The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia issues a statement regarding the number of citizens of the Russian Federation, entering and leaving Georgia.

“Based on the high public interest, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would like to provide the public with information regarding the entry standards in Georgia for the citizens of the Russian Federation as well as on numbers, rules and grounds for denying the entry to Georgia.

After September 21 of the current year, the number of people entering from Russian Federation increased at the Georgian-Russian state border.

Based on the public interest, the agency, therefore, publishes the data collected within the last 10 days, in particular, all border crossing points of Georgia have been crossed to both directions (entry-exit) by the following number of people:

On September 17, 6986 - 7406
On September 18, 6606 - 6743
On September 19, 6411 - 6782
On September 20, 5603 - 6199
On September 21, 6402 - 6011
On September 22, 6150 - 6050
On September 23, 9307 - 6214
On September 24, 9330 - 6249
On September 25, 11 143 - 5519
On September 26, 10 804 – 4947 from the Russian Federation.

In order to effectively manage the increased influx from the Russian Federation, police teams have been additionally deployed at “Dariali” border crossing point for performing border migration control procedures, ensuring public order in vicinities of the area surrounding the border checkpoint as well as for the prevention of the potential violations of the law.

In addition to the mentioned, appropriate unit of the State Security Service is permanently present at the border checkpoint, to ensure security and identify the risks.

Border control procedures are carried out with special observation, in full compliance with the acting legislation of Georgia.

In recent period, the number of citizens who are not allowed to enter the territory of Georgia due to the reasons stipulated in the legislation has increased. Therefore, questions are raised more frequently on the rules of admission and the reasons for refusal.

As it is known, according to the Article N12 of the "Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons of Georgia", any citizen of a foreign country upon entering Georgia, undergoes an inspection at the border crossing point, as a result of which, they are either given permission to enter Georgia, or denied the entrance and are not able to cross the state border. The inspection/interview of each foreign citizen is carried out in accordance with internationally recognized best practices.

The border guard makes the decision to grant or refuse the entry to a citizen of a foreign country as a result of evaluating various factors and circumstances. For example, border guard considers compliance of the submitted documents with the purpose of the trip, the sufficient amount of financial funds during the stay in Georgia and upon departure from the country, dates of stay in the country during the previous visit, etc. Therefore, if the mentioned standard is violated, the law enforcement officers explain to the foreign citizens the possible reasons for the refusal and the conditions for appealing the decision on the spot.

Inspection/interview process of citizens for identifying persons with high risks at the border-crossing points, and arrangement of the checkpoint as well as road infrastructure during movement in conditions of the increased influx, to a certain extent, leads to the formation of queues, which, at the same time, requires an increased period of time for registration.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs proactively publishes the statistic data of persons and transport moving across the state border of Georgia each month. Therefore, the Ministry will ensure the publication of statistics, relevant data analysis, making it available for the public”, - reads the statement.