Parliament Passes Law for Georgian Expats
The Parliament approved with its third and last hearing on November 24 a law on “diaspora organizations and compatriots living abroad”, envisaging easing access to some of the services provided by the state for Georgians living abroad.
The document, which does not regulates citizenship issues for Georgian expatriates, allows, among others, granting 30-day visa free travel; access to state-funded education; allowing expats to participate in international sport competitions for Georgia (if it does not contradict rules of a respective sport’s governing body); preferential terms for the services provided by the Georgian civil registry agency.
Papuna Davitaia, the Georgian state minister for diaspora, told lawmakers earlier this month when the proposal was discussed with its first hearing, that the bill had a symbolic importance for maintaining “legal linkage” with Georgians living abroad.
The provisions of the bill will also apply to descendants of those Georgians who have been resettled from Georgia to Iran in the seventeenth century when eastern part of Georgia was under the Persian control. Descendants of those Georgians now live in Fereydan district of Isfahan province in the central part of Iran. The provisions will also apply to people of Georgian origin living in Turkey, mostly in the northeastern part of the country. The bill says that while pursuing the provisions of this document, Georgia is guided by the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states.
