The messenger logo

Georgia faces the results of visa-free entry requirements

By Messenger Staff
Friday, June 28
More and more people in the capital and through the country are expressing their concerns towards Georgia's visa-free regime. With the slogan of developing tourism, the former government lifted visa requirements for 114 different countries. Eventually this resulted in the arrival of many people not only from European countries, but from other continents as well. A lot of people from Asian and African countries started moving to Georgia in search of various opportunities. According to Ministry of Internal Affairs' statistics around 4.5 million people entered Georgia in 2012. Out of this only 754,000 were officially registered as transit. Georgia established mutual-visa free regimes with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus and several other countries. A strange situation is occurring in Georgia, as Georgians are leaving the country in search of jobs, while foreigners are entering the country looking for jobs. Georgian officials have started discussing this subject and it seems likely that government officials will be forced to reconsider some aspects of the country's visa-free regime.