Sarsi border | Customs and Immigration

April 9th, 2024 by acceptableweekend54

From TR to GE
We was in 2 persons en 1 motorbike. No problems in both side, just a little bit slower in the Georgian side, but all the border take us 1h and 30m.
Just after the border a man brought us to do insurance and we spent 15 euro. If you want in the same place you can do Sim card, we spent another 15 euro for 1 week and illimitate data

December 10th, 2023 by h_wuensche

Turkey to Georgia:
Truck lines are now about 30 km long. You can pass them all!
The road to the border im Turkey is partly damaged by landslides, which makes driving slow.
Make sure that the owner drives the car! Passengers have to walk.
Rude Turkish police wanted to see the owner of the car, which is my wife.
Took us one hour to negotiate with different officials for her to come back to the car, and for me to leave!
Long and unorganized lines for passengers at Georgien immigration!
The lady at the Georgian exchange office before the Georgian immigration was also rude!
There are dozens of money changing offices just outside the border post, and much more on the road to Batumi, which offer better rates! Probably better not to change directly at the border!

All in all a rather unpleasant border crossing!

October 30th, 2023 by AppaOverland

Easy border crossing GE->TR. We both stayed in the car, that might speed things up. We had insurance ready, total crossing took 20 min.

October 21st, 2023 by lowry.brandt

Turkey to Georgia

Arrived at 14:50 on a Saturday (American/German + dog). We bypassed about a kilometer of trucks and waited 20 minutes at the Georgian car check point (passengers must walk/go inside) before stamping out at customs. First a superficial vehicle inspection and did ask to see the dog’s passport (but not a health certificate).

The two car lines on the Georgian side formed into one entering Turkey but was through to the next checkpoint, after another brief car inspection, within 45 minutes. Interestingly, the next checkpoint has separate lines for those with and without insurance although both will accept you so take whichever is shorter. We had insurance already but it still took almost 45 mins to exit. Passenger pickup after the last barrier (you can’t miss it, there are lots of people waiting).

Overall easy and relatively fast crossing. Don’t forget Turkey is one hour behind Georgia.

July 28th, 2023 by trup_tiraccontounposto

GE --> TR
Passenger: Georgian passport control incredibly crowded with people pushing and trying to pass you, but in a real bad and unbelievable way. It took 25 min to be stamped out.
Turkish side there were a normal line and it took less than 5 min.
Driver: exiting Georgia pretty fast, they had a quick look at the van, than driver's license, car papers and also Georgian insurance. Then from 4 lines all the vehicles had to form just 1 to go through Turkish custom. If you have to buy Turkish insurance you can in no man's land, for a campervan 45 days it is now 75€ or 2100 tl.
In total it took little more than 2 hours.

July 24th, 2023 by alin pista

Going to turkey in georgia
Horrible place to pass in family .driver rest in car and thé rest of familly on foot to georgia. Take 3 h to pass.

July 13th, 2023 by trichter33

Relaxed crossing on this Thursday around 11am. 1h total.

June 26th, 2023 by kileyoshields

Terrible terrible experience here. The line of cars was so long, maybe 2-3 miles long. We were able to jump to the front as police waved our motorcycles forward. However, the actual processing was really slow and chaotic - and all car engines were on so we were getting covered in petrol fumes. After maybe 2 hours, we had exited Turkey and were about to enter Georgia when the Georgian border guard got very angry about my old motorbike, checking every detail and then shouting at us because rust obscured the VIN on my bike (no other guard from Ghana to London and London to Georgia has ever checked the VIN - so this was a first!). The border guard kicked me out and forced me to walk back to Turkey without allowing me time to speak to my partner who had made it into Georgia on his (identical!) bike - and also had my motorbike helmet! Negative experience. Do not recommend. We easily passed through the border near Turkgozu in eastern Turkey. Go here instead.

March 15th, 2023 by regina.hochecker

TR -> GE
Super easy and friendly. Right after the last tunnel on the right side you get in line to cross out of TR. At this point all passengers have to leave the car, only the driver is allowed to stay in the car. Thus better be prepared to jump out of the car. Remeber to bring you passport!
Driver: Out of TR you are on the left, trucks on the right. THEN you have to X as on the georgian side the cars are on the right and the trucks on the left. That was a bit hectic. After exiting into GE people will try to direct you to their car insurance booth. Said we have some already. The guy said welcome to georgia. So no drama there.
Passenger: After you get out of the car you turn left and look for the millions of people and the blue sign „Passenger Departure“. Get up on the first floor and then just keep walking. No need to stop anywhere. You first queue for the TR exit border (looks like a airport), walk through duty free (people will annoyingly approach you with duty fee bags to bring cigarettes across the border), then you go down on the ground floor keeeeep walking till the GE border. After, you get spilled out of the building and wait for your car. It is a bit crowded, men in black will approach you and whisper taxi taxi but other than that you just wait.
All in all it took us 30min.

July 30th, 2022 by grfr58

terrible take for ever.
in 1.5h just passed the control in Georgia. I think it will take at least 2 more hours to pass the Turkish control. Seems just one custom people it's working in the Turkish side.
We finally exit after 5 hours!!!!!
All because a dumb guy was doing nothing.
If you can avoid this border.

July 18th, 2022 by jbxplores

Beware of car insurance touts on the Georgian side. Better book insurance on-line in advance, and don't even let them wave you over. They wait right after the Georgian immigration checkpoint and try to look official. The guy tried to convince me my insurance was expired when it was clearly valid for WEEKS.

June 15th, 2022 by einluxaufreisen

Georgia—>Türkiye
Very easy. Took us 30 minutes 👍🏼

June 6th, 2022 by spud1976

Crossing Turkey to Georgia, very busy in June. Family had to get out of the car and cross through the terminal on foot and were picked up on Georgian side after all formalities (so make sure everyone has their own paperwork in case this happens). Only driver was allowed to stay in the car to cross. On the Georgian side two guys with badges were intercepting all the foreign cars coming through and trying to take them to one of the many insurance/exchange windows (Almost certainly not the best price) We refused to go with them and they got aggressive, banging on the window and telling us we were going to get in big trouble with the police. To avoid this you can just buy your insurance online (links in the reports below), also the insurance booths that others have mentioned up the road are still operational as we passed them on the way to Batumi.

May 15th, 2022 by landyonthesilkroad.com

We crossed this border from Turkey in Georgia in the morning. There were many HGVs lining up to cross but in our Sprinter we went to the car line. We got through both borders in 20 minutes. The Georgian Customs team asked to look in our camper. They opened nothing. Not even boot/garage. They simply said ´nice car’ and waved us through with instructions on where to buy Vehicle Insurance some 7kms on from the border alongside a Gulf fuel station selling Euro diesel. So no queries about medication etc. Everyone was welcoming and friendly.

November 1st, 2021 by onboard.patrick

Direction Turkey-> Georgia; Turkish Police and customs went well, quickly and friendly. Georgian customs checked the entire car. All hatches and cupboards had to be opened. Insurance can be arranged online in advance www.tpl.ge/en . CoVid vaccination certificate and PCR was checked.

November 1st, 2021 by onboard.patrick

Direction Turkey-Georgia; Turkish police and customs went well, quickly and friendly. Georgian customs checked the entire car. All hatches and cupboards had to be opened. Insurance can be arranged online in advance www.tpl.ge/en CoVid vaccination certificate and PCR-Test was checked.

September 9th, 2021 by ontheroadagaincm5059

Yes, confirmed!
Get sure, that you have your
Vaccination pass
PCR-TEST
GE-registration,
a lot of people where send back!
Fastest is in the Barakulut Hotel, 4.hour’s latterly we received at 6.00 pm. Left , In front of the Hotel, at the Turkish Airlines office our results printed, as well they done also our Gov. Ge. Registration for 10. Lira.
Cameleon.
P. S. The Hospital, out of town, doesn’t speak any foreign languages, an you have to pay cash, everywhere.

August 5th, 2021 by travelove.org

TR - GE
Very easy and relaxed!
We had our EU vaccination certificate printed out and a PCR test, so no problem at all.
Our car was never checked, only smiling and welcoming people. The passenger had to go through the passenger terminal, the driver stayed with the car.
We got insurance at a Socar petrol station about 7km from the border, no commission, no fixers, card payment possible.
We tried first at the Lukoil, but they wanted to charge us 3€ commission.

July 16th, 2021 by Peter97

Although we are fully vaccinated, we were not allowed to enter Georgia because we did not have a PCR test.
We then took a PCR test at the Karabulut Hotel in Hopa.
170 Lira.

July 6th, 2021 by Katha

Easy and fast boarder crossing. Georgian police very friendly.
You can get the vehicle insurance easy online on: https://www.tpl.ge/en.
Because of Covid you have to register before arrival on the website: https://registration.gov.ge/pub/form/8_protocol_for_arrivals_in_georgia/tk6157/

July 28th, 2020 by peter

We are a couple German Paraguay. We came to the Border form the Tyrkey Side and wanted to go to Georgia.
The friendly Turkey Policeman called to the georgien Side and told us that we can not Cross the border.
He has no information when it will be possible again.

July 16th, 2020 by pollybode

Georgia into Turkey

Situation was different because of corona. Cheapest Turkish insurance is before Georgian customs, small building with Sigorta Insurance on the front. We paid 32€ for 3 months insurance in Turkey. Georgian customs very friendly. On Turkish side everything went very smooth and quick, they didn’t checked the car at all.

March 4th, 2020 by pollybode

Turkey into Georgia, very easy cross. Turkish people wanted to check the rooftoptent and the Georgian people want to no a lot about our travel history because of the Corona virus (don’t say them that you’ve been in Italy!!) and they wanted to check the dog passport but didn’t understand it. Everyone was very friendly, not busy at the border. Passenger can stay in the car.

December 29th, 2019 by HahnSolo

If you need to buy Turkish insurance I strongly advise changing money in Georgia right before entering the border zone. Cash only accepted at the window and terrible exchange rates for USD/GEL.

December 9th, 2019 by Eiji

Georgia to Turkey: passengers need to walk through immigration to exit Georgia. Bought Turkey insurance through agent before Georgia exit—same price as Turkey, can pay with different currencies

September 11th, 2019 by VeloVostok

Georgia to Turkey on a Wednesday around lunchtime. All went smooth and quick, exit Georgia we could both stay in the car.
Enter Turkey only driver is allowed in the car. for insurance, big sign on the left side befor customs. They checked our campervan, opened all storage but only quick look. Immigration asks for car insurance, i gave them the greencard and got no complain.
The whole procedure took maybe 20 or 30 minutes.

August 30th, 2019 by pearcethomas10

Georgia > Turkey at 9am, only took 20 minutes for everything - customs on both sides very quick and easy. No one searched the car. In between borders is a clear sign marking insurance window - 3 months for 250 lira for a uk registered car (unable to buy for shorter period) - very quick & easy. No extra fees charged for anything. Passengers clear separately in the building - also very quick, easy and professional. We did not have EU greencard insurance for Turkey - no one asked us for this and we just bought the local insurance as stated above - no problems.

August 20th, 2019 by mathi

Turkish side took very long, more than one hour to pass. Georgian side was super quick. Its true that they separate driver and passenger but you can discuss with them and they let you together. Bought insurance and sim here. Commison 10 Lari was okay and you have everything together. ATM is available there as well. Was a very busy crossing

July 18th, 2019 by heike

We crossed from Turkey to Georgia today. Currently only the driver can stay in the car, all other passengers have to leave and use a separate customs clearance which is situated in a large building with long distances to walk. You might want to bring a bottle of water because waiting in line can take long. And bring your phone to keep in touch with the driver. No chance to meet until after the Georgian border. Everything else in previous posts still correct, also about insurance office location in Batumi.

May 31st, 2019 by Sem

Crossed the border (Turkey > Georgia) today with an NL registered vehicle and passport. The Turkish side was quick and easy, but the Georgians questioned me for a while as to why I drove all the way from the Netherlands to visit Batumi. I told them I was traveling east afterwards and after some back and forth between various customs officials I was eventually let into the country.

May 28th, 2019 by elialex.reisen

Was ok, all very nice and quick. Both sides quick look in the car, but no real search. We did not have to get out of the car.
Just after the georgian barrier agressive 'helpers' waiting with somewhat official looking batch, was running and shouting after us when we ignored him and drove past. We went straight to the insurance kiosk as described in the other posts to buy car insurance.
Boarder crossing good, but no idea why they tolerate the mess right after the georgian border.

May 3rd, 2019 by tony-ontheroad

Turkey to Georgia. 45 min. Just quick look in the car. Used cash machine at the border and bought insurance at the free standing kiosk in the middle, 3 friendly ladies.

April 29th, 2019 by emimulligan

Border was fine, we ignored the touts trying to sell insurance and followed the directions in the comments. All fine, insurance done quickly.

April 24th, 2019 by garyshears

Georgia to Turkey
we crossed today. The whole process (both sides) took less than an hour. Insurance is available before passport control on the Turkish side form a clearly marked window. we paid 345 lira for a 10t camper. No money exchange in the border must be done before leaving Georgia. all prices were clearly marked in the window so no cons.

April 19th, 2019 by laurensvdgeer

Passed the border from Turkey into Georgia with a landcruiser without trouble. Passengers have to get out of the car and walk through the whole customs procedure. They checked the car at both sides, friendly people no problems.

When entering georgia some men want to help with the insurance, ignore them. Check coordinates in post below for the place for insurance as it is hard to find, especially in the dark! Also the local bank gives out insurance. You’ll get a folder with all the information.

September 15th, 2018 by justamotoride.com

Georgia=> Turkey. crossed 5:30 in the morning, took us only 30 minutes! nobody checked the bags, they did check the moto insurance on both sides tough!

June 11th, 2018 by G-Trotter

We can confirm the last post. It is not possible anymore to buy the car insurance at a kiosk immediately after the border. Don't get confused by the signs there. Also some guys will "offer you help" and want to bring you to an agent. We had an unpleasant encounter. Just continue the road straight to Batumi - the offical insurance office is located 11 km away from the crossing point. There the insurance can be easily purchased (payment with credit card possible).
The insurance office is tiny and can be overlooked, GPS coordinates are: 41.599613, 41.608284

June 8th, 2018 by Next2you

The Compulsory Insurance Kiosk has moved. it is now around 10-12km after the border. Shortly beforer there is an customs clearing station for trucks. There is a green small sign at the road at a big parking lot. There is a small building in front of it. You might want to watch for turkish or other foreign trucks and cars that stop there. ATM is only at the border. Turkish border took around 1.5h, just waiting in line with the car

May 25th, 2018 by thomasthebelgian

This place is in wrong location - it is located at 41.52094, 41.54918

May 20th, 2018 by thomasthebelgian

Small and busy crossing. A lot of trucks but you can pass them all. Turkish customs very fast look inside the van.
The georgian customs also very fast and hassle free.
You get folder with prices and info about the insurance. See photo
Go to the official insurance kiosk in the center of the square. There is no commission. In 2 min you get the paper.
There is also an ATM, several exchange offices, some cafes, market, liqueur store and a nice beach for swimming.