Post and Parcels in Georgia: Receiving, Sending and Customs Limits

Parcels worth up to 300 lari and weighing up to 30 kg clear Georgian customs duty-free. If you shop online from the US, Turkey or China, a forwarding service is usually the cheapest way to get your order. One thing catches newcomers out: Georgian Post won't send a phone or laptop abroad, because lithium batteries are banned from international mail.

The essentials for anyone living here: how Georgian Post works, how to collect a parcel and write your address properly, when customs charges apply, which forwarders and marketplaces deliver to Georgia, how to have a parcel sent to you from home, and what it costs to send a parcel abroad or across the country.

Georgian Post

Georgia's national postal operator is Georgian Post (საქართველოს ფოსტა), at gpost.ge. There are 15 service centers in Tbilisi and 2 in Batumi. Most are open weekdays from 9:00 to 19:00 and Saturdays from 10:00 to 16:00; all branches close on Sundays and on public holidays in Georgia.

A single call center, 032 224 09 09, serves every branch. On gpost.ge you can track a parcel by its tracking number and book a slot in the queue at your branch.

Collecting a parcel

If the parcel carries your phone number, you'll get a text with the branch address within 2 working days of its arrival. If it doesn't, the post office leaves a paper notice at your door or in your mailbox, so always include a number.

To collect, show your passport or your residence permit in Georgia. Parcels that require a customs declaration are handed over only to the addressee or to someone with a power of attorney.

A standard parcel waits at the branch for 30 days, EMS items and letters for 15 days. You can extend the hold once, by 15 or 30 days, at the branch or online; after that the parcel goes back to the sender. The courier brings an EMS item to your door free of charge, and it only ends up at the branch if nobody was home. You collect a standard parcel at the branch yourself or pay extra to have it delivered to your door.

How to write the address

Parcels from abroad should be addressed in Latin script. Use your full first and last name exactly as they appear in your passport, or you may be turned away at the counter. Georgian postcodes have 4 digits; you can look yours up by street on gpost.ge. A typical address looks like this:

• John Smith
• 71 Vazha-Pshavela Ave, apt 12
• 0186 Tbilisi
• GEORGIA
• +995 5XX XX XX XX

Customs: when you'll pay duty

A personal parcel worth up to 300 lari and weighing up to 30 kg comes in duty-free, with nothing for you to do. The limit applies per parcel, and there is no monthly cap on postal items. Be aware, though, that purchases from the same store arriving on the same flight are added up as a single shipment.

Over the limit you pay 18% VAT, import duty at 0%, 5% or 12% depending on the goods (zero for most items), plus a customs processing fee: 20 lari for a parcel worth up to 3,000 lari and 100 lari for one worth 3,000 to 10,000 lari.

The forwarder or Georgian Post files the declaration; your part is to upload the store receipt. You then have 30 days to pay, either on rs.ge or through your banking app if you hold a bank account in Georgia, and there's no need to visit a customs office in person. A foreigner without a Georgian personal number first needs an identification number, issued free of charge against your passport at a Revenue Service center. Residence permit holders already have one.

Some goods have limits of their own. A single parcel may contain up to 4 liters of alcohol and up to 200 cigarettes duty-free. Medicines for personal use can come in without any paperwork, up to 10 packs; anything containing narcotic or psychotropic substances requires a prescription and is capped at a 31-day supply. These are the same rules that apply when you bring medicines into Georgia in your luggage.

No allowance applies to goods intended for resale: importing and exporting in Georgia commercially means a full declaration, whatever the value.

Sending a parcel to Georgia from home

When family or friends want to send you something, the post office in their own country is usually the simplest way to do it. Here is what the national postal services in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia charge for a parcel to Georgia, and how long it takes to arrive.

Canada Post's Tracked Packet International and Xpresspost International do not serve Georgia, so a parcel goes as International Parcel, either by surface or by air, and surface mail costs roughly half to two thirds of the air rate but can take up to 12 weeks.

If you are sending from any other country, start with your national postal service, which is almost always the cheapest option. Couriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS get the parcel there faster but charge considerably more. Rates change often, so check the current price on your post office's website before you pack the box.

Amazon is no shortcut. Georgia is missing from the AmazonGlobal list of countries on amazon.com, and amazon.co.uk does not ship ordinary goods to Georgia either, so the only reliable way is to order to a forwarder's US address, as described in the forwarders section below. Whoever sends the parcel, the same 300-lari and 30 kg limit applies at Georgian customs, so a gift worth more than that comes with VAT to pay.

Forwarders: shopping from the US, Turkey and China

A forwarder gives you a personal address at its warehouse in the US, Turkey, China or Europe. You enter it at checkout, the forwarder ships the parcel on to Georgia, and you collect it from an office or locker or have a courier bring it to your door. You're charged on actual or volumetric weight, whichever is greater.

What the main forwarders charge as of 2 October 2026:

Turkey is the cheapest origin. From China, land shipping costs less than half the air rate but takes 30-45 days. Older guides still quote $4 per kg from the US; that figure is out of date, and current prices are 2-2.5 times higher.

Marketplaces

• AliExpress ships to Georgia directly, usually via Georgian Post, in 10-20 working days, though electronics and clothes are often quicker to buy in stores in Georgia.
• Temu delivers directly through Onex.
• Trendyol, Pinduoduo and Taobao orders arrive through Inex; Trendyol also ships to any forwarder's Turkish address.
• Amazon does not ship ordinary goods to Georgia, so order to a forwarder's US address instead.

Sending a parcel from Georgia

Georgian Post takes international parcels up to 20 kg. Airmail takes 2-3 weeks, EMS 7-10 days. Prices as of 23 October 2026:

To Russia, an airmail parcel of up to 5 kg costs a flat 69 lari, but EMS there runs with delays. Georgian Post is currently not accepting mail to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

The big catch: Georgian Post bans lithium batteries from international mail, including batteries built into devices. That rules out phones, laptops, tablets and power banks, which have to go with a courier that accepts electronics. Express items also can't contain liquids, alcohol, medicines, food or cosmetics.

Wine can be posted abroad only as an overland parcel, and only to EU countries, the UK and Armenia: no more than 5 liters and no more than 2 factory-sealed bottles of any one kind. Antiques, old furniture and coins need an export permit from the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia; it costs 14 lari and is valid for 3 months. Georgia charges no export duties.

The international couriers in Tbilisi are DHL (109 Tsereteli Ave, 032 269 60 60), FedEx (25 Agmashenebeli Ave) and UPS (15 Queen Ketevan Ave, 032 274 51 99). Pricing depends on weight and destination, so run the numbers through the calculators on their websites.

Parcels within Georgia

Sending a Georgian Post parcel from Tbilisi to Batumi costs 14 lari for 1 kg and 17 lari for 5 kg, with 3-5 days in transit. Door-to-door delivery is 14.50 lari and 19 lari respectively, and 12-hour express delivery within Tbilisi is 26.50 lari. Inex moves parcels between its own branches, and CDEK delivers nationwide too.

Key takeaways

• Parcels up to 300 lari and 30 kg are duty-free; above that you pay 18% VAT and a customs fee from 20 lari.
• Put your phone number on the parcel, or you won't get the text alert.
• Parcels are held at the branch for 30 days, EMS for 15.
• Forwarders charge from $2.2 per kg out of Turkey and around $9-10 out of the US.
• Georgian Post won't send a phone or laptop abroad; use a courier.
• Amazon does not deliver to Georgia; have parcels sent through your national post, such as USPS, Royal Mail, Canada Post or Australia Post, or order to a forwarder's US address.