Over the past month in Tbilisi and Batumi, inspections of bars and restaurants by the municipal inspection and the Migration Department have intensified: agency officials identify foreign nationals working without permits, after which detainees holding various legal statuses are pressured into so-called voluntary self-deportation. This was reported by the human rights platform APUS.
The organization spoke with the owner of an establishment whose two employees were expelled from Georgia. He considers the actions of the migration service unlawful and intends to pursue legal redress.
In the first case, the employee—a Russian citizen—held a work permit valid until January 1, 2027. On September 20 of this year, documents were submitted on his behalf to obtain a new work permit and a residence permit (VNZh). Approximately three weeks later, while the application was still pending, the man was detained by migration service officers. Three days after his expulsion from Georgia, the approval for his work permit was granted.
The second case involved a Russian citizen who was undergoing a month-long internship. According to the owner, the internship was educational in nature and did not involve any salary payments. Concurrently, also on September 20, applications were submitted for a work permit and a residence permit.
When migration service officers arrived at the establishment, both applications were listed in the electronic system as pending review.
According to the venue’s owner, the migration service officers arrived in plain clothes and did not identify themselves. Both employees were taken away under the pretext of clarifying circumstances.
Once at the police precinct, they were offered two options: purchase a ticket and leave Georgia, or spend three days in a detention facility, after which they were promised to be escorted to the Russian-Georgian border at the Upper Lars (Verkhny Lars) checkpoint. They managed to contact the venue’s director by telephone and report what was happening.
The venue owner and his legal counsel, maintaining that the employees had not violated the law, urged them not to sign anything and declared their readiness to challenge the authorities’ actions in court.
However, according to APUS’s interlocutor, the pressure continued. Both Russians were handcuffed, and migration service representatives began verbally abusing them, as well as their director and their lawyer in absentia, who was attempting to communicate with them by phone. According to the owner, the detainees were subsequently informed that if they refused to sign the documents for voluntary departure, they faced up to nine months in a detention center, followed by deportation via Upper Lars.
The lawyer attempted to locate the Russian nationals in temporary detention facilities, but was unable to obtain information about their whereabouts anywhere. The detention occurred on a Friday, and for roughly 15 hours, relatives and the employer’s representatives did not know where the detained staff were being held.
The following day, it emerged that the men could not withstand the pressure and signed the departure documents. At the same time, according to the owner, the papers themselves were not provided to them: an interpreter read out the contents, stating that the foreign nationals were being expelled due to an administrative infraction and were leaving the country voluntarily. According to the interlocutor, no judicial expulsion order had been issued.
Following this, the men were transferred to another building, which they presumed was a detention facility. There, they were given two hours to sleep, were not provided food, and were denied the opportunity to wash up properly or brush their teeth. They were then placed in a vehicle and driven to Upper Lars.
The only document left in their possession was a fine of 2,000 GEL (approximately $780) for working without a permit.
Their lawyer has still been unable to obtain deportation records or official clarifications regarding the incident from the migration service.
According to the interlocutor, similar incidents have affected other restaurant workers as well. Specifically, reports have emerged regarding the expulsion of foreign nationals who held valid residence permits and owned real estate in Georgia, but lacked a valid work permit.
There are also reports that detainees are encouraged to depart independently, with officials claiming that in such a scenario an entry ban would last only a few months, whereas contesting the case in court could result in a ban of up to three years. According to information available to APUS, Russian citizens are predominantly sent across Upper Lars, while some are routed through Sarpi on the border with Turkey.
Reports also indicate expulsions through self-deportation of Ukrainian citizens, who are likewise transported to the Sarpi checkpoint.
APUS’s interlocutors, who also requested anonymity, reported cases where foreign nationals, following “self-deportation” from Georgia, paid the fines issued to them for working without a permit, but were subsequently barred from re-entering the country. Upon attempting to enter, border guards handed them standard refusal notices citing “other reasons” as the grounds. Furthermore, they have no information regarding the duration of the entry ban, as no judicial decisions establishing such a ban were ever served.
APUS notes that it cannot independently verify these accounts, and it remains unknown whether the affected individuals attempted to appeal the entry refusals. However, the authors add that they are unaware of any cases where foreign nationals succeeded in obtaining judicial permission to enter Georgia.
The report also notes that in early October, the Georgian migration service announced it had vetted more than 20,000 foreign citizens and signaled its intention to continue the raids.
On October 27, the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported the expulsion of 98 foreign nationals from the country over the preceding few days. Among them were citizens of the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Cuba, Azerbaijan, India, and other countries. All deported individuals were barred from entering Georgia. The Ministry of Internal Affairs publishes such statements on average every 5–7 days. The number of expelled individuals in these updates typically ranges between 50 and 100 people.
According to the agency, between the beginning of 2026 and October 27, more than 3,500 people have already been expelled from Georgia.