Over 20,000 Georgians traveled to EU since visa-free regime entry
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, June 16
More than 20,000 Georgian citizens have crossed the border since the visa-free regime with the European Union came into force.
The information was provided by the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Viktor Dolidze.
The minister added that only several people were refused entry into Schengen zone, saying this is the result of the successful information campaign launched by the state agencies.
“Our campaign has given us very good results. Raising awareness is important for us,” he added.
Dolidze said that the exact data of the three-month period will be launched in the end of June.
The visa-free regime for Georgia was activated on March 28.
Georgians holding biometric passports are now able to enter the Schengen Area for 90 days within any 180-day period for vacation, business, or any other purpose except work.
Georgians can travel without visas to the following 22 EU member states: Belgium, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Greece, France, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.
The visa-free regime also applies to four non-EU-member states (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) as well as four Schengen candidate countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Croatia).
Exceptions for visa-free travel include Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Georgians will lose the freedom to travel visa-free if they suddenly start making numerous asylum requests, stay in the Schengen Zone for more than 90 days at a time or cause an increase in risks and internal security.
If such problems emerge, the suspension of visa-free regime can be extended up to 18 months, followed by the intervention of the European Council.
