How are foreigners expelled from Georgia? Three Russians spoke about the migration department’s scheme with searches based on fictitious circumstances

Since 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has regularly reported on the deportation of foreigners who reside in Georgia illegally. Over the past year, according to the department, 1,311 people were expelled from the country.

Two Russians - Irina and Ilya (names changed at the request of the speakers) - told Paper Kartuli that they were expelled from Georgia illegally. They spoke about the searches that preceded the expulsion, trumped-up charges, according to them, of insulting migration department employees, detention, trial and expulsion. Another victim told another similar story on Instagram.

According to those expelled, what happened is a widespread practice. At the same time, two lawyers working in Georgia on cases, including migration, and not related to the processes described above, told Paper Kartuli that they were hearing about such expulsions for the first time.

Read in the Paper Kartuli article how Russians were forced to leave Georgia.

Searches

Alexey, expelled from Georgia, said on Instagram on January 17 that he was stopped for searches in Tbilisi at the end of December. “ They reported the inspection, conducted an inspection, then searched the apartment. Nothing prohibited was found. Later - a test, the result is negative. They released me on the same day ,” the man wrote.

Irina told Paper Kartuli that she was stopped on the street by people who introduced themselves as employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on January 12. They showed the paper for a personal search and search of the apartment on the grounds that there might be illegal substances or objects in it.

“At their words, I laughed and said: I’m 52 years old, I’m no longer at that age to commit illegal acts. I invited them home without any problems,” says Irina. She said that she had lived in Georgia since 2009 and had permanent residence, real estate and a business (a photo of permanent residence is available to Paper Kartuli; the publication confirmed the presence of an apartment and business through the registers of entrepreneurs and real estate).

Ilya said that the police came to his home. The man lived in Georgia with a residence permit (a photo of the document is available at Paper Kartuli , the document is valid until November 2026).

Irina and Ilya - they did not know each other before the arrest - claim that the search took place without witnesses and the officers were simultaneously in different parts of the apartment. The searches were recorded on video.

According to Irina, during a personal search and a search of her apartment, nothing was found on her. Ilya reported the same thing. He said that he did not understand why the police came to him: “I lived in Georgia with my Ukrainian girlfriend for about three years, never broke any laws or exceeded my stay. <…> I have never been stopped for any kind of checks in any country. It seemed to me that we were confused with someone else.”

After the searches, the police, according to the detainees, invited them to go to the police station and record the absence of violations.

Police station

Ilya said that before leaving the house, his girlfriend wanted to take her pills with her, to which the police told her that she could return home at night.

Police asked the couple if they were willing to undergo drug tests. They agreed. But in the end they were not tested.

“In the end, they asked us to sign a document stating that we had no claims against them, that they and we behaved politely and did not resist during the arrest. They told us that the case was closed and that they would take us back to the exit, where we would be given our things,” said Ilya.

According to Irina, investigator David B. spoke to her at the police station: “In an office without cameras, they interviewed me, printed out a form, translated the translator, and I began to sign it. At this moment, the investigator suddenly abruptly leaves the office without words and disappears for 30–40 minutes <…> After 30–40 minutes, men in uniform entered the office, and I read the inscription [on their clothes]: migration department.”

Migration Department

Alexey said on Instagram that on January 12 he was called to the police for documents about the termination of the case. According to him, he arrived, signed the papers, and immediately after leaving he was stopped by representatives of the migration department: “ The phone was taken away and taken to the department without explanation .” The man claims that he had no violations of his stay in Georgia and says that he was a tourist.

The same thing happened with Ilya and his girlfriend. After the police released them, the couple was detained by employees of the migration department: “Some people ran up to us there, who abruptly and rudely grabbed me by the arms, they simply approached the girl and took away my things. We didn't resist. One of them showed his ID and said that they were from the migration police.”

Irina said that from the police station she was also taken to the migration department. According to the woman, employees of the migration department said that she needed to travel with them to establish the legality of her stay in the country.

Ilya reported that one of the employees at the migration department approached him, called him by a different name and stated that the Russian had violated the rules of staying in Georgia and was subject to deportation to Russia. Ilya replied that his name was different. “He came back an hour later with another document - this time it had my name on it - and said that I was charged with insulting an officer and resisting arrest. They asked if I agreed to sign this document. I refused because I didn’t insult anyone or resist,” the Russian said.

Alexey, according to him, in the migration department “ was read a document in which they attributed aggression and resistance, which was not the case .”

According to Irina, a document stating that she is accused of insulting employees of the migration department (Part 2, Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia) was issued to her by an employee of the migration service, Zurab Sh. (this name is indicated in the court decision, which Paper Kartuli has at its disposal ). The woman refused to sign this paper, to which Sh., according to her, told her: “We’ll meet in court.”

The Russian woman told Paper Kartuli that she was transferred from the migration department to the detention center in Digomi, where she spent about 35 hours awaiting trial. According to Alexey, he waited for the trial for almost two days in the detention center: “ Cold, difficult conditions, complete lack of understanding of what’s next .”

Ilya said that before the trial he was in a police station in Kakheti, because, as he was told in the migration department, there were no places in Tbilisi. In the cell with Ilya, according to him, there was a student from India who had a similar situation and a similar search, but a different charge was insulting a criminal police officer, not a migration officer.

Court

Alexey said on Instagram that there were 7-8 of them at the trial: “ Citizens of different countries, including those with permanent residence and study visas. Everyone has the same scenario . ”

The cases of Irina and Ilya were combined into one. “Before the trial, I was placed in a basement cell (at the migration department - Paper Kartuli ), where there were several other people from different countries who were detained on the same day as me, and they all had the same charges. My girlfriend was nowhere to be seen. Most of all I was worried about her,” said Ilya.

Both Ilya and Irina claim that on January 14 the trial took place behind closed doors. Irina says that there was no information about the hearing on the court’s website, where all hearings of the day are usually published, and the exact time of the trial was unknown even to the lawyers.

At the trial, Zurab Sh., according to Irina, said: “He approached me on the street as part of a raid to combat illegal migration. Why to me? Because I have a Slavic face (not really) and asked me to show my documents. To which I [according to him] immediately showed aggression and told him: “I fucked your mother.”

The court decision (the document is available to Paper Kartuli ) states that on January 12, employees of the migration department detained Russians for inspection, and they behaved aggressively and insulted the employees. The witnesses in the case were employees of the migration department Zurab Sh. in the case of Irina and Tengo L. in the case of Ilya.

The court hearing, according to both Irina and Ilya, ended quickly. “All the arguments that the lawyer brought in our defense were protested by the prosecution, and the court each time sided with migration,” said Ilya.

As a result, Irina was fined 3.5 thousand lari, banned from entering Georgia for 3 years and ordered to leave the country. Ilya was fined 4 thousand lari and was also banned from entering Georgia and expelled from the country.

Alexey reported the court’s decision as follows: “ A large fine, forced to leave the country, restrictions on re-entry . ”

Expulsion

After the trial, Irina and Ilya were taken to the migration department. “In migration, we were forced to buy a ticket at lightning speed for the next flight of our choice to any visa-free country. To do this, the employees turned on our phones, and from their hands I bought tickets to Yerevan (a photo of confirmation of booking tickets for Irina and Ilya is available to Paper Kartuli ),” said the detained Russian woman.

Alexey also said that he was given a phone to buy a ticket, and then it was taken away.

Irina and Ilya had a flight the next day, January 15th. Ilya said that before the flight he was in the men’s block of the migration department: “Inside our block there were people of all possible nationalities, from China to Cuba. I started talking to them. 80% of the people I was able to talk to were there for the same charge as me.”

Irina also claims that she communicated with people detained under the same scheme as her: “I saw about eight different people in just six hours of being in the basement of the migration of those detained on the same charges and under the same scheme.” According to the woman, she saw residence permits for two of them.

Before leaving for the airport and at the airport, Ilya, his girlfriend, Irina and other deportees were filmed for a report - the Ministry of Internal Affairs accompanies messages about the deportation of illegal migrants with videos.

Irina and Ilya and their girlfriend are now in Yerevan and are planning to appeal the court decision. Alexey said in his post that he was in Istanbul.

Reaction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and lawyers

Paper Kartuli sent inquiries about what happened to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. At the time of publication, there were no responses from the departments.

Lawyers for the detained Russian woman refused to comment on her case.

Two lawyers working in Georgia on cases, including migration, and not related to the processes described above, told Paper Kartuli that this is the first time they have heard of such a deportation scheme.

The Georgian Migration Department began an active fight against people living in the country illegally in 2025. Since January last year, the agency has been regularly reporting on the expulsion of migrants. In total, 1,311 migrants were expelled from Georgia in 2025 . In December, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that the number of expulsions in 2025 was comparable to the total result over the past seven years, and warned that in 2026 there would be even more of them.

If you or your friends have experienced similar expulsions from Georgia and you are ready to talk about it, contact us via @PaperKartuli_bot.

Cover photo: Alexander Patrin / TASS