On December 5, 2014, the meeting dedicated to the issues of the new visa regulations was held at the conference hall of  Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU) to introduce TSMU international students to  the new visa regulations.

The students were invited to meet with the representatives of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (MoFA): Shio Khetsuriani, Chairman of Public Services Development Agency of MoJ; George Jashi, Deputy Chairman of Public Services Development Agency of MoJ; Eka Mamaladze, manager of Public Relations Service of State Services Development Agency of MoJ; Soso Giorgadze, Head of Citizenship and Immigration Services of MoJ; Ekaterine Odisharia, Deputy Head of Citizenship and Immigration Services of MoJ and Inga Kikvadze, Deputy Director of Consular Department of MoFA. The meeting was also attended by Professor Rima Beriashvili, Vice-Rector of TSMU; Prof. Ia Avaliani, Head of TSMU Department of International Affairs; the staff of the same Department and TSMU international students.

The  new  amendments to the law on "legal status of foreigners and stateless persons" was discussed. According to the law amendments, in the transition period, the  facilitation  benefits for obtaining a residence permit or an immigration visa were established  for foreigners residing in Georgia.

It was emphasized  that for the aliens the following statements were facilitated:

"If  the alien was issued residence permit on 27 November, 2014 or entered territory of Georgia on March 17 and stayed here till 26 November, 2014 he/she will be allowed to apply to State Services Development Agency of MoJ or the Houses of Justice without submission of any documents certifying his/her residence permit.”

“Aliens who entered before 17 March 2014 with valid visas (issued before September 1st 2014) or without visas as they were exempted from visa requirements and have not left the territory of Georgia can submit filled application for long-term visa (immigration visa) and other required documents to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia not later 30 days until aliens’ lawful stay (with or without visa) in Georgia expires”.