Georgia’s Interior Ministry will require every foreign national applying for a marriage-based residence permit to appear before a new commission that judges whether the marriage is real, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said on Monday. The new mechanism is part of a wider migration package that also criminalises sham marriages and tightens the rules for foreign students, and it is intended to close a path that has put around 30,000 people on the road to permanent residency in the country. The bill, prepared by the Interior Ministry and now before parliament, is set for an expedited review on June 23.
Under the current rules, marrying a Georgian citizen is enough to secure permanent residency. The bill would replace that automatic step with a temporary permit, route every applicant through a commission interview, and make entering a sham marriage a criminal offense.
The Commission That Will Judge Each Marriage
The proposed mechanism, described by Darakhvelidze to journalists in Tbilisi in a briefing that laid out the proposed commission interview for foreign spouses, places a new interview stage between the marriage and the residence document. “A specific mechanism is now being introduced,” he said. “If a foreign national marries a Georgian citizen and applies for a residence permit, they will be required to attend an interview with a commission.” The Interior Ministry framed the new procedure as part of its effort to “combat and prevent illegal migration,” and said its Migration Department would gain the authority to carry out operational search measures as part of the package.
The commission’s role is to test the marriage’s authenticity. Where it has doubts, the file moves on to investigative authorities. A new article in Georgia’s Criminal Code, included in the same package, makes fictitious marriages entered into for the purpose of obtaining Georgian citizenship or other legal residence a criminal offense.
The bill also creates a new class of residence permit. Spouses of Georgian citizens would no longer obtain permanent residency directly. They would first receive a temporary permit on the basis of marriage, valid until permanent residency is granted. The temporary permit is the formal anchor for the commission process and the lever the state can pull if a marriage later looks hollow. An applicant who passes the interview gets a temporary permit, not a permanent one, and the shift from permanent to provisional is itself a tightening.
If the commission believes there are grounds to doubt the authenticity of the marriage, the documentation will be forwarded to investigative authorities.
Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, Deputy Interior Minister of Georgia, said the words at a briefing in Tbilisi on June 22, 2026.
A New Permit and a New Criminal Offense
The package would amend Georgia’s law on foreigners and nearly a dozen other statutes, the Interior Ministry said in its explanatory note. The ministry’s stated goal is to “create effective mechanisms for managing migration processes” and to strengthen state security.
The bill’s changes cover three main areas: spouses of Georgian citizens, foreign students, and people convicted of crimes on Georgian soil. The marriage track is the headline change, but the wider package would also add a path for prisoners to convert the remainder of a sentence into deportation and a multi-year re-entry ban. That decision would sit with the Penitentiary Service council, and foreign nationals in high-risk penitentiary facilities would be excluded from the option. Together, the three tracks reshape how Georgia admits, holds, and removes foreign nationals.
The current and proposed rules for each track sit side by side in the table below. The biggest shift is on the marriage line, where the automatic right to permanent residency disappears. The new Criminal Code article gives the state a criminal-law tool it has never had for sham marriages, with penalties that include deportation, a 2-10 year re-entry ban, fines, house arrest for one to two years, or imprisonment for up to two years.
| Track | Current rule | Proposed rule |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse residency | Marriage to a Georgian citizen secures permanent residency | Temporary permit issued after commission interview; permanent residency follows later |
| Marriage review | No centralised interview | Commission interview required; doubtful files referred to investigators |
| Sham marriage | Not a standalone criminal offense | New Criminal Code article: deportation, 2-10 year re-entry ban, fine, house arrest 1-2 years, or up to 2 years’ imprisonment |
| Student permit | Issued for study; limited reporting to authorities | Language certificate or NAEC exam required; enrolment data shared with Interior Ministry and SSG; quotas introduced |
The commission step is the most visible addition, but the conversion of permanent residency into a temporary permit is the deeper change. A provisional permit can be revoked; a permanent one cannot.
What a Sham Marriage Now Costs
A new article in Georgia’s Criminal Code makes fictitious marriages entered into for the purpose of obtaining Georgian citizenship or other legal residence a criminal offense, according to the bill criminalising sham marriages that the Interior Ministry published in mid-June. The provision was not in force when Darakhvelidze spoke on Monday. It is part of the same package going to parliament under an expedited procedure. Once adopted, the article would give prosecutors a tool they have not had before for the marriage track.
Penalties range from fines to imprisonment, with the option of deportation and a multi-year re-entry ban. Under the bill, the courts could impose the following on a foreign national convicted under the new article. The new article covers any marriage entered into for the purpose of obtaining Georgian citizenship or other legal residence.
- Deportation from Georgia
- A 2-10 year re-entry ban
- A fine
- House arrest for 1-2 years
- Imprisonment for up to 2 years
Darakhvelidze framed the new article as a deterrent. “This mechanism will include maximum safeguards,” he said. “Only those who genuinely need such documentation will receive the right to live in Georgia, and it will no longer be possible for foreign nationals to remain in the country long-term when the law does not provide for such a right.” The Interior Ministry did not say how the commission will be staffed, what its membership will be, or what criteria it will use to judge a marriage.
Foreign Students Caught in the Same Net
The same bill rewrites the rules for foreign students, the second of the ministry’s three targets. The volume is significant: nearly 35,000 educational residence permits have been issued, Darakhvelidze said, and “cases have emerged where such permits were used not for studying, but simply as a means of remaining in the country long-term.”
Universities and vocational schools will have to enter data on every foreign student into a unified information system accessible to the Interior Ministry, several other ministries, and the State Security Service of Georgia. Institutions that fail to comply face fines, restrictions on admitting foreign students, or the loss of authorisation to enrol them at all. A government decree will also set a maximum quota for foreign students, and applicants will need a language certificate or have to pass an exam administered by Georgia’s National Assessment and Examinations Centre. The Ministry said the rules will “prevent students from enrolling in foreign-language programmes without actually possessing the necessary language competence.”
By the Numbers
The new rules are aimed at a foreign-resident population that has grown quickly. “Today, around 30,000 foreign nationals have obtained permanent residency in Georgia,” Darakhvelidze said, and the existing oversight of those permits “has been very weak.” In February, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze put the number of people in the country without legal status at 20,000, about 7.8% of a total foreign population of 257,000 cited in parliamentary debate.
Five figures from the public record anchor the policy debate. Each is drawn from a named source, with the date it was given. The figures cover the size of the marriage-based cohort, the size of the student population, and the share of people in the country without legal status. The Interior Ministry has framed them as the basis for the second phase of reform. The numbers, however, come from different sources and different dates.
- 30,000 foreign nationals with permanent residency in Georgia (Darakhvelidze, June 22, 2026)
- 35,000 educational residence permits issued (Darakhvelidze, June 22, 2026)
- 20,000 people estimated to be in Georgia without legal status (Kobakhidze, February 2026)
- 257,000 total foreign population cited in parliament (census-linked, 2025)
- 32,000 Russian citizens holding residence permits, mostly students (Novaya Gazeta Europe, April 2026)
The marriage-based cohort is a small slice of the total foreign population but a large share of the political argument. The Interior Ministry has framed the proposed reforms as the second phase of a migration overhaul that began with amendments adopted in June 2025.
That first phase mainly rewrote the rules for foreign offenders and asylum seekers. Darakhvelidze said the second phase targets marriage and student permits in particular. “These amendments are designed to ensure that genuine students who are actually studying and using their permits for the intended purpose will face no obstacles,” he said. But strict regulation will apply to those who use student residence permits as a way to remain in Georgia for extended periods.
Why the New Rules Are Coming Now
The marriage interviews are the most visible piece of a longer reset. In March 2026, Georgia tightened work-permit rules for foreign nationals, with parallel restrictions on taxi and delivery work.
Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili tied the new bill to the EU’s own shift. “As the EU now moves toward stricter regulation, it is expected that certain flows will shift towards Georgia,” he said on the day the package was unveiled. His warning framed the package as preparation for that pressure, not a response to it. The Interior Ministry has not, however, said how the commission will be staffed or what its criteria will be.
Meduza reported that parliament will consider the package on an expedited basis on June 23, with the expedited parliamentary vote on the package set one day after Darakhvelidze’s announcement. If adopted, the bill would take Georgia’s marriage-based residency from an automatic right to a state-administered review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who must attend the new marriage-based residence permit interview?
Any foreign national applying for a residence permit on the basis of marriage to a Georgian citizen, under the bill now before parliament. The bill would create a new temporary permit class for those applicants, to be issued after the interview. The new permit is the formal anchor for the commission process.
What happens if the commission doubts a marriage?
The file is forwarded to investigative authorities, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said. A new Criminal Code article added by the same bill makes sham marriages a criminal offense, with penalties that include deportation, a 2-10 year re-entry ban, fines, house arrest for one to two years, or imprisonment for up to two years. The commission itself does not impose penalties; it refers the case.
Does the change affect people who already hold permanent residency?
Darakhvelidze did not announce any retroactive review of foreign nationals who already hold permanent residency. The commission and the new temporary permit apply to new applicants, the Interior Ministry’s June 22 statement indicated.
When does parliament vote?
On an expedited basis, with Meduza reporting the vote is set for June 23, 2026. The bill was first published earlier in June, with Meduza’s coverage of the package dated June 9, 2026.
What happens to foreign students under the same package?
Applicants will need a language certificate or must pass an exam administered by Georgia’s National Assessment and Examinations Centre. A government decree will also set quotas. Universities that fail to enter student data into a unified information system shared with the Interior Ministry and the State Security Service face fines, restrictions on admitting foreign students, or loss of authorisation.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Migration rules and criminal penalties can change; the figures and procedures described here are accurate as of publication on June 22, 2026, and may not reflect later amendments. Consult a qualified Georgian immigration lawyer for current guidance on any specific case.
