As part of the changes presented on April 17, 2025, Georgia tightened the visa regulations for certain nationalities, including VAE residents.
The regulatory changes have completely unprepared for the Muhammad based in the VAE, a 31-year-old senior product manager, when he and a friend at Kutaisi International Airport landed for the holidays of Eid al Adha. They had flown with a Wizz Air flight from Abu Dhabi.
“We had all the necessary documents, residency evidence of the United Arab Emirates, hotel bookings, return tickets and travel insurance. Some passengers were stopped before getting in, but we were cleared to fly,” said Muhammad, a Pakistani expat.
After landing, however, the situation changed. Before they reached immigration, they were asked by a police officer for ID.
“We were led aside, our passports were recorded and our photos were clicked in front of the other passengers,” Muhammad recalled. “We had no explanation until a female officer presented us with rejection of the entry -level shelves.”
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Mohammad felt “insulted” by dealing with the entire situation in which he and his companion were supposedly treated “like a criminal”.
“We were arrested for more than 12 hours in a prison room without food, clean water or proper sanitary facilities.”
Muhammad now calls on other Pakistani pass owners to carefully rethink the travel plans after Georgia. “We have lost money for flights, hotel bookings, insurance and car rental companies, but that is nothing compared to mental stress, fear and psychological trauma that we have endured.”
Georgia led the changes by changing the state resolutions of June 5, 2015 with the title “On the approval of the list of the countries, the visa and/or residence permits, the extraterrestrials of which enable to enter Georgia for the corresponding time and conditions in Georgia.”
The updated regulation does not simplify an entry -level procedure, which is incorrectly claimed by some media and social media reports, but rather strictly stricter requirements for combating illegal migration and better control over Georgia's limits.
Key change
The golf residence no longer automatically grants a visa -free access.
Under the previous version of the resolution, citizens could enter certain countries without a visa in Georgia if they had valid visa or residence permits from GCC member states. In the previous regulation, however, no minimum visual duration for these visas or permits was specified. This has changed from April 17, 2025.
Citizens from a proven list of countries in which visas or residence permits are held by several inputs from golf countries may now only occur without a Georgian visa in Georgia if their visa or approval is valid at least one year on the day of occurrence. This validity must be clearly demonstrated by a passport or another relevant documentation.
Travel agents in the United Arab Emirates confirmed that after the new politics, some residents were stopped in the Georgian immigration.
With the Khaleej Times, Godly Babukutty of Epic Travel said, although they had no problems with their customers, they are aware of such incidents that have happened to other inhabitants.
“What Georgia has now implemented is nothing new and many countries have been doing this for years. The reason why Georgia is now tightening his security measures is that people often do not have proper travel routes or book tickets without answering all the necessary questions in the form.”
He also asked the residents to ensure all requirements such as hotel bookings, return tickets and cash before flight tickets are booked.
“For this reason, it is increasingly certain to book through travel agencies that make sure that travelers have all the necessary documents before we fly out. We also ask our customers not to travel without insurance.”
Affected countries
This restriction applies especially to nationals of the following countries:
These people no longer get visa-free access to Georgia simply because they hold a short-term visa or residence permit from a golfand. Only those with at least one -year validity of their golf visa or permission qualify for visa -free start.
Georgia emphasizes that these changes are intended to tighten existing rules and not alleviate them. According to the official declaration, misinterpretations in the media, which otherwise propose, incorrectly and do not reflect the actual content or the intention of the legislative changes.
Paul so far
Ajanta Paul is a leading editor in the digital team. As a natural manager and newshound, she lives in breaking news and high-pressure situations and gladly reports on community issues that appear to the residents of the United Arab Emirates.
