Living in Tbilisi, Georgia: Low Taxes, Visa-Free Stays, and Remote Work Reality

Georgia offers one of the most generous combinations of visa access, low taxation, and cheap living anywhere in the world. The question is whether you can handle everything that comes with it.

Tbilisi has quietly become one of the most popular destinations for remote workers and digital nomads since 2020. The reasons are straightforward: citizens of 95-plus countries can enter Georgia and stay for a full year without a visa, the tax system is designed to attract foreign entrepreneurs, and the cost of living is a fraction of Western Europe. But Georgia is not a tropical beach destination with reliable infrastructure. It is a post-Soviet country in the Caucasus with genuine complexities that the enthusiastic YouTube reviews tend to skip.

The visa situation: just show up

Georgia's immigration policy is remarkably simple. Citizens of the EU, US, Canada, Australia, UK, Israel, Japan, and dozens of other countries can enter without a visa and stay for up to 365 days. No registration, no reporting, no application. You arrive at Tbilisi airport, get your passport stamped, and you have a year.

After 365 days, the standard approach is a border run. Exit to Turkey or Armenia (both nearby), re-enter, and the clock resets. Georgia does not restrict consecutive stays or penalize this pattern. The Georgian government has explicitly designed the system to attract long-term visitors.

This is not residency. You remain a visitor. You cannot access Georgian public services, vote, or claim most government benefits. But for someone who simply wants to live and work remotely from a base with legal authorization, it works without paperwork.

The tax advantage

Georgia operates a territorial tax system. Income earned from foreign sources is not taxed if you are not a Georgian tax resident. Tax residency triggers at 183 days of presence in a calendar year, but even then, only Georgian-source income is taxed for individuals.

The more interesting option is the Individual Entrepreneur (IE) status. Register as an IE with the Revenue Service, and you pay just 1% tax on gross revenue up to GEL 500,000 (roughly $185,000 at current exchange rates). Above that threshold, standard rates apply. The 1% rate applies to revenue from services, which is what most remote workers and freelancers earn.

The IE registration process takes a few days and requires a Georgian bank account (which itself requires visiting a bank branch with your passport). It is legitimate, straightforward, and widely used by the foreign community in Tbilisi.

A critical caveat: the 1% rate does not eliminate your tax obligations in your home country. If you are a US citizen, you owe US tax regardless of where you live. If you are a UK resident who hasn't properly established non-residency, HMRC may still expect to hear from you. Georgia's tax regime is excellent, but it does not override your other obligations. Get professional tax advice specific to your nationality and situation.

Cost of living: genuinely cheap

Tbilisi's cost of living is low enough that it changes the math of remote work significantly.

A one-bedroom apartment in central Tbilisi (Vera, Vake, Saburtalo neighborhoods) rents for $300 to $500 per month. Furnished, often including utilities. Quality varies, and some buildings show their Soviet origins more than others, but comfortable modern apartments exist in this range.

Eating out costs $5 to $10 for a full meal at a local restaurant. Georgian cuisine (khinkali dumplings, khachapuri cheese bread, grilled meats, fresh salads) is hearty, inexpensive, and generally excellent. Grocery shopping runs $150 to $250 monthly for one person.

A comfortable single person's budget in Tbilisi runs $800 to $1,200 per month. A couple can manage well on $1,200 to $1,800. These are not survival budgets: they include dining out regularly, occasional travel within Georgia, coworking space membership ($80 to $150 per month), and normal daily expenses.

By comparison, Lisbon or Bangkok, the other popular nomad hubs, cost roughly two to three times as much for equivalent lifestyles.

The downsides are real

Winter

Tbilisi winters run from November through March. Temperatures drop below freezing regularly, with January averaging around 2 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit). Snow is common. Many older apartments have inadequate heating, relying on individual gas heaters rather than central systems. If you rent, confirm the heating situation before signing. A cold apartment in January will make you miserable.

The short days (sunset before 6 PM in December) and gray skies affect mood. Seasonal depression is a legitimate concern for people from sunnier climates spending their first Caucasian winter here.

Language barrier

Georgian (Kartvelian) uses its own unique script and belongs to no major language family. It is unrelated to Russian, Turkish, or any European language. Learning even the basics takes real effort.

English proficiency in Tbilisi center is reasonable among younger people (under 35, educated, working in tourism or tech). Step outside that demographic or that geography and it drops sharply. Older Georgians often speak Russian as a second language, not English. Outside Tbilisi, English is rare.

You can function in central Tbilisi with only English. You cannot function outside it without Georgian or Russian.

Connectivity and flights

Internet in Tbilisi is good. Fiber connections offering 50 to 100 Mbps are standard in modern apartments. Coworking spaces have reliable high-speed connections. Mobile data is cheap and reasonably fast in the capital.

Outside Tbilisi, internet quality deteriorates quickly. Rural Georgia and even secondary cities like Kutaisi or Batumi have less reliable connections. If your work requires consistent high-speed internet, Tbilisi is really the only safe choice.

International flight connections are limited. Tbilisi airport serves direct routes primarily through Istanbul, Dubai, and a handful of European cities (Warsaw, Vienna, Athens seasonally). Getting to Western Europe or North America requires at least one connection. Flights are not always cheap, and schedules are less frequent than you would find from a major European hub.

Healthcare

Medical care in Tbilisi is affordable. A doctor's visit costs $20 to $50. Basic procedures and diagnostics are priced at a fraction of Western rates. Several private hospitals in Tbilisi provide decent care for routine and moderate issues.

For anything serious, most expats and wealthier Georgians fly to Istanbul or a European capital. Tbilisi hospitals can handle common problems, but specialized surgery, complex diagnostics, or rare conditions are better addressed elsewhere. International health insurance that includes medical evacuation is advisable.

Culture and society

Georgian culture is warm, hospitable, and more conservative than many remote workers expect. Outside Tbilisi's central neighborhoods (where a younger, more cosmopolitan population concentrates), Georgia is a traditional, religious society. The Georgian Orthodox Church has enormous cultural influence. Attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals are hostile in much of the country. Gender roles are more traditional than in Western Europe.

The drinking culture is real and sometimes intense. Georgian wine (the country claims to be the birthplace of wine, with 8,000 years of production) is central to social life. Supra (traditional feasts) involve toasting rituals and significant alcohol consumption. Declining drinks can feel awkward. If you do not drink, you will navigate social situations differently.

Political reality

Georgia's political situation adds a layer of uncertainty. The country has two Russian-occupied territories (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and a complicated, sometimes tense relationship with Moscow. The 2008 war is recent history. Georgia's EU candidacy is progressing but contentious domestically, with large protests over the government's direction becoming regular occurrences since 2023.

None of this affects daily life in Tbilisi for most foreign residents. The city feels safe, the occupied territories are distant, and political protests are generally peaceful. But the geopolitical context is worth understanding. Georgia is not a neutral, stable Switzerland in the mountains. It is a small country navigating between larger powers, and that creates a background uncertainty that does not exist in, say, Portugal or Thailand.

Who Tbilisi works for

Remote workers and freelancers earning in dollars, euros, or pounds who want to minimize living costs and tax burden while maintaining a European-adjacent lifestyle. People comfortable with cultural differences, willing to tolerate winter, and not dependent on direct flights to major Western cities.

It works less well for families with school-age children (international school options are limited and expensive), anyone needing regular access to advanced healthcare, or people who require a large English-speaking social environment.

Tbilisi is not for everyone. But for the right person, earning foreign income, comfortable with uncertainty, and willing to adapt, it offers a combination of freedom, affordability, and tax efficiency that is genuinely hard to match anywhere else in the world.