Government discussed second stage of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan

The sustainable implementation of the second stage of Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), a set of detailed requirements that Georgia should meet in order to be granted by the EU short-term visa-free regime has been discussed at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Georgian citizens are one step closer to travelling visa free to European Union (EU) states as the country successfully completed the first phase of the visa liberalisation process and moved onto the next step on October 29.

Georgia moved onto the second stage of VLAP on October 29, 2014.

The working meeting lead by Foreign Affairs Ministry Tamar Beruchashvili focused on the broad ranges of areas related to border management, migration and asylum for implementing the second stage of VLAP.

The meeting was also attended by the Ministers of Justice, Labour, Health and Social Affairs as well as the representatives of the Interior, Finance and Sustainable and Economic Development Ministries.

The EU’s first mission visited Georgia on November 24. The team are now preparing a progress report on Georgia’s implementation of the second phase of the VLAP.

However, the European Union’s missions will visit Georgia next year to evaluate and prepare the progress reports on Georgia’s implementation of the second phase of visa liberalisation.

Official Tbilisi expects it could be possible for Georgian citizens to travel to European Union member countries visa free after the Eastern Partnership Summit (EaP) in Riga in May 21-22, 2015.

EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Dialogue was launched on June 4, 2012, and the VLAP was presented to Georgian authorities on February 25, 2013.