Renting a car in Georgia is straightforward for most foreign travellers, but knowing exactly which documents to prepare — and which optional extras actually matter — saves time at the counter and avoids unpleasant surprises on the road. This is the complete checklist used by merent and most reputable rental companies in Tbilisi, from the paperwork at pickup to the details that matter if you plan to add a second driver, cross a border or keep the car for longer than a week.
Driver's license: what actually counts
You need a valid driver's license that you have held for at least one year. Tourists can drive in Georgia on a national license from most countries, including the EU, UK, US, Canada, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine and all CIS states. Georgia does not require an International Driving Permit by law if your license uses Latin, Cyrillic or Georgian script and clearly shows your name, licence number, issue date and categories. If your licence is in another script — Arabic, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew — bring an IDP alongside the original. The IDP is not a replacement but a certified translation, and both staff and police will expect to see the two documents together.
Passport and entry stamp
A valid passport is required to sign the rental agreement. The rental company photographs it for its records and your passport number is typed into the contract. No special visa category is needed — most nationalities receive a free 360-day entry stamp on arrival at Tbilisi airport or any land border, and a standard tourist stamp is all that is required to rent a car. If you entered Georgia by land from Armenia or Turkey, keep the border entry slip; it is occasionally requested at the counter to confirm your status and the date of arrival.
Minimum age and driving experience
At merent, the minimum rental age is 21 for every category in the fleet — economy, comfort, business-class sedans, SUVs and 7-seat minivans alike. You must have held your licence for at least one year. There are no age tiers or additional young-driver surcharges: a 21-year-old pays the same rate as a 40-year-old and can drive any car in the catalogue. There is no upper age limit either.
Adding a second driver
If more than one person in your group plans to drive, list them on the contract before pickup. Each additional driver presents the same documents as the main renter: licence, passport, proof of experience. merent does not charge for the first additional driver, and subsequent ones are 5 GEL per day. This matters more than it sounds: driving the car without registering the second driver on the contract voids the insurance entirely. It is a small formality with a very large consequence, so always declare everyone who will be behind the wheel even if it is only for a single mountain detour.
No deposit required
Unlike most rental companies in Georgia, merent does not block a deposit on your card at pickup. You pay only for the rental itself — nothing is held, nothing is frozen on your account, and there is no waiting period for a deposit to be released after you return the car. This single policy removes one of the most common frustrations foreign travellers have with car rentals across the region.
Paying for the rental itself
Payment for the rental can be made by Visa, Mastercard, American Express or in cash. merent accepts GEL, USD and EUR in cash, with exchange rates matching the National Bank of Georgia rate of the day. Contactless payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay all work at the pickup counter. For long rentals of one week or more you can pay half at pickup and half at return on request, and corporate invoices in EUR or USD are available for business trips.
Insurance packages explained
Basic CDW (collision damage waiver) and third-party liability are always included in the rental price. That means damage to the car you are driving is capped at the deductible, usually 500–1500 GEL depending on class, and damage to other vehicles or property is fully covered by law. Most tourists top up with Super CDW, which reduces the deductible to zero, or a Full Cover package that also includes tyres, windscreen and undercarriage — items that basic CDW explicitly excludes. Theft protection is standard on every contract; personal-accident insurance for passengers is optional, cheap and worth adding for mountain trips.
Taking the car across a border
Georgia's open border policy makes it simple in principle to drive into Armenia or Azerbaijan, but most rental contracts — merent's included — prohibit taking the car out of the country without written permission. If you plan to cross into Armenia via Bagratashen or Sadakhlo, ask for a cross-border authorisation at booking. There is usually a small surcharge and an extended insurance rider covering the Armenian side. Driving to Turkey, Russia or Iran is not permitted under standard contracts for customs and insurance reasons; taking a rental car across those borders without authorisation is treated as contract breach and the driver becomes personally liable.
If something goes wrong with your documents
Losing your passport or licence during a trip is rare but handled calmly in Georgia. Contact your embassy in Tbilisi first for a replacement or emergency travel document. Call merent's 24/7 support line and we keep the car assigned to you without extending the contract dates until you have replacement papers in hand. If the licence is genuinely lost rather than just forgotten at the hotel, you cannot legally drive the rental until it is replaced or you have a signed statement from the police — in that situation we collect the car from your location free of charge and hold the booking open.
Quick document checklist
- Driver's license held for at least one year, original not copy
- Valid passport and entry stamp or border slip
- A card or cash to pay for the rental itself — no deposit is taken
- International Driving Permit if your licence is not in Latin, Cyrillic or Georgian script
- Contact details of your hotel or host in Georgia
- Cross-border authorisation letter if you plan to drive into Armenia or Azerbaijan
- A local SIM or eSIM with data — useful for navigation and contacting support