Georgia
Georgia is a country of around 3.7 million people on the southern flank of the Greater Caucasus, bordered by Russia, Türkiye, Armenia and Azerbaijan, with a Black Sea coastline to the west and Tbilisi as its capital. It sits on the seam between Europe and Asia and belongs neatly to neither, with its own language, its own alphabet — one of a handful of writing systems in the world that is not derived from another — and an Orthodox Christian tradition among the oldest anywhere. Its wine culture is older still: some 8,000 years of continuous production, much of it fermented in buried clay qvevri, a method UNESCO lists as intangible cultural heritage. For visitors, the practical headline is unusually simple. Citizens of more than ninety countries enter without a visa at all, for stays of up to a full year, which is among the most liberal entry regimes in the world and the reason Georgia turns up so often in conversations about long stays and remote work.
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Georgia visa system overview
Georgia runs one of the most liberal entry regimes anywhere, and the headline is as generous as it sounds: citizens of more than ninety countries, among them every EU member state, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Israel, enter with no visa at all for up to a full year, and that allowance covers tourism, business and short-term study rather than tourism alone. Two details matter more than the number. The first is the mechanism behind it: the year is counted per entry, not as a rolling allowance across a longer window, so the clock restarts on a fresh arrival instead of accumulating against you the way a 90-days-in-180 rule does. That single structural difference, rather than the length of the stay by itself, is what put Georgia on the long-stay and remote-work map. The second runs the opposite way to most of the world: Georgian entry requirements ask that a passport be valid for the duration of the intended stay rather than for six months beyond it, which is unusually lenient. Carrying the more common six months of validity is still the safer position, because airlines and any connecting country will apply their own rules regardless of what Georgia asks. Nationalities outside the visa-free list mostly apply online through the official Georgian e-visa portal, which issues a single-entry document valid for either 30 or 90 days depending on nationality and asks for a passport scan, a photograph and accommodation details; the fee and the processing time are set by the authorities and revised periodically, so confirm both on the official portal rather than working from any published figure. A small remaining group applies through a Georgian embassy or consulate. Anything beyond the tourist framework — taking local employment, enrolling in formal study, joining family, settling — is not a longer visa but a residence permit, applied for inside the country at a Public Service Hall, and the categories are set out below. One hard legal boundary sits alongside this openness: Abkhazia and South Ossetia are outside Georgian government control, and Georgian law treats entry into either from the Russian side as illegal — travellers who have done so can face arrest when later entering Georgia proper. Crossings from Georgian-controlled territory operate only at limited points that open and close unpredictably, and most Western governments advise against all travel to both regions; check your own government's current advisory before considering any approach.
Visa types
Visa-free entry, up to one year
The route almost every visitor to Georgia will actually use. Citizens of more than ninety countries — the whole of the EU and EEA, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, the Gulf states and much of Latin America among them — arrive with a passport and nothing else, and the permission covers tourism, business meetings, visiting family and short-term study rather than sightseeing alone. There is no arrival form to buy, no fee to pay and no pre-authorisation to obtain, which is why so much published advice about Georgia reads as though something must be missing. Nothing is: the stamp on arrival is the whole process. The allowance runs per entry, so leaving and returning starts a fresh period rather than drawing down a shared balance, and it is the reason a long stay in Georgia is administratively simple in a way that few countries match.
E-visa, 30 or 90 days
For nationalities that fall outside the visa-free list but qualify to apply online, which is a further substantial group of countries. The application runs entirely through the official Georgian e-visa portal and asks for a scan of the passport, a photograph and evidence of where you will stay; the result is a single-entry document, so a trip that leaves Georgia and comes back — into Armenia or Türkiye and out again, a common regional routing — needs that second entry planned for rather than assumed. Validity is either 30 or 90 days depending on nationality. Both the fee and the stated processing time are set by the authorities and change, so read them from the official portal at the time you apply instead of relying on a figure quoted anywhere else, including older guides.
Transit visa
A narrow category for travellers passing through Georgia toward another destination who are not covered by visa-free entry or eligible for the e-visa in their own right. It is applied for through a Georgian embassy or through the e-visa portal, and the supporting documents are the ones the category implies: proof of onward travel, and the visa for the final destination where that destination requires one. Most travellers never encounter this route, because the visa-free allowance is long enough that a transit category simply does not arise for them.
Residence permit
The path for anyone whose plans outgrow the visitor framework — local employment, formal study, family reunification, running a business, or simply settling. The important structural point is that this is not an extension of the tourist period and not a longer visa: it is a separate status applied for inside Georgia at a Public Service Hall, with distinct categories for work, study, family and business, each carrying its own documentation. Applicants already in the country on the visa-free allowance can generally apply without leaving, which is part of why the transition from visiting to residing is comparatively undramatic here. Registration requirements attach to longer stays as well, and hotels handle registration for their guests automatically; confirm what applies to your own arrangement at the time, as the administrative detail is revised more often than the headline rules are.
Guides
Georgia is small on the map and slow on the ground, and the gap between those two facts is the most useful thing to understand before planning a route. The distances between Tbilisi, the wine villages of Kakheti and the Black Sea look trivial on a map, and largely are; the roads into the high valleys of Svaneti and Tusheti are a different proposition entirely, measured in hours and half-days rather than kilometres, and governed by season rather than by distance — a pass that is a scenic drive in August is simply shut in February. What the country returns for that patience is an unusual range for its size: a capital layered with Persian bathhouses, Orthodox churches, Art Nouveau facades and Soviet concrete within a single walk; medieval defensive towers standing in glaciated valleys; a subtropical coast; and cave cities cut into rock. The other half of the appeal is social rather than scenic. Georgian hospitality is an institution rather than a manner, and travel here tends to become participatory — a guesthouse dinner turns into a supra, a toast turns into an evening, and the trip is remembered for the table as much as for the landscape.
Georgia travel guide →
The full guide — layered Tbilisi, the road to Kazbegi, qvevri wine country and Svaneti's towers.
Money in Georgia →
The lari in practice — cards in the cities, cash in the mountains, and honest exchange advice.
Eating in Georgia →
Dishes named for places — learn four or five names and a Georgian menu becomes a map.
Getting around Georgia →
Comprehensive, cheap and unbookable from abroad — marshrutkas leave when full; plan accordingly.
Health & safety in Georgia →
Low-crime; the real risks are mountain roads, fast-changing weather and distance from help.
Cities & planning
Regions
Embassies & missions
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a visa to visit Georgia?
Probably not — Georgia runs one of the world's most liberal entry policies: citizens of over 90 countries (all of the EU, the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and more) enter visa-free for up to a full 365 days per entry, covering tourism, business and short-term study. Nationalities outside that list mostly qualify for an e-visa through the official Georgian e-visa portal (30 or 90 days); only a small remainder needs an embassy application.
Can I really stay a whole year visa-free?
Yes — the 365-day allowance is per entry and is the reason Georgia became a fixture on the digital-nomad map, alongside moderate living costs and a growing long-stay infrastructure in Tbilisi. For anything beyond the tourist framework — local employment, formal study, settling in — the path is a residence permit through the Public Service Hall, with categories for work, study, family and business.
Is Georgia safe to visit?
Georgia is broadly a safe, welcoming destination with low violent crime and famous hospitality. The one hard rule involves the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia: entering them from the Russian side is illegal under Georgian law and can lead to arrest — if those regions are on your mind at all, read your government's current advisory first. Mountain travel has its own seasonal cautions: high passes and roads can close quickly in winter.
When is the best time to visit Georgia?
Late spring and early autumn are the sweet spots: May-June and September-October bring mild weather in Tbilisi and Kakheti and open trails in the mountains — with September doubling as the rtveli grape harvest in wine country. High-Caucasus trekking around Kazbegi, Tusheti and Svaneti is a summer affair; winter turns Gudauri into a ski resort while the Jvari Pass and remote valleys can close. Batumi's subtropical coast stretches the season at both ends.
How many days do you need for Georgia?
A rewarding first trip fits in 7-10 days: two or three for Tbilisi with a Mtskheta half-day, an overnight to Kazbegi via the Georgian Military Highway, and one or two days of Kakheti wine villages. Svaneti deserves its own three to four days — travel times to Mestia and Ushguli are long, and the high valleys reward slowness — so plan two weeks if the towers are a priority.
What is a supra?
The Georgian feast — a long table of shared dishes and wine, structured by rounds of toasts led by a tamada, the toastmaster. It's the country's social institution, and sooner or later a guesthouse dinner turns into one. Come hungry, follow the tamada's lead (toasts are drunk at the toast, not sipped between), and don't plan anything demanding afterwards — a proper supra is the evening.
Do people speak English in Georgia?
In Tbilisi's tourist areas and among younger Georgians, yes; in the regions, less so — Russian is widely understood across generations, and Georgian itself uses its own unique alphabet, which makes signs part of the scenery rather than a reading aid. A few Georgian phrases (gamarjoba — hello; madloba — thank you) open doors far beyond their vocabulary size.
What makes Georgian wine special?
Georgia has made wine for some 8,000 years — the oldest continuous tradition known — and still ferments in qvevri, buried clay vessels, a method UNESCO lists as intangible cultural heritage. The result, especially amber (skin-contact white) wines, tastes like nowhere else. Kakheti is the heartland: taste in family cellars around Telavi and Sighnaghi, stay in village guesthouses, and let dinners run long.
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Treat this Visaja page as your starting point: verify the current rules directly with the official source before you submit an application.