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New legal amendments concerning foreign nationals enter into force in Georgia

01 July 2026 13:44 (UTC +04:00)

From today, amendments to the legislation concerning foreign nationals have entered into force in Georgia, APA's local bureau reports.

From now on, foreigners who enter into sham marriages to obtain a residence permit will be expelled from Georgia and banned from entering the country for a period of two to ten years.

Georgian citizens who enter into a sham marriage with a foreign national will face up to two years' imprisonment. Those who annul their sham marriages by October 1 this year will not be held criminally liable. A special commission will assess whether a marriage is sham or genuine.

According to another legislative amendment, foreign nationals imprisoned in Georgia who have served a certain part of their sentence, except those convicted of particularly serious crimes, will be able to apply for sentence mitigation. In such cases, those individuals will be expelled from Georgia for a period equal to the unserved portion of their sentence.

Jamila Babayeva

Georgia foreign nationals legal amendments residence permit sham marriage deportation entry ban imprisonment immigration law Georgian citizens criminal liability sentence mitigation migration legislation