Moving to Tbilisi from Europe: the first month
The order matters more than the paperwork, and most people do it backwards.
Last verified 2026-10-21Next review 2027-04-212 official sources
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Moving to Tbilisi from Europe starts easier than most moves: citizens of most European countries enter visa free and can stay up to a year. The permit is not the first thing to arrange. It is close to the last.
Moving to Tbilisi from Europe: the order that works
- Arrive: Visa free for most European passports, up to 365 days.
- Tax number: Free, quick, and everything financial waits on it.
- Bank account: Georgian banks open accounts for foreigners, though they ask more questions than they used to.
- Address: A lease, registered, which the permit will need.
- Status: Individual entrepreneur if you work for yourself, then the permit on that ground.
Doing it in the other direction means queueing for a permit you cannot yet support with an address, an account or an income.
What to bring from home
Apostilled documents. Birth certificate, marriage certificate, police clearance if your ground needs one, and any diploma you might rely on. These take weeks to obtain in Europe and cannot be obtained from Tbilisi at all.
The 183-day line
Stay 183 days or more in a rolling twelve months and you are a Georgian tax resident for that year. Whether that is good or bad depends on what your home country does with your departure, and that question is best settled before you go rather than after.
What surprises people
How much of the first month is unglamorous and sequential. Also how much of it can be done in a morning once the tax number exists.
Ask us the same questions
We quote one fixed fee for your case and list the Georgian government fees separately, so you can check the numbers yourself.
Sources
Every legal, fee and procedural statement on this page is taken from the sources below and was checked on 2026-10-21. Where they change, this page changes.
- Law of Georgia on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons (Legislative Herald of Georgia) — Residence permit types, conditions, validity and refusal grounds
- Tax Code of Georgia (Legislative Herald of Georgia) — Tax residency, income tax, exemptions and small business status
This page is general information about Georgian rules as published by the authorities named above. It is not legal or tax advice for your circumstances, and immigration outcomes depend on your nationality, documents and individual case. See our legal and tax information disclaimer.