NEWS

Georgia imposes restrictions on surname changes to prevent EU visa-free travel violations

The new regulations will help the Georgian government to easily identify citizens who violate visa free travel rules. Photo: inyourpocket.com

Agenda.ge, 19 Apr 2018 - 11:12, Tbilisi,Georgia

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.

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