Visa-free travel: What Georgians can and can’t do in Schengen Area
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Georgia is very close to implementing visa-free travel to the Schengen zone, so the country’s authorities have started providing its citizens with necessary information regarding visa-free trips.
Every Georgian citizen who receives a foreign passport from relevant agencies will also receive a special brochure with detailed information about visa-free travel to the European Union (EU).
The brochure included a list of the 22 EU states, four non-EU countries and four EU candidate countries where Georgians will be able to travel without a visa once the country’s visa liberalisation comes into force.
Officials assumed this would happen in early summer, at the latest.
Additionally, employees of Georgia’s public service agencies underwent special training to be able to answer all questions citizens might have regarding visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.
According to the brochure, there are several rules that Georgian citizens need to follow while traveling to the Schengen Area with no visa:
- Georgians can stay in the Schengen area for 90 days maximum;
- The purpose of travel can be tourism, visiting family members/relatives/friends, a business meeting or negotiations, etc.
- The purpose of the trip cannot be to pursue higher education and employment.
- While crossing the state border of a Schengen country, Georgian citizens might be asked by a border officer about the purpose of their visit. The traveler might also be asked to present relevant documents, including a return ticket to Georgia, their hotel reservation, travel insurance and financial documents such as valid bank cards or cash.
- If a Georgian citizen stays longer than 90 days in a Schengen country, he/she will be deported and be banned from entering the Schengen zone for five years. As an alternative, the person might be fined € 3,000.
Citizens of Georgia are "very, very close” to visa-free travel to the European Union (EU). Statements about Georgia’s ever-closer visa waiver to the EU were made by EU top officials in Brussels yesterday.
Georgia meets all the benchmarks of its Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), meaning in early 2016 the European Union (EU) will propose a legislative amendment to let Georgian citizens travel to the EU visa free.
Georgian senior officials are on an important visit to France to discuss details of migration before Georgian citizens can travel to the Schengen Area visa-free.
Georgia’s Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili says representatives of European institutions are "very satisfied” with Georgia’s move towards the European Union (EU).
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili has discussed how to advance Georgia-European Union (EU) relations with President of the European Council Donald Tusk.
Georgia has received another strong message of support and promise that Georgians will soon be able to travel to the European Union (EU) visa-free from a senior EU official.
The Commissioner referred to Georgia as a "reliable partner” of the EU, which was further attested by the Georgian Government’s "strong political will” to further integrate with Euro-Atlantic structures and to continue its efforts to reform and embrace EU standards.
Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Georgia Janos Herman believes Georgia has never been so close to Europe as it is now.
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.
A total of 1,760 Georgian citizens have been deported across the globe in the first six months of 2017. Georgia’s Interior Ministry revealed the statistics today.
Georgia continues to monitor the return operation of the Georgian citizens residing on the territory of the European Union (EU) countries without permission.