Time in Tbilisi: May 8, 2024 06:35
The process for changing one’s surname has been made more difficult in order to prevent possible violations of the visa free regime with the EU by Georgian citizens.
Amendments to the law prepared by the Ministry of Justice have been passed by the Georgian parliament late yesterday.
The new regulations will help the Georgian government to easily identify citizens who violate visa free travel rules while the current law allows a person to change one’s surname 25 times or more on different grounds.
Under the new regulations, a change of surname is allowed for only once with few exceptions including when taking one’s spouse’s surname for marriage or changing one’s surname back after divorce.
In total 8,339 Georgian citizens changed surnames in 2017, the Georgian Justice Ministry reports. The statistics come after the Georgian government had announced plans to make the changing of surnames more complicated to prevent the illegal flow of Georgian citizens to the EU countries.
Within a year of the Georgia-EU visa free agreement, 192,453 Georgian citizens have visited the Schengen Zone 258,663 times, the Georgian Interior Ministry reports. Deputy Interior Minister Nino Javakhadze stated that in total 1,001 Georgians were refused entry into the EU passport-free zone.
This time last year, a small Georgian delegation led by Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili left for a historic trip on which Georgians travelled visa-free for the first time to the European Union (EU).
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has confirmed today that new regulations will be established concerning the changing of surnames to prevent Georgian citizens from violating the Georgia-EU visa free regulations.
The countries from which Georgians have been returned include Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Island.
French, German, Swiss and Swedish ambassadors to Georgia have announced plans to meet with Georgian Interior Minister Giorgi Gakharia in the coming days to discuss ways of decreasing the number of Georgian asylum seekers in their countries.
European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn says that the Georgia-EU visa free deal is not at risk as there are no reason for the enactment of the suspension mechanism
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has warned Georgian citizens, who have plans to enter the Schengen Zone, to have all necessary documentation and on their person, as Georgian embassies in the Schengen Zone countries have no legal levers to interfere in the decisions of immigration officers if they say that some of the documents are absent or invalid.
EU-Georgia Association Parliamentary Committee, which discusses and assesses progress in the EU-Georgia relations, has held its eight meeting in Strasbourg yesterday and praised the progress achieved by Georgia between 2014 and 2018.
The Georgian parliament has presented the action plan of the implementation of the EU Association Agreement (EUAA) for 2019-2020, defining the parliament’s activities in the process.
Georgian Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani has met with the European Commission official for Migration and Home Affairs Simon Mordue earlier today to discuss how to overcome recent difficulties for the EU-Georgia visa free deal signed in 2017.
"Georgia continues to be a reliable and important partner for the European Union. We will be closely following political developments over the coming months, in light of the worrying increase in political polarisation in the country. We expect a level playing field and pluralism in the media environment for the elections later this year”, said High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell. He stated that the European Union ‘firmly supports’ Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
The ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition are blaming one another for the inability of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee to agree on the text of a joint resolution during its ninth meeting in Strasbourg yesterday. Ruling party officials say that the country has a ‘harmful opposition’ who is unhappy with Georgia’s progress under the current state leadership, while the opposition says that the government is ‘incompetent and dangerous.’
Georgian citizens traveling to a Schengen country with which Georgia has a visa-free travel regime but who do not possess the necessary documents may be refused to cross the Georgian state border, says a new law passed today in parliament. Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Georgia Kakha Kuchava said there have been many cases when travellers crossed the border of Georgia without having a return ticket, or hotel reservation, or means of subsistence and a citizen was sent back to Georgia.
The Georgian interior ministry on Friday said 868 Georgian citizens had been deported from several European Union member states over the past three months for violation of mandatory terms of stay in the countries.