How Much Money You Need to Move to Georgia: A Budget by Stage

The money you need breaks down into three budgets: one-time costs at the start, spending in the first week, and the ongoing monthly cost of living. Count each of them separately, or you risk arriving with a sum that covers only the flight and the first night in a hostel.

Visa, Insurance, and Cash at the Border

Citizens of most countries, including the US, the UK, Ireland, Canada, and Australia, do not need a visa to enter Georgia, and the visa-free stay runs from 90 to 365 days depending on citizenship. Since January 1, 2026, border officers have also asked to see travel insurance for Georgia with a minimum of 30,000 lari for medical treatment and accidents, and without it you can be refused entry.

This check applies to visa-free arrivals and tourist-visa holders, while residence permit holders are exempt. The law sets no fixed cash requirement, but border officers may ask for proof of sufficient funds, and the practical benchmark is about $50 for each day of your stated stay.

A bank card or a bank statement usually serves as proof. Cash counts too, but a statement looks more convincing to border officers.

One-Time Costs in the First Month

The biggest one-time expense is housing: one month's rent plus a deposit, and if an agent found the apartment, the agent's fee of 50-100% of a month's rent on top. Moving into a one-bedroom apartment in Saburtalo or Vake ($500-800 a month and up) costs $1,250-2,400 just to get the keys when you go through an agent, and more if the landlord wants a two-month deposit.

Setting up the apartment (bedding, kitchenware, small repairs) usually adds another 300-500 lari. Most agencies take the first month's payment by bank transfer when you sign the lease, and not all of them accept cash.

Money for the First Week

Spending in your first week in Georgia goes toward a SIM card, currency exchange, a taxi from the airport, a Metromoney card, and temporary housing until you sign a long-term lease.

Each item is small, but together you should budget $150-250 for the first week, not counting the temporary housing itself: a Booking.com or Airbnb stay of 5-7 nights usually adds another $150-400 depending on the city and the season.

Monthly Cost of Living in Tbilisi

After that, spending settles into three scenarios:

• Budget (from $700 a month): rent outside the center (Gldani, Didube) costs $350-450, you cook at home and rarely use transport
• Mid-range ($900-1,400 a month): rent in Saburtalo or Vake costs $500-800, groceries come to $200-300, and you eat out at a cafe now and then
• Comfortable (from $2,000 a month): you live in the city center, eat out often, and travel around Georgia

Housing usually takes half of the monthly budget or more, 50-65% in both the budget and the mid-range scenario. Supermarket groceries come to $200-300 a month per person, and lunch at a local cafe costs 20-30 lari. Public transport with a Metromoney card costs next to nothing: one ride with transfers is about 40 cents (1 lari). A mobile plan with unlimited data runs $15-20 (39-55 lari) a month.

Budget for a Couple or a Family with Children

A couple does not spend twice as much as one person, but usually 1.5-1.8 times as much: rent and utilities are shared, and the increase comes mainly from groceries and personal spending.

For a family with a child, education becomes a separate budget line. A municipal kindergarten is free, a private one in Tbilisi averages about 960 lari a month, and an international school is noticeably more expensive, so this choice largely shapes your child's education in Georgia.

A family's one-time moving costs are higher mainly because of a bigger apartment (one or two extra bedrooms) and furniture shopping in Georgia if the place comes unfurnished.

Financial Cushion

The standard advice for moving to any country is to keep 3-6 months of expenses in reserve in case the search for a job or clients drags on. In the mid-range scenario that means $2,700-8,400 on top of the everyday budget.

Add the one-time housing costs, the first week, and a cushion of at least three months, and a sensible benchmark for one person without a steady source of income is $3,000-7,000 at the start. The lower end works if you rent an inexpensive place on the outskirts without an agent and live on the budget scenario, while the upper end is what you need to rent through an agent in the center.

Worked Example: What Moving In Costs at the Start

For one person renting an apartment in Saburtalo through an agent, the start-up costs of moving in add up like this:

• Monthly rent: $600
• Deposit: $600
• Agent's fee (50%): $300
• First-week costs: $200

In total, the start-up costs of moving in during the first month in Georgia come to about $1,700, not counting the flight and the insurance policy, which usually costs 40-100 lari a month depending on the plan.

If the Budget Is Very Tight

Moving on a minimal budget is possible: rent directly from the owner without an agent (a saving of 50-100% of a month's rent), choose cheaper districts such as Gldani or Didube instead of Vake, cook at home instead of eating out, or share an apartment with a roommate to halve the single biggest expense.

None of this removes the cost of the insurance policy and the first week: those stay the same however tight the rest of the budget is.