RELOVA JOURNAL

Blog/Published April 20, 2026 · Updated September 19, 2026

How to Move to Tbilisi: The Complete 2026 Guide (Everything in One Place)

By Anna Moore

Your first 90 days in Tbilisi: banking before leasing, personal number registration, lease sequencing, healthcare, and the community groups that matter.

Most Tbilisi guides lead with neighborhoods or visa mechanics — we've covered both of those in depth elsewhere. This piece is about sequencing: what to actually do, in what order, across your first 90 days, so you don't burn week three redoing something you rushed in week one.

Weeks 1-2: land, don't commit, and start the paper trail

Most nationalities (well over 80 passports, including the US, UK, EU, and most of the Commonwealth) get a full 365 days visa-free on entry to Georgia, which is a genuine luxury — it means you don't need to solve your long-term legal status before you've even seen the city. Use that slack deliberately: book short-term accommodation (Airbnb or a serviced apartment) for your first two to three weeks rather than signing a year-long lease sight unseen, and spend that window actually walking Vera, Vake, and Saburtalo rather than deciding from listing photos. In parallel, start collecting the paperwork you'll need for everything downstream — a printed copy of your passport bio page, proof of address (even the short-term booking confirmation works initially), and if you're planning to register as an Individual Entrepreneur, any documentation of your income source.

Weeks 2-4: open a bank account before you sign a real lease

This is the step people get backward. A Georgian bank account makes you a far more credible tenant to landlords who are wary of wiring rent internationally, so open one before you go hunting for a long-term apartment, not after. TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia both have branches used to foreign clients and can often open a basic account same-day with just a passport, though a signed lease (even a short-term one) or a local phone number smooths the process. Get your personal number (a unique identification number issued by the Public Service Hall, Georgia's one-stop government service center) registered in this window too — it's a prerequisite for a long-term lease registration, for the Individual Entrepreneur tax status if you'll use it, and for most later administrative tasks, and Public Service Halls generally process it same-day.

Weeks 4-8: sign a real lease and register it

With banking and ID sorted, move into long-term housing. Vera, an established, walkable district near the center, commands USD 500-900 for a one-bedroom; Saburtalo, larger and less central but well served by the metro, runs USD 350-650 for something comparable — a meaningful gap if budget matters more than a ten-minute walk to nightlife. Once you sign, register the lease with the Public Service Hall if you intend to use it as proof of address for tax residency or further administrative steps — a step many expats skip and later regret when a bank or government office asks for it.

Weeks 6-10: healthcare and community

Georgia doesn't have free universal healthcare for foreign residents, so budget for private international insurance or pay-as-you-go care at private clinics — care is inexpensive by Western standards but rarely free at the point of use for non-citizens. Once housing and banking are sorted, plug into the expat community: Facebook groups (search "Tbilisi Expats" and similar) and in-person meetups are where practical, current information — which landlord is reliable, which clinic has English-speaking doctors — actually circulates, usually faster and more accurately than anything written down. If you're running income through Individual Entrepreneur status (Georgia's 1% tax regime on turnover up to GEL 500,000 a year, standard rates above that), get an accountant relationship established in this window too, since invoice discipline from day one avoids a scramble at tax filing time.

If you are comparing paths, Moving To Tbilisi Expat Guide 2026 is worth reading next.

Plan it on Relova: See Georgia's visa options, tax rates, and cost of living → for a structured breakdown you can compare against other destinations.

See real salaries: What people actually earn in Georgia →

Continue with these closely related guides:

Build a relocation timeline tailored to your passport and income at Relova.