Parliament adopts amendments to Law on Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons in third reading

The draft amendment to the Law of Georgia On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons, prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the related legislative changes, has been reviewed and approved by Parliament in the third reading.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the package of amendments was developed to create effective mechanisms for managing migration processes and strengthening state security.

The ministry states that the amendments respond to modern migration challenges and aim to establish a more effective, transparent, and secure system for regulating the stay of foreigners in Georgia.

“The amendments define additional prerequisites for the admission of foreign students to higher and vocational educational institutions, such as the submission of an international language certificate and/or passing a foreign language or state language exam organized by NAEC. This regulation excludes the enrollment of a student in a foreign language program without actual language competence.

In addition, educational institutions will be obliged to enter information on foreign students’ enrollment, suspension, termination, restoration of status, mobility, completion of studies, and other relevant data into a unified information system accessible to relevant state agencies.

Educational institutions will be subject to administrative liability for violations of foreign student registration rules, with sanctions including fines and restrictions on admitting foreign students.

The amendments also regulate study-based residence permits, which will be issued to adults only if they are enrolled in authorized higher or vocational educational institutions. Grounds for terminating such permits include failure to meet academic requirements, violation of work conditions, or prolonged absence from Georgia beyond the legal limit.

The package also introduces changes regarding residence permits based on marriage between a Georgian citizen and a foreigner, including a new type of permit for spouses issued prior to permanent residence. Marriages will be subject to verification, and a special commission will be created for this purpose. Fictitious marriages aimed at obtaining residence permits or citizenship will become a criminal offense, with penalties including expulsion and entry bans, fines, house arrest, or imprisonment.

The amendments also provide for replacing the unserved part of a foreigner’s sentence with expulsion and an entry ban, under conditions defined by Georgian law.

The Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will also be granted authority to carry out operational-investigative activities to combat illegal migration.

Procedural changes include shortened appeal deadlines, stricter case review timelines, and the possibility of hearing certain cases without oral proceedings.

The legislative package was prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth, and other relevant agencies,” the statement reads.