Procedure to receive Georgian passport for residents of occupied regions simplified
Taking the Georgian passport will be free of charge if one does not want to take it in an accelerated manner.Photo: 1TV.
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The central Georgian government has simplified the procedure to receive a Georgian passport for individuals residing in the Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Receiving Georgian passports will provide opportunities for individuals to travel visa free in the EU Schengen Zone and enjoy other achievements of the country.
Receiving the Georgian passport in a one-month time period will be free of charge, while receiving the passport in an accelerated manner, in 15 days, will cost 50 GEL.
Only those will be able to take the Georgian passport who were born and lived in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali until 21 December 1991, or are the offspring of the people who were born and lived in the regions until the above-mentioned period.
The change is part of the government-initiated A step Towards Better Future initiative, which aims to improve the humanitarian, social and economic conditions of population of the two regions.
How one can take a Georgian passport?
- An individual who is interested in taking the Georgian passport or his/her representative should address the Georgian Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia or the Georgian diplomatic representation abroad with an application and represent an identification document issued in the occupied region.
- The individual will also able to make an appeal to the Service Development Agency with the help of international organisations acting in Georgia.
- If the information about the individual already exists in the data base of the agency, there will be no need of providing any documentation.
- In a one-month time the agency, with the cooperation with other Georgian state agencies, will recheck the information presented in the documentation and will make a decision whether or not issue a passport.
- The passport will be ready in 30 days and the service is free of charge.
The major topic of discussion at the meeting was the Georgian Government’s peace initiative A Step to a Better Future which seeks to improve the socio-economic conditions of the populations in occupied Regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
The committee of Ministers' Deputies has assessed the initiative "as a vivid sign of Georgia’s firm commitment to promote confidence and interaction between the societies split by the dividing lines.”
Slovenia has joined the number of countries that have praised the Government of Georgia for its legislative changes aimed at improving the humanitarian, social and economic conditions of the populations in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The Government of Georgia has proposed legislative changes for improving the humanitarian, social and economic conditions of the populations in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The aim of the initiative is to improve cooperation across the occupation line.
Residents of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia region brought 53-year-old deceased Gocha Tupuria near the Otobaia-Orsantia bridge earlier today for his relatives standing on the other side of the bridge to mourm, as they were deprived of the right to enter the occupied territory, Radio Atinati reports.
A new grant programme ‘Produce for a Better Future’ will soon be launched in Georgia within the peace initiative ‘A Step to a Better Future’ in order to encourage trade across the occupation lines.
The so-called parliament of Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia has passed a bill in its first reading which strips a group of Georgian citizens of their right to receive their inheritance in the region.
Georgian citizens residing abroad will be able to receive passports for free in May. Georgians living abroad with expired passports should appeal to diplomatic representations or consulates of Georgia for registration.
On this day 26 years ago thousands of Georgians were forced to leave their homes in Georgia's western Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, thousands of people died and Tbilisi lost control of Abkhazia region.
The Georgian national flag is flying at half-mast today as 27 years ago on September 27 more than 250,000 Georgians were sent fleeing from their homes as Georgia lost control of the region of Abkhazia, which is currently occupied by Russia.