Georgian government reinforces visa regime and immigration policy. The new legislative project was initiated by the Governmental Commission of Migration.
According to the current law, citizens of 118 countries can cross Georgian border and stay there for 360 days without visa requirement. As for those who need visa, it is granted in a simplified way, mostly at the border.
From now on, the law no longer includes the list of the countries whose citizens have a visa-free entry for Georgia. These countries will be defined by the governments resolution.
Until now, Georgian visa would be granted:
According to the new initiative, the Public Service Hall will no longer be allowed to extend visa for a foreigner citizen. The Interior Ministry will grant visa at the frontier control post only if there is a special resolution by the Government. And in all other regular cases visa will only be granted by the Diplomatic and Consular Representatives of Georgia.
The new legislative project defines two categories, short-term and long-term visas. The largest amount of days for a short-term visa is 30 days.
A multiple entry visa will be granted to those foreigner citizens who had already received at least one Georgian visa last year which they actually used, and if there is a need of requesting a multiple visa.
A long term (multiple) visa will enable a foreigner citizen to stay in Georgia for 90 days for each entry. This type of visa is also the first step of getting a diplomatic accreditation or a living permit.
Residence permit regulations will also be changed. A permanent living permit will no longer be granted to a person who lost a Georgian citizenship because of getting a citizenship of any other country.
Moreover, a list of the family members who are allowed to get a residence permit is revised too. Grandchildren, siblings or grandparents of a foreigner who has a living permit in Georgia, will no longer be able to get a permit, too.
According to the new legislation, the Ministry of Interior Affairs will make a decision of proscription of foreigners from Georgia if they crossed the border without legal basis, and if they are not under a guardianship of a Georgian citizen.
The Migration Commission also changed the amounts of fines:
The initiators of the project say that because of the current visa policy, in the country, there are a lot of undecided cases and the legislation and control needs to be revised.