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Georgia: visas, tax & cost of living

Moving to Georgia as a nomad. The year-long visa-free stay, the 1% small-business regime, the 183-day tax line and real Tbilisi costs, in plain English.

Georgia: visas, tax & cost of living
Your passport

United KingdomGeorgia

Your move to Georgia on a United Kingdom passport

  • VisitEasyVisa-free entry
  • NomadEasyNomad visa, likely eligible
  • RelocateFairly easyClear residence route

Visiting

Visa-free for up to 365 days. Travel on a passport valid for your whole stay, with a return or onward ticket and proof you can support yourself.

Passport validity: Valid for at least about 3 months beyond the intended stay, with a couple of blank pages, and issued within the last 10 years.

Heads-up: Since 1 January 2026 all visitors are expected to hold valid travel health and accident insurance covering the whole stay, with minimum cover of about 30,000 GEL.

At the border: Border officers may ask about funds, onward or return ticket, accommodation and insurance, and a passport with at least one blank page is needed.

Working remotely

C5 visa.

Income needed: No published income or savings threshold for the new C5 visa; the old ~$2,000/mo (or ~$24,000 savings) Remotely from Georgia figure is defunct and no longer applies. The 365-day visa-free stay needs no income proof either. (estimate)

Duration: 12 months

Fee: $20 to $500 (exact amount set by government order) (estimate)

Who qualifies: Parliament created the C5 visa in April 2026: a 5-year multiple-entry visa that lets you stay up to a year at a stretch if you work only for a business based outside Georgia, applied for through the e-Visa portal. It replaces the COVID-era Remotely from Georgia scheme, which is gone and should not be planned around. Most people still just use the 365-day visa-free stay, or register as an Individual Entrepreneur for the 1% small-business tax, which excludes consulting, legal, medical and audit work.

Tax and residency

Resident for the whole tax year if physically present 183 days or more in any continuous 12-calendar-month period that ends inside that tax year, a different window from a plain calendar year. A high-net-worth individual can separately be granted residency with no day count at all, under rules the finance and justice ministries set. The 1% small-business regime applies up to GEL 500,000 turnover a year, rising to 3% on the amount above that from the month you cross the line, but the law bars medical, architectural, legal, notarial, audit and consulting work of any kind (including tax consulting), plus currency exchange, gambling and staffing, from the 1% rate entirely. Foreign-source income is generally outside Georgia's territorial net, but work physically performed while in Georgia is taxed as Georgian-source regardless of where the client sits. (estimate)

The UK decides residence with its Statutory Residence Test (days in the UK plus your ties). As a non-resident you are usually taxed only on UK income; where one exists, a double-tax treaty with the destination decides who taxes what.

Double-tax treaty: yes, in force since 2004

Practical

Currency: GEL. Cost of living: low.

Healthcare: Foreigners pay for treatment and cannot register for Georgia's national healthcare system, so comprehensive travel or health insurance is essential; private clinics in Tbilisi and Batumi are decent and inexpensive.

Driving: A valid foreign licence is generally accepted for up to about 12 months from entry, after which an International Driving Permit alongside your licence or a Georgian licence is needed.

Sources: Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons, art. 7(3)(c.e) C5 visa, art. 6(7¹) duration, in force since April 2026 · Government of Georgia, list of countries whose citizens may enter without a visa (one full year) · Tax Code of Georgia, art. 34, tax residency (183-day and high-net-worth tests) · Government of Georgia Decree No. 415, annex 4, activities excluded from small business status · Georgia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, entry and insurance requirements · GOV.UK: tax on foreign income · HMRC: double-taxation treaties

Estimates, not advice. Confirm with the official sources before you act.

Why move to Georgia

Mountains, ancient wine country, fast cafe wifi, and almost no paperwork to get started. That is the pitch. Citizens of around 95 countries can enter and stay visa-free for up to a year (365 days), so you can land in Tbilisi and just start living. No application, no waiting. For a lot of nomads that single rule is the whole reason Georgia ends up on the shortlist.

Georgia digital nomad visa and entry

Most people who fit the visa-free list (US, EU, UK, Canada, Australia and dozens more) still do not need a separate visa: the year-long stay already covers being in the country. But Georgia does now have a real digital-nomad-shaped visa. In April 2026 parliament added the C5 visa, a five-year, multiple-entry visa that lets you stay up to a year at a stretch, open to anyone whose work serves only a business based outside Georgia. It runs through the e-Visa portal, the fee sits somewhere between $20 and $500 depending on the government’s own fee order, and the law does not publish an income or savings floor. That is a real change from the old “Remotely from Georgia” scheme, a COVID-era programme that asked for roughly $2,000 a month (or about $24,000 in savings) and has since been wound down. Do not plan around those old numbers, they no longer apply.

One more thing changed recently and it is worth knowing. Since March 2026, being visa-free, or even holding the C5 visa, means you are legally present, not automatically that you can take local work. A separate work-permit regime started on 1 March 2026 for anyone entering the Georgian labour market, though it is not meant to catch someone working from Georgia purely for a foreign employer or foreign clients. Rules here are moving fast, so check your passport’s current terms and the C5 details before you book a one-way ticket.

Tax residency and the 183 days

Spend 183 days or more in Georgia inside any continuous 12-month period that ends within the tax year, not simply a calendar year, and you generally become a tax resident for that whole year, on the hook for worldwide income. Separately, a high-net-worth individual can be granted residency with no day count at all, under conditions the finance and justice ministries set. The famous draw is the 1% small-business regime: register as an individual entrepreneur and you pay 1% on gross turnover up to GEL 500,000 a year (roughly $185,000), rising to 3% on the amount above that from the month you cross the line. Here is the part the pitch skips: the law bars medical, architectural, legal, notarial, audit and consulting work of any kind, including tax consulting, plus currency exchange, gambling, staffing and a handful of licensed trades, from the 1% rate entirely. If your income is consulting, coaching or similar advisory work, you are likely looking at Georgia’s standard income tax, not 1%. Foreign-source income can be exempt under Georgia’s territorial system, but work you physically do while sitting in Georgia is usually treated as Georgian-source, not foreign. Get your own activity checked against the current exclusion list before you register.

Cost of living in Georgia

Georgia is cheap by European standards, and that is the quiet reason people stay longer than planned. A single person living comfortably in Tbilisi, rent included, lands around $1,000 to $1,200 a month, and your money stretches further outside the capital. The currency is the Georgian lari (GEL). Rent, food and transport are all gentle on a remote salary.

Figures are estimates. Always check the official source linked below.

At a glance

Currency
GEL
Cost of living
Low
Digital-nomad visa
Yes

Frequently asked questions

Georgia: is there a digital nomad visa?
C5 visa. Parliament created the C5 visa in April 2026: a 5-year multiple-entry visa that lets you stay up to a year at a stretch if you work only for a business based outside Georgia, applied for through the e-Visa portal. It replaces the COVID-era Remotely from Georgia scheme, which is gone and should not be planned around. Most people still just use the 365-day visa-free stay, or register as an Individual Entrepreneur for the 1% small-business tax, which excludes consulting, legal, medical and audit work.
Georgia: when do you become a tax resident?
Resident for the whole tax year if physically present 183 days or more in any continuous 12-calendar-month period that ends inside that tax year, a different window from a plain calendar year. A high-net-worth individual can separately be granted residency with no day count at all, under rules the finance and justice ministries set. The 1% small-business regime applies up to GEL 500,000 turnover a year, rising to 3% on the amount above that from the month you cross the line, but the law bars medical, architectural, legal, notarial, audit and consulting work of any kind (including tax consulting), plus currency exchange, gambling and staffing, from the 1% rate entirely. Foreign-source income is generally outside Georgia's territorial net, but work physically performed while in Georgia is taxed as Georgian-source regardless of where the client sits.
Georgia: what is the cost of living?
The cost of living is low and the local currency is the GEL. Treat any figures as estimates.
Georgia: do you need health insurance?
Foreigners pay for treatment and cannot register for Georgia's national healthcare system, so comprehensive travel or health insurance is essential; private clinics in Tbilisi and Batumi are decent and inexpensive.
Georgia: can you drive on a foreign licence?
A valid foreign licence is generally accepted for up to about 12 months from entry, after which an International Driving Permit alongside your licence or a Georgian licence is needed.

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