Immigrate to Tbilisi

Are you thinking of relocating to Georgia? Most of the foreign nationals who are considering this important life change are thinking of Tbilisi immigration. The capital city of the country offers good connectivity, a vibrant city life, good business opportunities for companies, as well as a tourist destination that is popular year-round.

When choosing to move to Georgia, many foreign nationals will choose its largest city. Read below to find out more about the main conditions for relocation as well as a few more details about Georgia’s capital city.

If you have been lawfully living in Tbilisi for a number of years you can apply for Georgian citizenship by naturalization either through the ordinary or the simplified procedure. The latter is available to foreign citizens who meet certain special requirements, such as having married a Georgian citizen during the time they resided in the country. Our team can give you more details about the general naturalization requirements.

What are the main steps for Tbilisi immigration?

When moving to Georgia, foreign nationals are required to apply for a category D visa, the one for immigration purposes. Several sub-categories are available, depending on the purpose for which the individual arrives in the country. We briefly list these below:

• work purposes, for those who have signed an employment agreement as well as those who intend to work as entrepreneurs in Georgia;
• scientific activities, for educational, sports, or cultural activities;
• for those who are interested in Tbilisi immigration based on the fact that they have been admitted to study or to engage in research activities at an educational institution;
• family reunification;
• for foreign entrepreneurs who are able to make a minimum investment in property in Georgia; also known as the investor visa.

Once foreign nationals are in the country, they apply for a temporary residence permit according to their purpose of stay (work, study, family reunification or investment).

The permanent residence permit is issued to a foreign national who has been living in the country under a temporary permit for the last 6 years. Citizenship can be acquired after having lived in the country for 10 consecutive years.

All foreign nationals interested in relocation to Tbilisi are required to have a valid Georgian residence permit at all times. In addition to this, the foreign national will also apply for a residence card, a step which takes place with the territorial office of the Public Services Development Agency. Having a residence card (or an e-residence card in some cases) is mandatory.

What do you need to think about when moving to Tbilisi?

The process of relocating to a different city in another country involves a number of steps, starting with checking the entry requirements and obtaining a visa, as described above by our specialists. Those foreign nationals who are interested in Tbilisi immigration can also keep in mind that they will need to make a number of other choices, among which:

1. Housing: finding an apartment or a house for rent or purchase is a step that can begin before applying for a visa; you should be aware of the areas in the city where you are looking for accommodation and explore the options as soon as you decide to move;
2. Services: signing different services agreements for internet, telephone and others is relatively easy and most of these will already be in place when you rent the apartment;
3. Health insurance: this is something you could keep in mind, even is you do not sign up for private health insurance as soon as you relocate to the country;
4. Language: all those interested in Tbilisi immigration will need to learn Georgian if they intend to make their stay permanent as language knowledge is mandatory for obtaining citizenship (along with basic history and law knowledge).

These are just some issues to take into account when you choose to immigrate to Tbilisi. If you have additional questions or need assistance during any of these steps, our Georgia immigration specialists can help you.

How does Tbilisi rank among expats?

According to Teleport, a company involved in providing solutions for movement, one of the main advantages in Tbilisi is the low living costs. Some of the Tbilisi statistics provided by Teleport and gathered by our team of Georgia immigration experts are listed below:

• Cost of living: Tbilisi is one of the least expensive cities among Teleport users and the housing costs reflect this; the median costs for renting a small apartment in the city center are around 300$; all in all, this is a nearly 70% lower cost of live compared to San Francisco, for example;
• Safety: according to the 266 Teleport Cities analyzed, Tbilisi occupied the 20^th place in terms of safety (the city has a very low gun crime rate compared to the United States, for example);
• People: the population of Tbilisi consisted of approximately 16% elderly individuals when the Teleport report was released and the median age was 38 years;
• Taxation: the individual tax on employment income is 20% in Georgia, and Tbilisi ranks 20^th among the 266 other cities ranked by Teleport.

If the low living costs and the good housing score, along with good safety and taxation issues are important for you, our team can help you during your relocation with complete Tbilisi immigration services.

Contact us for more information on the immigration requirements, the pre-and post-arrival steps as well as ongoing assistance for expats.