Moving by car

Экспаты Грузия

Contents

Read about land crossings, required documents, and contacts in the "Tickets/Methods" section.

Documents for entering Georgia

Certificate of vehicle registration;

International driver's license or any other country's driver's license;

Vehicle passport;

If the vehicle does not belong to the driver, a notarized power of attorney from the owner to the driver is also required, indicating permission to export the vehicle beyond the state borders.

Insurance

Car insurance with foreign license plates is mandatory in Georgia, even when traveling "there and back" or when transiting Georgia.

The Green Card is not valid in Georgia, so if you are transiting to Turkey, you will first need to buy insurance in Georgia and then buy the Green Card in Turkey.

Driving in Georgia with foreign license plates without Georgian insurance is fined from 100 to 200 lari.

You can buy insurance online on the official website of the insurance company or at its sales points (sales points are located near all border crossings). When crossing the "Upper Lars" checkpoint, you can also buy insurance at the tents before the border, but it's more expensive.

The price for cars starts from 30 lari for 15 days.

Customs clearance and license plates in Georgia

Foreign citizens' cars can stay in Georgia with foreign license plates for up to 3 months. During this time, the car must either undergo customs procedures or leave Georgia. If this is not done, the owner is fined 50 lari per day, but not more than 1000 lari.

Article 165. Violation of the deadline for submitting goods/general declaration/declaration of goods or the deadline for the arrival of a vehicle - a fine of up to 1000 lari according to the Tax Code.

Customs Procedures

According to the Customs Code of Georgia (Art. 47 Customs Code), foreign goods must undergo one of the following customs procedures:

release for free circulation;

In this case, you must pay a duty*. After completing all procedures, the vehicle becomes Georgian, permanent numbers will be issued, and the vehicle can stay in Georgia permanently.

  • Transportation of personal belongings when moving to Georgia for permanent residency is exempt from duty payment (Art. 181 Customs Code). If you have confirmed information, please write to @vordgi.

temporary import with partial exemption from import tax.

In this case, no duties need to be paid. After completing the procedures, temporary numbers will be issued for up to three years, with the possibility of extension up to 10 years (Art. 139 Customs Code). Previous numbers will be stored at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia.

If you wish to leave Georgia, you will need to replace the numbers with the previous ones and leave the country within 45 days after receiving the previous numbers.

Procedure for Passing Procedures

Go to the MIA branch in Rustavi or Batumi;

Stop at the vehicle inspection point;

Hand over the vehicle registration certificate and vehicle technical passport (PTS and STS), then:

  1. In case of release for free circulation - hand over the document on payment of duty or, in case of transportation of personal belongings when moving to permanent residence - permission for customs clearance from the tax office (can only be obtained in Georgia).
  2. In case of temporary import, ask to register the car for temporary import.

Pass the vehicle inspection, show the VIN number and chassis number (if any). After the inspection, a ticket for successful inspection will be issued, and all documents will be returned.

Drive the car to the parking lot and remove the license plates.

Go inside the building and pay for the inspection, registration, and issuance of one of the ready-made license plates at the cash desk*.

  • If you want to get a unique number, you only need to pay for the inspection and registration and go to a special terminal. You will need to enter the desired number in it, and the terminal will show its cost. The main prices are indicated in Article 6 of the special Law of Georgia. The terminal will issue a payment voucher - you need to pay it and order the creation of the license plate (creation takes a few minutes).

Go to the operator, hand over all papers, documents, and old license plates. In the case of a basic license plate, you will be offered to choose one of the ready-made license plates.

Receive the technical certificate and license plates, attach the license plates.

Customs clearance when moving to permanent residence

When moving to permanent residence, personal belongings are exempt from customs duties (Article 181 of the Customs Code). This means that only a used vehicle owned by you can be customs cleared for free. To do this, you need to:

  1. Write a statement for customs clearance of the vehicle to the tax office, attaching a copy of the required documents (foreign registration certificate, local ID card, and passport). Obtain a certified copy of the statement;
  2. Then a letter with permission or refusal for customs clearance will be sent to you by mail.

After receiving the letter, you must customs clear the vehicle within 60 days.

Additional information

  • No fees or taxes for the vehicle are required when crossing the border;
  • There are no requirements for winter tires.