Coming to Georgia for treatment from Russia: entry, insurance, payment and documents

Does a citizen of Russia need a visa?

No. The Russian Federation is on the list of countries approved by Government of Georgia Resolution No. 255 of 5 June 2015; their citizens enter without a visa and may stay in the country for one year. This rule also applies to those coming for treatment: no medical visa or invitation from a clinic is needed.

At the border you present your passport for travel abroad. Under the resolution, only EU citizens may enter with an identity card, so a Russian internal passport will not get you into Georgia. It is a good idea to carry the clinic's letter with your appointment date and the address where you are staying, so that you can briefly explain the purpose of your trip if asked.

The one-year period is long enough even for lengthy treatment, but every day must be covered by insurance. If someone with a different citizenship is travelling with you, the rules for them may differ; the entry rules for every citizenship are on our Visa and entry service page.

Why is payment the key question for a patient coming from Russia?

Three official statements determine what you can expect when paying in Georgia:

Our rule therefore is simple: no plane ticket, no advance and no prepayment for accommodation until the clinic confirms in writing which specific means of payment it will accept from you. We ask the clinic how it accepts payment, in which currency it will issue the invoice and what happens if the money does not arrive. We send you its answer in writing, and you check that answer with your own bank.

Our coordination fee is separate and is agreed in writing before work begins; how it is paid is also clarified in advance. The general rules on invoices, advances and receipts are described in our Costs and payment guide.

The mandatory policy: will a policy from a Russian insurer do?

Since 1 January 2026, a visitor to Georgia must hold a health and accident policy with a sum insured of at least GEL 30,000, covering every day of the stay. Government Resolution No. 602 also accepts a policy from a foreign insurer, provided it is in Georgian or English; it may be checked at the border.

With a policy from a Russian insurer, two questions need answering. The first is formal: is the certificate in English, and does it show that the amount will not fall below GEL 30,000? The second is practical: if you fall ill in Georgia, how will the insurer reimburse a Georgian clinic's costs? Given the payment restrictions, ask your insurer in advance who its partner in Georgia is and how settlement works. If the answer is vague, buying a policy from an insurer operating in Georgia may be the more reliable option.

Either way, remember: a travel policy does not usually cover the planned treatment you are coming for, and Georgia's Universal Healthcare Programme does not apply to foreign visitors. The details of choosing a policy are in our insurance guide.

Communication in Russian and the interpreter

Russian is one of our main working languages: correspondence, calls and the coordinator's daily contact with you are in Russian. Doctors in Georgia vary in how well they speak Russian, so when choosing a clinic we ask separately whether the treating doctor will be able to talk to you directly. If not, you will have an interpreter at the consultation and at discharge.

In Georgia, medical records and informed consent are drawn up in Georgian, and the law does not provide for a right to an interpreter. So you sign the consent form before an operation only once its content has been explained to you in Russian. We book a medical interpreter for this stage in advance.

Which records should you bring from Russia?

The treating doctor may be able to read Russian-language records without a translation, but that depends on the doctor and is checked case by case. A translation may be needed when a record is handwritten, when it is going to an English-speaking specialist or when the clinic asks for a Georgian version before an operation.

1. Extract and discharge summary

   The discharge summary from your latest hospital stay (выписной эпикриз) and an extract from your medical record, with the doctor's signature and the facility's stamp.

2. Tests and imaging

   Test results with the laboratory's reference ranges, digital imaging files and the radiologist's report, and the histology report if relevant.

3. Medicines and allergies

   A list with active substances, because brand names often differ between countries.

4. Personal documents

   A copy of your passport and, when a child is being treated, the birth certificate, so that the clinic can confirm the parent's authority.

Where a translation is needed, it is done by our medical translation service. Bring the originals of all documents with you when you arrive; the rest of the packing list is in our What to bring to Georgia guide.

Medicines you bring from Russia

Up to ten standard packs of an ordinary medicine for personal use may be brought into Georgia without documents, and taken out the same way. A larger quantity requires a medical document.

Narcotic and psychotropic medicines may be brought in only as a 31-day supply. At customs you present a declaration, copies of the prescription and the doctor's certificate, translated into English and certified by the competent Russian authority, and that authority's document confirming the prescription and the certificate. The prescription must state the patient's name, sex, age and diagnosis, the brand and international names of the medicine, its form, the quantity and how it is to be taken. Bringing such a medicine into Georgia unlawfully is a criminal offence, so do not skip this step. The details are on our Medicines service page.

Records in Russian and an apostille for Russia

A Georgian clinic issues the discharge summary and other documents in Georgian. Copies are requested in writing and by law the clinic has 10 working days to provide them, so we send the request as soon as your hospital stay begins. Some clinics will also prepare a summary in Russian on request, but the Georgian original remains the official document; we prepare a full translation of it for your doctor in Russia.

According to the status table of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Apostille Convention has applied for the Russian Federation since 31 May 1992 and for Georgia since 14 May 2007. Only Germany and Greece objected to Georgia's accession, and both withdrew their objections; Russia raised no objection. So a Georgian medical document needed by an official body, a court or an insurance company in Russia is certified with an apostille, and consular legalisation is not required.

The apostille on a clinic's document is affixed by the Public Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice, without a notary. The form in which the translation must be certified is set by the receiving body in Russia, so we first find out its requirements. Our Documents for home service puts together a single package of the discharge summary, translation and apostille; processing times and the fee are on our apostille page.

Where can a citizen of Russia get consular help in Tbilisi?

The Russian Federation has no embassy in Georgia. According to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, since 5 March 2009 the "Embassy of Switzerland in Georgia, Russian Federation Interests Section" has operated in Tbilisi, at 51 Chavchavadze Avenue. Any consular matter relating to Russia, for example replacing a lost passport, is handled by this Section. Check its reception rules through the Section's official channels before you go.

In a medical emergency, call 112, Georgia's single emergency number, and then your insurer and your coordinator. How the whole organisational side works, from arrival to your return home, is described on our Personal coordinator page. Solidaroba.ge is not a clinic: medical decisions are made by the treating doctor together with you.

Frequently asked questions from patients coming from Russia