Overall9/10Among the 5% easiest cities for visas
Good to know
Good to Know
- As of January 1, 2026, every visitor — including those entering visa-free — must carry travel medical insurance covering at least 30,000 GEL (roughly $11,360) for the full length of stay; buy a compliant policy before you fly rather than at the border.
- The exact list of visa-free countries and stay lengths is set by government ordinance and can change, so check your specific nationality on the official geoconsul.gov.ge portal before booking, rather than relying on aggregate 'X countries' figures from travel blogs.
- Visa-free entry (even at 365 days) is not a work authorization for a Georgian employer — it's fine for remote work for foreign clients, but locally sourced employment needs a separate work/residence permit.
- Bakuriani itself has no separate entry rules — it falls under Georgia's normal national visa policy since it's not a border town or special zone.
- The 365-day visa-free entry that most Western nationalities already get covers the same ground as the 'Remotely from Georgia' program for most people, so many nomads skip the formal nomad program entirely and just enter on the standard visa-free stamp.
- If you plan to stay 183+ days, register as an Individual Entrepreneur with Small Business Status as early as possible in the tax year — waiting means you owe the standard 20% flat tax on income earned before your registration is approved, not the 1% rate.
- As of March 2026, Georgia introduced a work-permit framework that separates the right to enter/stay from the right to work for foreign nationals under labor-migration rules — remote employees of a foreign employer should get current, specific advice rather than assuming visa-free entry alone covers them for work.
- Bakuriani itself is a small mountain resort town without major government service offices; formal steps like Individual Entrepreneur registration or Revenue Service filings are typically handled online or during a trip to a larger city (Tbilisi, Batumi, or Kutaisi have major Public Service Hall / Revenue Service offices).
Visa Free Entry
- Process
- No advance application for eligible nationalities. Travelers simply present a valid passport (or, for EU/EEA/Swiss/UK citizens, sometimes a national ID card) at the border and receive an entry stamp. Those not covered by the visa-free list must apply for an e-Visa (evisa.gov.ge) or a sticker visa from a Georgian embassy in advance.
- Summary
- Georgia runs one of the most generous visa-free regimes in the world: citizens of a large list of countries approved by government ordinance can enter and stay for up to a full year (365 days) with no visa application, paperwork, or registration — just a passport stamp at the border.
- Governing Country
- Georgia (national policy, applies to Bakuriani as it is not a special jurisdiction)
- Re Entry And Long Stay Notes
- The 365-day period applies per entry/visit; there is no strict formal cap on the number of times someone can re-enter, but immigration officers can refuse entry if they believe the visa-free rule is being used as a substitute for actual long-term residency. Visa-free status permits remote work for foreign employers/clients but is not, by itself, authorization to take local paid employment with a Georgian employer.
Official Sources
- Legislative Herald Decree 602
- https://matsne.gov.ge
- National Tourism Administration
- https://georgia.travel/coming-to-georgia/georgia-travel-visa-application
- Visa Free Country List Ordinance
- https://matsne.gov.ge/en/document/view/2867361
- Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Portal
- https://geoconsul.gov.ge/en
Secondary Category 90 Day
- Stay Duration Days
- 90
- Description
- A separate rule allows people who are NOT citizens of a visa-free country, but who hold a valid Schengen, US, UK, or certain other visas/residence permits, to enter Georgia visa-free for up to 90 days within a 180-day period.
Documents Typically Checked
- Valid passport (6 months' recommended remaining validity, though not always strictly enforced)
- Proof of accommodation (hotel booking or rental agreement) — sometimes requested
- Return/onward travel proof — sometimes requested
- Mandatory travel medical insurance (see below)
Eligible Nationalities 1 Year
- Examples
- All EU/EEA member states and Switzerland (travel document or national ID card accepted), United Kingdom and several UK overseas territories, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the GCC states, among others on the official list.
- Stay Duration Days
- 365
- Description
- Citizens of the countries on Georgia's government-approved visa-free list may enter and stay without a visa for a full year.
- Note On Count
- Different sources cite the list as covering roughly 95–100+ countries; the binding figure is whatever is on the current government ordinance, not any single aggregate number.
Mandatory Insurance Rule 2026
- Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Minimum Coverage
- GEL 30,000
- Description
- Since 1 January 2026, all foreign nationals entering Georgia — including visa-free travelers — must hold travel medical/accident insurance valid for their full stay, with a minimum coverage of 30,000 GEL. This was established by Decree No. 602 of the Government of Georgia, adopted 26 December 2025. Diplomats, certain treaty-based nationals, and airport transit passengers who don't clear passport control are exempt.
Digital Nomad Visa And Tax
- Eligibility
- Must be a remote employee, freelancer, or entrepreneur earning income from a foreign employer or foreign clients; cannot work for Georgia-based companies while on this status.
- Program Name
- "Remotely from Georgia" (national program; applies to Bakuriani as it applies countrywide, not city-specific)
- Renewal Path
- Multiple sources state this status is granted for up to 12 months and is not renewable in place; the common workaround used by nomads generally is to rely on the separate 365-day visa-free entry (available to ~95 nationalities) and simply exit and re-enter, or to transition into a work/business residence permit for a longer-term legal base.
- Visa Ease Tier
- high
- Application Path
- Fully online, no in-person interview required, through the government e-visa/nomad portal (evisa.gov.ge) or in-country at a Public Service Hall; typical processing has been quoted around 7-10 working days.
- 2026 Regulatory Change
- A labor migration amendment package passed by the Georgian parliament (third reading, June 26, 2025) introduced a formal work-permit framework effective March 1, 2026. This has created a split where visa-free entry or 'Remotely from Georgia' stay no longer automatically confers a legal right to work for those falling under the new labor-migration rules, leaving remote employment for a foreign employer in a somewhat ambiguous gray area pending further clarification.
- Visa Ease Tier Rationale
- Most Western nationalities get a full 365-day visa-free stay with no application needed and can access an unusually simple 1% turnover-tax regime after registering as an Individual Entrepreneur, though a March 2026 work-permit reform has introduced new legal ambiguity around the right to work for a foreign employer.
- Alternative Work Residence Permit
- A separate work residence permit exists, running 6-12 months initially and extendable up to 12 years; it generally requires income equal to 5x the subsistence minimum and roughly GEL 50,000 in turnover, and can lead toward permanent residence after 10 years.
- Program Status Note
- Sources disagree on whether this program is still meaningfully in use. Several visa-service sites list it as active with a 12-month, non-renewable stay, while a detailed expat-relocation guide argues it has become largely obsolete because the return of Georgia's standard 365-day visa-free entry for most Western nationalities now covers the same ground, and the government's own e-visa site no longer prominently features it.
Tax Notes
- Territorial Taxation
- Georgia taxes individuals on a territorial basis: once tax-resident, foreign-source income (foreign salary, dividends, interest, crypto gains) is generally not taxed by Georgia, while Georgia-source income for residents is taxed at a flat 20%.
- Tax Residency Trigger
- Physical presence of 183+ days in Georgia within any continuous 12-month period automatically triggers Georgian tax residency; residency can also sometimes be established via 'center of vital interests' even without meeting the day count.
- Double Taxation Treaties
- Georgia has double taxation avoidance treaties with a substantial number of countries, but protection under these treaties generally requires actually establishing Georgian tax residency (183+ days or equivalent) — simply registering a Georgian business without meeting residency tests does not by itself shield income from taxation in a nomad's home country.
Small Business Regime
- Above Cap Rate
- Rate rises to 3% if turnover exceeds the cap (while still under a secondary threshold); certain activities such as 'consulting' are excluded from this regime and taxed at the standard 20% rate instead.
- Turnover Cap
- GEL 500,000
- Micro Business Threshold
- GEL 30,000
- Description
- Registered Individual Entrepreneurs with 'Small Business Status' pay a flat 1% tax on gross turnover instead of the standard 20% income tax, with no social security contributions for the self-employed.
- Micro Business Note
- Turnover under this threshold with no employees can qualify for Micro Business status, which is untaxed.
High Net Worth Individual Exception
- Net Worth Threshold
- GEL 3,000,000
- Additional Condition
- GEL 25,000
Minimum annual Georgia-source income required in addition to the net worth or income test.
- OR Income Threshold Last 3 Years
- GEL 200,000
- Description
- High-Net-Worth Individuals can obtain Georgian tax residency without meeting the 183-day physical presence requirement, needing only an annual visit, provided they also have a minimum amount of Georgia-source income.
Documents Required
- Valid passport (generally 3-6 months validity beyond planned departure, depending on source)
- Proof of remote employment or business ownership (contract, employer letter, or business incorporation certificate)
- Bank statements or other financial proof of the income/savings threshold
- Health insurance coverage valid for Georgia
- Clean criminal background check
- Accommodation proof (rental agreement or hotel booking) and travel itinerary
Income Requirement
- OR Savings Option
- GEL 63,240
- Monthly Income Option
- GEL 5,270
- Note
- Figures are officially quoted in USD by the Georgian program; GEL equivalents are calculated at the current exchange rate for reference.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this visas research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Bakuriani
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.