Moving from Georgia to the Netherlands (2026): Relocation Guide

Moving from Georgia to the Netherlands (2026): Relocation Guide

Key takeaways

• Georgia is not on the EU’s list of approved third countries for pet travel, so a dog or cat needs a rabies antibody titration test (blood taken at least 30 days after vaccination, result of at least 0.5 IU/ml at an EU-approved laboratory) followed by a three-month wait before EU entry. It is the longest-lead task — plan pets first.
• Leaving Georgia means settling your residence registration with the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA), handling export through the Revenue Service, and getting a National Food Agency (NFA) export health certificate for any pet.
• The Netherlands grants a removal-goods exemption (verhuisboedelvrijstelling) on used household effects from outside the EU. Crucially, your moving company must file the import declaration with Dutch Customs (Douane) using the relief code — you cannot file it yourself.
• On arrival, non-EU nationals register with the municipality (gemeente) within five days to enter the BRP and receive a BSN, after first arranging a residence permit through the IND.
• Household goods usually ship by sea from Poti or Batumi to Rotterdam; road and air freight are alternatives.
• Get a tailored plan and quote from a Flyto advisor: start here.

1. Leaving Georgia: what to close out

Start with your civil records. Residence registration in Georgia sits with the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA), the Ministry of Justice body that succeeded the Civil Registry Agency and maintains the register of persons by place of residence, handling both registration and de-registration at an address. If you hold a Georgian residence permit or an address registration, confirm its status before you leave so any later request for certificates or apostilled documents runs smoothly from abroad.

Customs on the Georgian side is run by the Revenue Service of Georgia. Exporting goods from Georgia is exempt from Georgian customs duties and fees, so moving your own used effects out of the country is uncomplicated locally; the substantive paperwork is at the Dutch end (section 3). Prepare a detailed, signed and valued inventory of everything you ship, since the Dutch exemption is claimed against exactly that list.

Wrap up the rest of your Georgian footprint: settle any Revenue Service obligations if you were tax-registered or economically active, cancel or transfer utilities, mobile contracts and any lease, and keep your Georgian tax and residence documents. A Georgian certificate of residence covering the period before departure is useful evidence for the Dutch requirement that you lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months.

2. How your household goods ship to the Netherlands

The usual route is sea freight from Georgia’s Black Sea ports of Poti or Batumi. Both are served by major lines including MSC, CMA CGM and Maersk and connect through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean to Northern Europe. For the Netherlands the natural discharge port is Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport, from which goods clear customs and move inland by road.

You can ship a full-container load (FCL — a 20ft or 40ft container for a whole household) or use shared groupage (LCL), paying only for the volume you occupy. LCL suits a flat’s worth of belongings but adds consolidation and de-consolidation time at each end. Qualitatively, a sea move from a Georgian port to Rotterdam routes via the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Mediterranean and around to the North Sea and takes several weeks door-to-door once loading, sailing, any transhipment and Dutch clearance are combined; the exact figure depends on schedules and transhipment.

Overland freight is a real option: road transport can run from Georgia through Turkey and the Balkans into the Netherlands, sometimes with a ferry leg, and can suit smaller or more time-sensitive loads. For a handful of essentials, air freight from Tbilisi to Amsterdam is the fastest but the most expensive per kilo and volume-limited, so reserve it for must-haves rather than the full household.

3. Netherlands customs & transfer-of-residence relief

Since Georgia is outside the EU, your shipment is a formal EU import and must be declared to Dutch Customs (Douane). People moving their normal residence to the Netherlands from a non-EU country can generally import used removal goods and personal effects free of import duty and VAT under the removal-goods exemption (verhuisboedelvrijstelling). The defining procedural point: you cannot file this declaration yourself — your removal company declares the household effects in Customs’ system with the special relief code so the exemption is applied. This is why using a professional mover for the corridor is effectively required.

The conditions follow EU rules on relief for personal property: you must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months, the goods must have been owned and used by you (typically for at least six months) and be intended for continued personal use in the Netherlands, and they should be imported within the permitted window around your move. Once relieved, the goods should not be lent, hired out or sold for a period without informing Customs.

For documentation you will need a signed inventory listing all personal goods and a certificate of registration in the municipal personal records database (BRP) showing when you settled in the Netherlands, along with your passport and residence authorisation. Because the BRP registration is part of the evidence, coordinate the timing with your mover: your goods are cleared under the exemption once your registration and inventory support it. Getting the inventory and residence proof right before the ship sails is what keeps the shipment duty- and VAT-free.

4. Arriving: registration, residence, driving, healthcare

As a Georgian (third-country) national you will normally need a residence permit, arranged through the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND). Depending on your purpose (work under a recognised sponsor, the highly skilled migrant route, family, study or self-employment) you may first need an MVV entry visa collected before travel. The IND authorises your stay; the municipality registers you.

Within five days of arriving you must register in person at the gemeente (municipality) where you will live, which enters you in the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP) and issues your Burgerservicenummer (BSN) — the citizen service number needed for work, banking, healthcare and almost everything else. Bring your residence permit or the IND letter/sticker showing it has been applied for, plus proof of address and, where relevant, legalised birth or marriage certificates. Non-EU nationals face the five-day deadline strictly, so book the appointment immediately even if the slot is later, and keep evidence that you tried to comply.

Healthcare in the Netherlands is built on mandatory private health insurance (zorgverzekering), which you must take out shortly after you become insurable (generally once you live and/or work there); do this promptly, as the obligation is backdated and gaps can be penalised. You will also want a Dutch bank account, which typically needs your BSN and proof of address.

Driving: a non-EU driving licence can be exchanged in the Netherlands only in limited circumstances (for example under the 30% ruling tax scheme or specific arrangements); otherwise you must pass the Dutch theory and practical tests. Do not assume a straight swap for a Georgian licence — check your entitlement with the RDW as soon as you arrive, because after you become resident the foreign licence has a limited validity window.

5. Pets

Begin here, because it takes the longest. Georgia is not on the EU’s list of approved third countries for pet movements, so bringing a dog, cat or ferret from Georgia into the Netherlands (the EU) requires the following, in order:

• Microchip with an ISO-compatible chip, implanted before or at the time of vaccination.
• Rabies vaccination after the chip is in place; the animal must be at least 12 weeks old when vaccinated.
• Rabies antibody titration test: a blood sample drawn at least 30 days after vaccination, tested at an EU-approved laboratory, showing a result of at least 0.5 IU/ml.
• Three-month wait from the date of that successful blood sample before the animal may enter the EU. (The wait is skipped only for a pet re-entering the EU whose passport already records a valid pre-departure titre.)
• EU animal health certificate: an official veterinary certificate issued shortly before travel, endorsed by the competent authority, travels with the animal, together with the NFA export health certificate required to leave Georgia.

Neither the 30-day post-vaccination interval nor the three-month wait can be shortened, so the realistic pet timeline is about four to five months minimum from vaccination day, and longer if the first titre falls short of 0.5 IU/ml and must be repeated. Enter the EU through a designated traveller point of entry and be ready for document and identity checks. In Georgia the National Food Agency (NFA) is the veterinary authority that validates pet passports and issues the export health certificate, so engage an accredited Georgian vet early.

6. Money, banking & tax basics

The Netherlands taxes residents on worldwide income through the Belastingdienst. You generally become a Dutch tax resident when your main ties (home, family, work) are in the Netherlands; register once resident and check whether the Georgia–Netherlands double taxation treaty affects any income that arises in Georgia so it is not taxed twice. Skilled migrants should ask their employer about the 30% ruling, a tax facility that can also affect driving-licence exchange.

A Dutch bank account normally needs your BSN and proof of address, so it follows the gemeente registration. Budget for the one-off costs of the move (sea freight, customs handling by your mover, health insurance from day one, and any document legalisation) alongside the deposit and first rent on housing, which is competitive in the main cities. Move funds through regulated channels and keep evidence of the source of money, as Dutch banks may ask. If you keep property or a business in Georgia, plan how that income is reported in both countries.

How Flyto handles your Georgia to the Netherlands move

Flyto runs the corridor end to end, with our own hubs across Northern, Central and Southern Europe. On the Georgian side we handle the export formalities, port handling at Poti or Batumi and the NFA pet paperwork; on the Dutch side we file the verhuisboedel import declaration with Douane under the relief code (which you cannot do yourself), clear at Rotterdam and deliver and unpack at your new address. We schedule the pet titre test and three-month wait backwards from your arrival so they never delay the move, and we walk you through the five-day gemeente registration, BSN and IND steps so nothing is missed. Get a quote and we will build a plan around your household, budget and dates.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my dog or cat need a rabies titre test to enter the Netherlands from Georgia?
Because Georgia is not on the EU’s list of approved third countries, pets need a rabies antibody titration test in addition to microchip and vaccination. See the European Commission’s pet-travel guidance.

How long before we move should we start the pet process?
Plan at least four to five months. The blood sample must be taken at least 30 days after vaccination and, once it passes at 0.5 IU/ml or above, there is a three-month wait before EU entry, per the European Commission.

Can I file the customs paperwork for my belongings myself?
No. For the removal-goods exemption your moving company must declare the household effects to Dutch Customs using the relief code; you cannot file it independently. See Dutch Customs.

How quickly must I register after arriving?
Within five days of arrival you must register at the gemeente to enter the BRP and receive a BSN; non-EU nationals face this deadline strictly. See the Dutch government.

Can I exchange my Georgian driving licence in the Netherlands?
Generally only in limited cases (such as under the 30% ruling); otherwise you must pass the Dutch tests. Check your position with the RDW.

Which port do goods from Georgia usually arrive at?
Household shipments from Poti or Batumi typically discharge at Rotterdam before inland delivery; road and air freight are alternatives. See the Port of Rotterdam.

Sources

• European Commission — Bringing a pet into the EU from a non-EU country
• European Commission — Designated laboratories for rabies antibody titration tests
• Dutch Customs (Douane) — Moving things from a non-EU country
• Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) — residence permits
• Government of the Netherlands — Municipal Personal Records Database (BRP) and BSN
• RDW — Exchanging a foreign driving licence
• Revenue Service of Georgia — customs and export
• Public Service Development Agency (PSDA), Ministry of Justice of Georgia
• National Food Agency of Georgia — animal export health certificates
• Port of Rotterdam