Thinking about moving to Georgia? Or maybe you already live there and it’s not going as planned? In today’s episode we’ll discuss 3 things to help you with successfully moving to Georgia.
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Sometimes I get asked if I have ever considered living in Georgia permanently. And in fact, I was considering it before it became a thing, about 12 years ago. I have lived in Georgia for a few years, on and off, and I have a lot of friends who stayed in Georgia or became connected to Georgia forever (very often through marriage and children).
Recently via our newsletter the Caucasian mail or different groups and our social media I have been receiving numerous questions about moving to Georgia. That’s why I thought I would share with you 3 things that will definitely help you with moving to Georgia and living (and living well) in Georgia.
We have a separate episode about organizing workation in Georgia, so if you plan a shorter stay in Georgia, you may go to episode 15. and get to know more on how to plan workation in Georgia and what to take care of before coming to the Caucasus.
How to move to Georgia – local regulations
Firstly, I wanted to underline that if you think about moving to Georgia for a longer period of time and maybe to work here (not just remotely from here) you should check the official documents and requirements.
I would underline the word official because along the recent years I saw and heard about many sad stories when someone was trying to get advice from the Facebook groups or some shady companies who promised to deal with all formalities and then disappeared with the money.
Keep also in mind that the regulations may change in time. For example few months before we record this episode the rules of insurance for foreigners have changed. That’s why I do recommend checking the official sources or in your country or the Georgian ones for foreigners.
Having said that in today’s episode of the Caucasus Podcast we’ll focus on 3 additional crucial aspects for anyone who considers moving to Georgia for a longer period of time.
How to get connected with the Georgian local community?
Georgia is still strongly based on family and social ties. It’s not up to me or you to judge whether it’s good or bad, but if you consider moving to Georgia, it’s worth having some relationships there. Or start building them, as one of the first things you want to do. If you know someone who knows someone who knows someone, you will learn useful information much faster, find a job, a better doctor or solve another urgent problem.
I remember when I moved to Georgia for the first time I tried to get to know almost everyone I could (to the extend I could,as an introvert). Starting with people at my workplace and university till the people working in a grocery store next to my flat and the security guards in the building.
I can guarantee it will also be much easier for you to understand traditions and rules that you won’t read about on travel blogs, and maybe someone will explain them to you.
One of the common mistakes I observe among non-Georgians moving to Georgia is to meet mainly with non-Georgians, e.g. other people from their country or continent. I get it that sometimes it may be easier to connect, to speak and have the same cultural codes or less cultural differences.
However, that will leave you with not really knowing Georgia, not being able to deal in some situations, where common rules apply or worse, you may get frustrated with some behaviors you will quickly understand otherwise.
Hence, as the family and social ties are the basis of Georgian life, it should be yours as well.
- You want to know daily life in Georgia better before deciding for this move?
- You have family or friends from Georgia and want to understand better their culture?
- You like Georgia but Georgians sometimes surprise you from cultural and daily life perspective?
You can do this with our online course ‘Georgia – modern life and traditions’. We talk about:
- contemporary life in Georgia from the perspective of politics, economy, labour market, immigrants and digital nomads, security and geopolitical situation,
- family and social relations, including the traditional Georgian family, the role of tradition and religion in everyday life, the strength of social ties and a little about male-female relations
- Georgian traditions, holidays, supras and spending free time
- and the most important: historical and cultural figures and those events that every Georgian knows about
Join before October 21 and get the lifetime access at a lower price and be live during the meetings.
Testing the idea of moving to Georgia in advance
I remember the first time I lived longer than a dozen or so weeks in Georgia. And I reached the point where I went from being a visitor, to becoming a local.
And I discovered it when the demonstrators blocked Rustaveli avenue in Tbilisi and I was 30 minutes late for my scheduled work meeting. Because there was a detour and traffic jams. Instead of feeling curious as before – I was working as a journalist and correspondent from Georgia that time – I sat in the marshrutka and complained with other passengers, Georgians that we were all late because of them.
When I have Georgian classes or courses about Georgia with our students who also stay in Georgia, the moment comes. They disappear from the call and after some time they are back because the internet connection vanished or they had electricity shortage. And based on their reaction I can tell you whether they prepared themselves to live in Georgia or not.
One of the options before moving to Georgia for longer period of time is to go for workation or try to work remotely from Georgia for some time and in this time test whether the daily life, the cultural differences (there are always some), the Georgian mindset etc. is really for you.
And this, in my opinion, is the difference between holidays in Georgia and living in Georgia. Things that interest you during short stays begin to appear in new dimensions. So come to Georgia for a month, try to work remotely if you have the option, or do a small project of your own. And see if this is your style. Maybe during this time you will make new friends and settle into your new community as well😉
Knowledge of the Georgian language helps when moving to Georgia
And here I have been relentless for over 15 years with stressing how crucial it is.
If you live in Georgia without knowing the Georgian language, you are setting yourself up for disaster. And I do not exaggerate. Of course the alternative is that you have your personal interpreter whom you trust.
I will never forget the feeling I had when I was renting my first apartment in Tbilisi and my Georgian was at truly beginners level. Only the fact that the real estate agent was recommended by embassy and my friends put me at ease a bit. I’m not sure how it is with you but I feel a huge discomfort when I can’t read the conditions of agreements I am signing or don’t know what the apartment owner and real estate agent talk about.
When you don’t know a word in Georgian, taking care of anything at the office, understanding what they say about you, learning the regulations of the country you are subject to or even simple contacts with neighbors, become an almost impossible quest to achieve.
I don’t mean Georgian at the level of reading Rustaveli’s medieval masterpieces. But start with the basics, learning the letters, so you can at least read some inscription or receipts and messages from the Gas company. Especially, since Georgian is much easier to learn, than Georgians themselves, as many foreigners say.
And if you want to learn Georgian, there are study books, group courses and individual ones waiting for you to join.
What I can assure you with, is that when you show, that you want to learn Georgian, you try to speak it when moving to Georgia, you may gain new friends faster and people may be more open to you.
Imagine living in your country, without knowing not only the language but also the alphabet that is used. For me, such a vision is terrifying. Therefore, the first thing I did in January 2008, when I first arrived in Tbilisi, was to buy a Georgian textbook. Cross my heart. I still have it till today.
As we talk about living and moving to Georgia there is also on our blog a dedicated mini lesson with the most useful words when renting an apartment in Georgia. We suggest there which websites to use when looking for flats in Georgian cities.