Government Issues Guidebook to Assist Immigrants

The Georgian government has developed a guidebook on legal immigration, which puts together a whole range of practical information on the documents necessary for foreign citizens wanting to stay in Georgia, procedures for obtaining necessary documents and relevant status, and regulations of legal movement in Georgia.

Previously, the only sources of this kind of information were the websites of state agencies in which relevant provisions were scattered across different legislative acts and regulations. The new guidebook is written in both Georgian and English languages.

The manual was developed within the framework of the information campaign "Legal Migration – The Best Choice" conducted by the State Commission on Migration Issues and supported by the EU. 

Migration management is one of the key issues of the EU-Georgia Association Agenda. The EU is offering assistance to Georgia to improve its border and migration management policies to EU standards.

In this regard, Georgia is expected to see through its Migration Strategy 2013-2015, and consolidate its migration and asylum legislative framework according to EU and international standards which will entail the adoption of legislation that ensures effective access to fair procedures for status determination and rights protection.

Georgia is also expected to establish a Unified Migration Analytical System. Once fully operational, this will collect and process all data concerning persons crossing the border, residence permits, visas and duration, foreigners in the country, expelled foreigners from the country, legal entities established by foreigners etc.

Migration management will be one of the key factors on which Georgia's hopes a of a visa-free regime with the EU will depend.

Nino Japarashvili