New regulation obliges Georgian customs officers to consult citizens before leaving for EU
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Georgia is taking steps to ensure citizens do not violate EU visa-free travel rules as the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens to the European Union comes into force tomorrow.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili signed a new regulation this evening obligating Georgian customs officers to have a thorough conversation with citizens who are about to depart for the EU. During this conversation, customs officers will ask passengers’ the purpose of travel and ask for relevant documents to be presented.
If any of the documents do not meet European standards or if there is any unclearness, customs officers are obliged to warn Georgian citizens that they might be refused entry to the EU.
Mgebrishvili said that "the road to Europe goes through the respect for the law” and added that Georgia has mechanisms to identify any violations Georgian citizens might possibly commit while in the EU.
In case of violations such as staying in the EU longer than 90 days, the Georgian side will inform the relevant EU state, after which efforts will be made to return the citizen back to Georgia. Along with deportation, these citizens will also have to pay a €3,000 fine.
Mgebrishvili said that during the past six years there had been 7300 applications from the EU to Georgia regarding readmission; 90 percent of these applications have been satisfied. Mgebrishvili said that these numbers means there is good police cooperation between Georgia and the EU.
Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze says that, first of all, the European Union (EU) visa waiver is a recognition of the efficacy of Georgia’s recent reforms and institutions.
The regulation letting Georgian citizens travel to the Schengen Zone without a visa comes into full effect on Tuesday, March 28.
New security measures will track the status of Georgian citizens travelling to the Schengen Zone after new legislation lifting visa-requirements for Georgians will enter into force on March 28.
Georgian citizens will be able to travel to any of the Schengen Zone countries visa-free in just 20 days. New legislation lifting visa-requirements for Georgians has been published in the European Union’s Official Journal today.
From now on, Georgian citizens no longer need a visa to travel to the Schengen Zone. The regulation lifting visa requirements for Georgians entered into effect today, Tuesday, March 28.
Today is a day Georgians have awaited for years. A number of international leaders have taken to Twitter to share their happiness for Georgia. Some of them even issued a congratulatory video message in Georgian.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hosted his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Kvirikashvili, stating it was an honour for him that Greece had been chosen as his first visa-free destination.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili and Europol's Director Rob Wainwright signed an Agreement on Operational and Strategic Cooperation to expand cooperation to combat serious and organised cross-border criminal activities.
One month on from the introduction of the visa-free regime between Georgia and the European Union (EU) unofficial preliminary data is now rolling in. Between March 28 and April 27, 11,700 citizens of Georgia travelled visa-free in Schengen area and only 26 people were denied entry at the border.
Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Mgebrishvili has met with 12 Georgian police attaches from Georgian embassies in different countries.
Seventy-nine days on from the introduction of the visa-free regime between Georgia and European Union (EU) preliminary data is now rolling in.
Georgia and the United States (US) are recognising the need for mutual assistance in matters related to the administration and enforcement of customs administration.
Georgia’s Deputy Interior Minister Shalva Khutsishvili says that 55,000 Georgian citizens have made use of Georgia-EU visa-free travel since March 28, 2017. 3,000 of those people have not yet returned back, after the expiration of the 90-day period, Khutsishvili told IPN news agency, saying this may not necessarily mean that the people violated the agreement rule.
Georgia continues to monitor the return operation of the Georgian citizens residing on the territory of the European Union (EU) countries without permission.
As the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports, they received 1290 applications about readmission from January 1st to April 30th while 1260 of them were confirmed and only 30 rejected.