Georgia Changes Rules for Entry and Stay for Citizens of 17 Countries
The Georgian Dream government has issued a decree which changes rules for entry and stay for citizens of 17 countries.
The list includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Citizens of these countries will be able to enter and remain in Georgia under new regulations beginning May 16, 2025, if they hold a visa or residence permit from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, or Oman. The document must be valid for at least one year prior to arrival.
UPDATE: The Interior Ministry since issued a statement regarding the new regulations saying that media organizations have erroneously misinterpreted them as easing the visa regime for certain foreign nationals.
The statement also says: “According to the wording of the resolution before the amendments, the citizens of the listed countries had the right to enter Georgia even before the amendments were made, if they held a visa or residence permit from the Gulf countries, although the validity period of the visa was not established, therefore, the requirements for the mentioned countries have been tightened.”
The MIA statement further reads: “Holders of visas and/or residence permits issued by the Gulf States no longer have the right to enter and stay in Georgia without a visa if, on the day of their entry (border crossing) into Georgia, the validity of the multiple-entry visa and/or residence permit is less than one year, which must be confirmed by a travel document and/or other relevant document.”
CORRECTION: Our initial news title: “Georgia Grants Conditional Visa Entry to Citizens of 17 Countries” could be misleading. We have modified it in accordance with MIA statement.
This news was updated at 10:15, April 25 to include the statement by the MIA.
Also Read:
- 23/04/2025 – Zurabishvili Accuses GD of Manipulating Issue of Visa-Free Travel with EU
- 03/04/2025 – Georgia Reduces Visa-Free Stay for Ukrainians from Three Years to One
- 10/10/2024 – Russia Expands Visa-Free Regime for Georgian Citizens
- 17/06/2024 – Peskov: Moscow will Consider Complete Abolition of Visa Regime with Georgia
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