New rules for foreigners in Georgia
Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party has fast-tracked amendments to the Law on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons. The government says the changes are intended to strengthen efforts to combat illegal migration.
According to the explanatory note accompanying the bill, the amendments introduce additional legal grounds for refusing a Georgian visa or entry into the country. They also expand the grounds for terminating a foreign national’s right to stay in Georgia and for deportation. The package also sets out new criteria for assessing the risk that a foreign national may abscond and introduces mechanisms to identify sham marriages.
Parliament approved the legislative package at its first reading on 23 June 2026. The Interior Ministry drafted the amendments and said the new rules respond to “modern migration challenges” while creating a more effective, transparent and secure system for regulating the stay of foreign nationals in Georgia.
New requirements for foreign students
Under the new rules, foreign students will have to provide an internationally recognised language certificate and/or pass an examination in a foreign language or the Georgian language administered by Georgia’s National Assessment and Examinations Centre.
The government says the measure is intended to prevent students from enrolling in foreign-language programmes without the required level of language proficiency.
The draft law also requires educational institutions to upload information to a unified information system. The system will record a foreign student’s eligibility for admission, enrolment, suspension, expulsion, reinstatement, transfer, graduation and other relevant information. The relevant state authorities will have access to this database.
The amendments also introduce administrative liability for educational institutions that fail to comply with foreign student registration requirements. Penalties may include fines as well as restrictions on admitting foreign students.
The legislative package also changes the rules governing residence permits issued for study purposes. Under the new approach, adults will qualify for this type of residence permit only if they are enrolled at an accredited higher education institution or vocational college.
The amendments also set out grounds for revoking a study residence permit. Authorities may cancel the permit if a foreign student fails to meet academic requirements, breaches employment conditions or remains outside Georgia for longer than the period allowed by law.
New rules for residence permits based on marriage
The draft law also introduces changes to residence permits issued to foreign nationals who marry Georgian citizens.
The amendments create a new category of residence permit for the spouses of Georgian citizens. Foreign nationals will receive this permit before they become eligible for permanent residence.
Before issuing the permit, the authorities will verify that the marriage is genuine. A special commission will assess each case and determine whether the marriage is authentic.
Under the amendments, entering into a sham marriage between a Georgian citizen and a foreign national will become a criminal offence if the purpose is to obtain Georgian citizenship, a residence permit or any other legal basis for staying in Georgia.
Deportation and entry bans
The draft law also takes a tougher approach to the deportation of foreign nationals from Georgia.
Foreigners who violate the law could face deportation and a ban on re-entering the country for between two and ten years.
The amendments also introduce additional penalties, including fines, house arrest for between one and two years, or a prison sentence of up to two years.
The legislative package also allows the authorities to replace the remainder of a foreign prisoner’s sentence with deportation from Georgia and a ban on re-entering the country.
In addition, the amendments grant the Interior Ministry’s Migration Department the authority to carry out operational and investigative measures aimed at preventing and combating illegal migration.
The bill also introduces changes to court procedures. It shortens the deadlines for appealing decisions, imposes stricter time limits for reviewing cases and, in some instances, allows courts to consider cases without holding an oral hearing.
New rules for foreigners in Georgia