The procedure for obtaining Georgian citizenship and the passport of the citizen of Georgia for people residing in the occupied territories will be simplified. The relevant resolution was adopted today at the government session.

Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze informed the public about these important novelties before the government session and said that the agencies for a long time worked in order to simplify the procedure.

"Citizens taking advantage of this opportunity will see for themselves that the process is far more simplified and accessible now. At the same time, it will enable our every citizen equally to enjoy our greatest achievement of visa-free travel to Europe," the Prime Minister stated.

Later Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, in details talked about the amendments that will soon be launched and added that it refers to each person living in the occupied territories - everyone who was born and lived in those territories before 21 December 1991, or the descendant of such person.

"The first significant change is that the procedure for identifying the identity of the person is simpler in comparison to existing practices and legal procedures. For this purpose, Parliament has created a basis when we initiated a package of legislative amendments.

"The second change is about the timeline. In particular, the term of establishing citizenship has been reduced to a month and it will be free. Considering that the population lives there in difficult conditions, they have movement problems, artificial barricades and various types of restrictions", - said Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.

According to her, in some cases an international organization accredited to Georgia can also make an application for the person whose data is already in the electronic database. So there is no necessity to personally announce the citizenship procedure.

"I think we have fulfilled our promise and made a very important step to make the real benefits available to the residents of the occupied territories. To the persons willing to use visa free travel with the EU", - added the State Minister.

Simplified procedures will be launched from February 1, 2019.