Moving from Spain to Georgia (2026): Complete Guide

Relocating from Spain to Georgia means moving between two very different customs and residency systems: Spain’s EU framework, governed by the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT), and Georgia’s independent post-Soviet customs and immigration regime, governed by the Revenue Service of Georgia and the Ministry of Justice. This guide is written for a resident of Spain — Spanish national or foreign resident — relocating to Georgia for work, investment, study or retirement. It covers what you must do on the Spain side before you leave (deregistration, customs, tax exit), what happens on the Georgia side when your goods, pets and vehicle arrive, realistic freight routing, and a short note on moving the other way.

Key takeaways

• Spain’s customs authority is the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT). Exporting your household goods out of the EU is handled through a standard export declaration filed by your mover or customs broker — AEAT: goods entry/exit declaration. Spain does not require a special "exemption" to export your own used belongings; the change-of-residence duty franchise on AEAT’s site is an import relief that applies if you later move your household back into Spain from a non-EU country.
• Deregistering from your town hall’s padrón municipal (baja padronal) when you leave Spain permanently is the standard administrative step tied to the national population register — INE: padrón regulations.
• Tax residency exit is formalised via Modelo 030, filed within three months of the change, selecting the code confirming you no longer meet Spain’s Article 9.1 residency test (broadly, the 183-day rule) — AEAT: Modelo 030 instructions.
• Carrying €10,000 or more in cash (or equivalent) out of Spain requires a prior declaration (Modelo S1) to customs — AEAT: traveling with €10,000+.
• Georgia’s Revenue Service (rs.ge) requires an active customs declaration only in specific situations — commercial-quantity goods, restricted items, amounts above the standard allowances, or when claiming an exemption — and grants a duty exemption on household items to people entering for permanent residence, evidenced by a document issued by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia — rs.ge: exemption from import duties.
• Standard duty-free passenger allowance into Georgia is GEL 3,000 / 30 kg once per calendar day through air checkpoints, or GEL 500 / 30 kg per 30 calendar days through land/sea checkpoints — rs.ge exemption brochure.
• Cash, cheques or securities entering or leaving Georgia above GEL 30,000 must be declared — rs.ge exemption brochure.
• Pets need a microchip, valid rabies vaccination and an official veterinary health certificate processed through Spain’s export-certification system before travel; Georgia’s National Food Agency does not generally require a separate import permit for a small number of pets travelling accompanied with their owner (unaccompanied pet shipments do) — confirm current details before booking — MAPA: travelling with pets / USDA APHIS: pet travel to Georgia.

1. How your Georgian immigration status determines the customs treatment

Georgia’s Revenue Service treats your shipment differently depending on why you are entering the country. If you are entering for permanent residence, confirmed by a document issued by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, your import of furniture and household items not intended for economic activity qualifies for a duty exemption — but it still needs to be actively declared to claim that benefit (rs.ge exemption brochure). Georgian citizens returning after being abroad for more than six months get a separate, larger exemption of goods up to GEL 15,000 (excluding vehicles, excisable goods and food products) — this does not apply to non-Georgian nationals moving in for the first time. Diplomatic staff rotating home get additional item-specific allowances. Anyone entering without one of these statuses — e.g. on a short-term visa — falls back to the ordinary passenger baggage allowances described in Section 4.

In practice this means: secure your residence permit application or Ministry of Justice confirmation document before or immediately upon your household shipment’s arrival — it is the document that determines whether your furniture and belongings clear duty-free. Georgia’s main residence permit categories (work, study, investment, family reunification) are processed by the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) under the Ministry of Justice — SDA.gov.ge: migration/residence permits.

2. The Spain export side: deregistration, customs and tax exit

Customs authority. Exports out of Spain (an EU member state) to Georgia (a non-EU third country) fall under the Agencia Tributaria (AEAT), whose Customs and Excise Department processes the general export declaration procedure for goods leaving EU customs territory (AEAT: aduanas — entrada/salida de mercancías). In practice, a licensed moving company or customs broker files the export declaration on your behalf when your container or shipment leaves EU territory; you do not need to visit an AEAT office yourself for a standard household shipment, and there is no Spanish duty or VAT to pay on exporting your own used belongings. Note that AEAT’s separate "traslado de residencia" duty/VAT franchise (AEAT: traslado de residencia) is an import relief for people moving their household into Spain from outside the EU — it is not something you apply for when leaving, but it will matter if you relocate back to Spain in the future.

Leaving the padrón. If you are permanently leaving Spain, notify your ayuntamiento to be removed (baja) from the padrón municipal — the national population register maintained under rules set by the INE. Staying registered after you’ve left can create complications with access to services tied to actual residence, and matters for later re-entry or tax purposes (INE: padrón legislation). Procedures vary by town hall; Spanish nationals are typically deregistered automatically once they register with a Spanish consulate abroad (matriculación consular), while foreign residents generally need to request the baja directly.

Tax residency exit. Spain determines tax residency mainly by the 183-day rule within a calendar year. To formally notify the AEAT that you no longer qualify as a Spanish tax resident, file Modelo 030, entering your new address abroad and, in the "Indicador de residencia" field, selecting the code confirming you no longer meet Article 9.1 of Spain’s tax residency criteria. This must be communicated within three months of the change of domicile (AEAT: Modelo 030 instructions).

Cash. Anyone leaving Spanish (EU) territory carrying €10,000 or more in cash or equivalent instruments must file a prior declaration to customs (Modelo S1), under EU Regulation 1889/2005 — free of charge, submitted at the border checkpoint (AEAT: viajar con €10.000).

3. Ports and transit: Spain to Georgia

Spain’s container trade runs largely through three ports: Valencia, Algeciras, and Barcelona — each ranked among Europe’s top 10 container ports by volume. In 2025 Valencia handled roughly 5.66 million TEUs, Algeciras roughly 4.74 million, and Barcelona roughly 3.73 million, with Spain’s state port system coordinated nationally by Puertos del Estado under the Ministry of Transport (Puertos del Estado: statistics).

Georgia’s own ports — Poti and Batumi — sit on the Black Sea, not the Mediterranean, so there is no direct container line from Spain. Shipments typically transship through a Mediterranean or Turkish hub (e.g., via Istanbul or Mersin) before a final Black Sea leg to Poti, or move overland by truck through Turkey via the Sarpi border crossing. The following transit estimates are freight-industry planning figures, not official government data, and vary by carrier, season and routing: sea freight (Valencia/Algeciras/Barcelona → transshipment → Poti/Batumi) typically runs roughly 5–8 weeks door-to-port; combined sea+road or full overland routing via Turkey can run 3–5 weeks; air freight is fastest at roughly 1–2 weeks but is cost-prohibitive for full household shipments and normally used only for essentials.

4. The Georgia import side: declaration and process

Georgia’s customs rules only require an active declaration in specific circumstances; goods that fall within the standard passenger allowances below do not need to be formally declared. Declaration is mandatory whenever: goods are for economic/commercial use (regardless of quantity or value); the import is restricted or needs a permit or licence; the quantity or value of imported goods exceeds the allowances below; you are claiming the permanent-residence or six-month-abroad exemption; you are carrying cash, cheques or securities above GEL 30,000; or the goods were bought online and are arriving by post. Shipments of household goods arriving separately from you (unaccompanied cargo) go through formal customs clearance rather than the simplified passenger allowances (rs.ge exemption brochure).

Standard duty-free passenger allowances (used if you don’t yet hold Ministry of Justice residence confirmation) are:

• By air: goods up to GEL 3,000 in value and 30 kg, once per calendar day, duty-free.
• By land or sea: goods up to GEL 500 in value and 30 kg, once per 30 calendar days, duty-free.
• By post: goods up to GEL 300 and 30 kg, duty-free.
• Food products (any checkpoint): up to GEL 500 and 30 kg per calendar day, duty-free — a separate allowance from general goods.

The legal basis sits in the Tax Code of Georgia (Article 199 for customs duty, Article 194 for excise, Article 168 for VAT exemptions) and the Customs Code of Georgia (Matsne: Customs Code). Items such as weapons or explosives, narcotics or psychotropic substances, antiques or art, poisons or medicines, plants and animal products, high-frequency radio-electronic devices, radioactive material, and medicines subject to special control require additional permits or certificates regardless of the thresholds above (rs.ge exemption brochure).

5. Pets: Spain export and Georgia import

Leaving Spain. Dogs, cats and ferrets need a microchip (or a legible tattoo applied before 3 July 2011), a valid rabies vaccination, and an official veterinary health certificate. Because Georgia is a non-EU third country outside the rabies-free/low-risk lists, Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) requires your accredited veterinarian to process the export certificate through CEXGAN, Spain’s official agri-food export application, and — depending on Georgia’s own entry requirements at the time — a rabies-antibody titre test may be needed before travel. Start this process well in advance of your travel date and confirm current requirements with your vet and MAPA (MAPA: viajar con perros, gatos, hurones).

Entering Georgia. Georgia’s animal-health authority is the National Food Agency (NFA). Rabies vaccination requirements generally call for the vaccination to be current, with a minimum interval (commonly cited as at least 21 days since the primary dose) before travel, alongside a microchip and a veterinary health certificate; dogs typically also need pre-travel treatment for internal and external parasites. Reported guidance suggests pets travelling accompanied with their owner do not need a separate import permit, while unaccompanied pet shipments do — but pet-specific entry rules can change, so confirm current requirements with Georgia’s National Food Agency or your airline shortly before travel rather than relying solely on general guides (USDA APHIS: pet travel to Georgia).

6. Vehicles, money, and things people forget

Vehicles. Georgia’s household-goods exemptions explicitly exclude vehicles from the duty-free allowance — a car is treated separately under the Customs Code and Tax Code of Georgia regardless of your residence status (rs.ge exemption brochure; Matsne: Customs Code). Confirm current duty, VAT and excise rates directly with the Revenue Service before shipping a car — Georgia’s vehicle tax rules have been revised before and can change without much notice. On the Spain side, if you later re-import a vehicle when moving back, AEAT’s separate change-of-residence franchise for vehicles has its own eligibility conditions (minimum ownership/use period abroad, registration timing) — AEAT: vehículos en el traslado de residencia.

Money. Declare cash ≥€10,000 leaving Spain (Modelo S1) and cash/cheques/securities >GEL 30,000 entering or leaving Georgia — both are compliance, not tax, requirements, but penalties for non-declaration exist on both sides (AEAT; rs.ge).

Commonly forgotten items: your Spanish driving licence is not automatically valid indefinitely in Georgia — check exchange/recognition rules before your Spanish licence’s local validity window closes; EU health-card coverage stops applying outside the EU/EEA; medicines with controlled active substances need prior clearance under Georgia’s restricted-goods list; and any goods of a "commercial nature" must be declared regardless of value, even a handful of items intended for resale.

How Flyto handles your Spain to Georgia move

Flyto operates its own offices, warehouses, crews and vehicles across Northern, Central and Southern Europe, so the Spain end of your move — packing, export documentation coordination with AEAT-registered customs brokers, and the port leg out of Valencia, Algeciras or Barcelona — is handled directly by our in-house teams. For the Black Sea crossing and the Georgian side, we route through a carefully vetted network of shipping and trucking partners, plus trusted local Georgian partners who handle customs clearance with the Revenue Service and last-mile delivery, so you get one coordinated move even though it crosses outside our own European footprint.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be a Georgian citizen to get a customs exemption on my household goods?
No. Entering Georgia with a permanent-residence document from the Ministry of Justice qualifies you for the household-goods exemption; the larger GEL 15,000 allowance is specifically for Georgian citizens returning after 6+ months abroad (rs.ge).

Do I have to deregister from the padrón before I leave Spain?
It’s not always required in every scenario (Spanish nationals are usually deregistered automatically via consular registration abroad), but it’s the recommended step for anyone permanently leaving, since your padrón status affects access to services and other administrative matters tied to actual residence (INE).

When do I file Modelo 030?
Within three months of your change of domicile, once you no longer meet Spain’s Article 9.1 residency test (broadly, spending fewer than 183 days per calendar year in Spain) (AEAT).

Do I need an AEAT exemption to export my furniture from Spain?
No — there is no special duty exemption to apply for when exporting your own used household goods from Spain. Your mover files a standard export declaration. The AEAT "traslado de residencia" franchise is an import relief that only applies if you move belongings into Spain from a non-EU country (AEAT).

Is there a direct shipping line from Spain to Georgia?
No — Georgia’s ports (Poti, Batumi) are on the Black Sea, so sea freight from Spain transships via a Mediterranean or Turkish hub port; overland trucking via Turkey is a common alternative. Transit times are freight-industry estimates, not published by any port or customs authority.

Can I bring my dog or cat without a permit?
Commonly, yes, if travelling with you (accompanied) in reasonable numbers, provided rabies vaccination, microchip and health-certification requirements are met; unaccompanied pet shipments typically do require an import permit. Confirm current specifics with Georgia’s National Food Agency before you travel (APHIS).

Can I bring my car to Georgia duty-free as part of my household move?
No — vehicles are explicitly excluded from Georgia’s personal-effects/household-goods exemptions and are taxed separately (rs.ge).

Sources

• AEAT — Aduanas: declaración de entrada/salida de mercancías
• AEAT — Traslado de residencia: franquicias y exención de impuestos
• AEAT — Los vehículos en el traslado de residencia
• AEAT — Modelo 030: instrucciones
• AEAT — ¿Viajas con 10.000 euros o más?
• INE — Padrón municipal: legislación (baja)
• MAPA — Viajar con perros, gatos y hurones
• Puertos del Estado — Estadísticas
• Revenue Service of Georgia (rs.ge) — Exemption from import duties and declaring obligation
• Matsne (Legislative Herald of Georgia) — Customs Code of Georgia
• Public Service Development Agency / Ministry of Justice of Georgia (sda.gov.ge) — Migration/Residence Permits
• USDA APHIS — Pet Travel from the United States to Georgia