Immigration in Georgia, as a challenge of modernity, is a phenomenon carrying a special legal and social burden, which is a concomitant and integral part of globalization. From a historical point of view, Immigration was always considered a prerequisite for the emergence of innovations and new opportunities, which was due to the exchange of different cultural, economic, legal and social standards characteristic of the intensive movement of foreign citizens on the territory of the country. Main causes of immigration/migration. Its a brief legal overview of immigration law in Georgia.
According to the data of National Statistics Office of Georgia, the total number of immigrants in Georgia in 2021 amounted to 74,008 people, which for such a small country as Georgia has an inevitable impact on economic, social, demographic and legal processes. From a social-legal point of view, immigration to Georgia refers to the process of entry of foreigners into Georgia, which is a process that requires special administrative regulation.
Special administrative regulation of immigration to Georgia process
Taking into account the legal bases, the immigration process to Georgia is regulated nationwide by several legislative acts, including:
- “on the legal condition of foreigners and stateless persons”,
- “on the procedure for issuing registration of Georgian citizens and foreigners living in Georgia, identity (residence) certificate and passport of a citizen of Georgia”,
- “on international protection”,
- as well as other special legislative acts, which regulate a certain part of the given issue in much more detail.
The legislative framework offers several alternative grounds for the citizens of foreign countries to legally enter and stay in the territory of Georgia, in particular, according to the Georgian Immigration Law “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”,
The grounds for entering and staying in Georgia are:
- Georgian visa;
- Residence permit in Georgia;
- Temporary residence certificate of a person with international protection in Georgia;
- Temporary identification certificate;
- Other cases stipulated by the legislation of Georgia.
From the above, this guide will discuss the two most common forms of entry and stay in Georgia, namely visa and residence issues. The procedure for obtaining a visa, from which there are several types of visas, and the rules/grounds for issuing them carry different legal burdens, in particular,
The following categories of Georgian visas:
- Diplomatic (Georgian Visa category A);
- Special (Georgian Visa category B);
- Ordinal (Georgian Visa category C);
- Immigration (Georgian Visa category D);
- Transit (Georgian Visa category T), which duration of issuance is also divided into short-term and long-term visas.
Full Georgian visa support will be provided by our immigration lawyer in Batumi.
Due to the fact that the legislator, taking into account the specific situation and purpose, offers a variety of visas to the citizens of foreign countries, the number of people interested in obtaining a visa is justified.
The second and no less interesting and legally important way is the issue of obtaining Georgian residency by a citizen of a foreign country, which is regulated in detail by the legislation, which is regulated in detail by the legislation, since in the mentioned procedure, principles of not only human security but also state security are gathered independently and separately, due to the confrontation of which there are many ambiguous or even completely vague and unsubstantiated approaches in practice.
Here too, as in the case of issuing a visa, the legislator offers types of residence permits depending on the specific purpose, taking into account the diversity of the duration of validity. The Law of Georgia “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons”.
Types of residence permits in Georgia:
- Employment residence permit in Georgia;
- Educational residence permit in Georgia;
- Residence permit for family reunification in Georgia;
- Residence permit of a former citizen of Georgia;
- Residence permit of a stateless person in Georgia;
- Special residence permit in Georgia;
- Permanent residence permit;
- Investment residence permit in Georgia;
- The possibility of issuing a temporary residence permit;
- A short-term residence permit in Georgia;
- A permanent residence permit in Georgia.
Among the presented lists, for the purposes of this guide, attention will be paid to investment, temporary and permanent residence permits, since they have a direct impact on business activity, urbanization, economy and development of the country and individual territorial units in the country.
The investment in the territory of Georgia by the citizen of a foreign country
Also, taking into account the general trend in the Adjara region, in particular, obtaining residence on a specific basis in Batumi remains the most relevant way. The common prerequisite for the issuance of all three listed residence permits is the investment of financial funds in the territory of Georgia by the citizen of a foreign country. Moreover, the amount of the investment made plays a significant role in the duration of the residency period and the issuance process.
For example, in 2015-2018, a total of 511 investment residence permits were issued to persons who invested at least USD 300,000 in Georgia. In the same years, a total of 6,668 people received short-term residence permits, who purchased real estate worth $100,000. As for the permanent residence permit, in this case the legislator sets a much higher standard and this time, along with the multiplicity of the investment to be made, he emphasizes the amount and duration of the income/annual turnover received as a result of his entrepreneurial activity.
Full Georgian residence permit support will be provided by our immigration lawyer in Batumi.
Conclusion about immigration law and process in Georgia
The actual circumstances causing migration, with their sociak-legal content, do not always bear a positive attitude, although it is clear that the approaches presented in this article provide a real basis for the prospects and strengthening of an economically less developed region, at the expense of foreign investments and cash invested in real estate, as well as entrepreneurial activity.
As of today, among the goals of migration in Georgia, the goal of making investments is in the central place and allows the person to obtain a corresponding visa or a corresponding residence permit in exchange for the payment of such expenses through legally guaranteed legal means.
Materials used:
- Collective work “Migration Guide” – first edition. Tbilisi 2017
- National Statistics Office of Georgia
- “Migration processes in Georgia at the modern stage”, Giorgi Jashiashvili – master thesis, Tbilisi 2020
- Law of Georgia “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons” Parliament of Georgia, 2014
- “Migration law: development of judicial practice” – Irakli Kokaia, Tbilisi 2021.