France allows legal employment for certain category of Georgian citizens
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, December 20
The Georgian-French agreement creates special opportunities for young Georgian specialists and graduates of high education institutions.
The French president has signed an agreement ratified by the country’s legislative body which allows a certain category of Georgian citizens to receive temporary residency permits and work legally in the country.
The agreement envisages both employment of Georgians in France and French citizens in Georgia.
Georgian young specialists, as well as the graduates of French high educational institutions and their branches, will be among those who will able to stay in the country for working experience and then return to Georgia.
France allocates 150 quotas for young specialists annually and for the others 500 in total.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that the “Agreement between the Government of Georgia and the Government of France about the Residency of Young Specialists and Circular Migration” regulates terms for residency permits and quotas for jobs.
“We have very important news and an achievement regarding the legal employment of our citizens in France. We are in active talks with other foreign states to achieve the same goal,” Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated.
He said that in parallel of the deal the Georgian and French governments will continue working for the practical implementation of the agreement, which will include the identification of most demanded professions on the French labor market.
The Foreign Ministry says that with the help of the International Organization for Migration a pilot project is ongoing in Poland with 30 Georgian citizens legally employed.
“We are negotiating with the Polish Government to sign the agreement regarding the legal employment of Georgian citizens,” Zalkaliani said.
He stated that the talks are in progress with Germany regarding the issue.
“In August 2018, while her visit to Georgia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that Germany will create working quotas for Georgia,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
The ministry says that Georgia is also holding talks with Israel, Portugal, Greece and Bulgaria regarding the labor agreement.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry says that such agreements decrease the level of unemployment, illegal migration and promotes for development of qualified staff.
