residence permit requires an Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status to have obtained the right to labour activities, replacing registration with the Ministry. The 2 years of experience and the USD 25,000 annual remuneration are unchanged. (Article 15(l))
Treat the affected details below as out of date until this page is re-verified.
Not fully verifiable
Some details on this page could not be confirmed against an English-language primary source and are marked as indicative where they appear.
Important caveats
- Amounts in the statute are set in USD and converted to GEL, so the GEL figure moves with the exchange rate.
- Property valuations for the investment and short-term permits must come from an assessor accredited by the Georgian Accreditation Centre.
- Meeting a threshold is necessary, not sufficient — the Agency decides each application.
- These are typical ranges observed in the market, not official statistics. Rents in particular move quickly and vary a lot by district.
- Figures assume a foreigner renting on the open market, which usually costs more than a long-standing local tenancy.
- The 1% and 3% rates apply to turnover (gross income), not profit. Business expenses are not deductible under this regime.
- Only income from a Georgian source is taxed under this regime, and salary income is excluded (Article 90(3)).
- Losses cannot be carried forward to the next year (Article 91(5)).
- The VAT threshold is measured over any 12 consecutive calendar months, not the calendar year used for the Small Business Status limit. The two can be crossed at different times.
- VAT registration does not by itself end Small Business Status; the 1% regime and VAT registration can coexist (Article 92).
- Exports and certain exempt supplies are treated specially when measuring the threshold (Article 165(7)).
Sources
- Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons — Article 15, Types of residence permits — Article 15(a)-(l)
- Article 15(h) — investment residence permit threshold — Article 15(h)
- Article 15(j) — short-term residence permit, immovable property threshold — Article 15(j)
- Article 15(l) — IT residence permit, available to an IE with Small Business Status — Article 15(l)
- Amendments to Article 15(b), 15(g), 15(g¹) and 15(l), effective 1 September 2026 — Law of Georgia No 1803 of 25 June 2026 — Article 15(b), 15(g), 15(g¹), 15(l), as amended
- Law of Georgia No 1510 of 15 April 2026, Article 2 — commencement, the source of effectiveFrom (no English text published) — Article 2
- Numbeo — cost of living in Tbilisi (crowd-sourced)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 90, Taxable income of small business and tax rates — Article 90(1)-(3)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 88, Small business — Article 88(2)-(3)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 89, Granting the status of small business — Article 89(2)-(5)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 93, Filing micro and small business tax returns — Article 93(1^1)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 91, Principles of accounting for small business income and costs — Article 91(1), 91(5)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 165, Registration as a VAT taxpayer — Article 165(1)
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 166, VAT rate — Article 166
- Tax Code of Georgia — Article 92, Registration of a small business as a VAT payer — Article 92(1)