In the third quarter of 2026, the Georgian authorities expelled 109 Russian citizens from the country for violating migration legislation — nearly one and a half times more than during the entire year of 2025. Data from the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, published on November 8 and reported by Russian and Belarusian media, record a sharp acceleration in deportation procedures amid the tightening of migration rules adopted by the Georgian parliament a year earlier.
Third Quarter: Peak of Deportations
From July to September 2026, a total of 1,134 foreign citizens were expelled from Georgia. Turkish citizens lead the number of deportees with 306 people, and Russians rank second with 109. Over the same period, 15 Belarusian citizens left the country. For comparison: during the whole of 2025, Georgian authorities expelled 1,311 illegal migrants, 73 of whom were Russian citizens.
Russians Rank Second in Deportations
The figure of 109 expelled Russians in a single quarter exceeds the annual figure for 2025 (73 people) by approximately 1.5 times. This means that the rate of expulsion of Russian citizens grew sharply in the second half of 2026: more deportations were recorded in three months than in the entire previous year.
Nine Months of 2026: 3,170 Deportations
From January to September 2026, 3,170 foreigners left Georgia for violating migration laws — almost 2.5 times more than in the entire previous year. Among them were 791 Turkish citizens, 306 Indian citizens, 274 Iranian citizens (according to some media outlets — Turkmenistan), and 254 Russians. Thus, the number of expelled Russians in nine months exceeded the figure for the entire year of 2025 by more than three times.
Tightening Legislation as Background
As the media note, Georgia intensified its fight against illegal migration in 2025: the country's parliament tightened migration laws, simplifying deportation and search procedures. Since then, the Georgian Interior Ministry has regularly published reports on the expulsion of foreign citizens who violated the rules of stay in the country, making deportation statistics one of the key indicators of Tbilisi's migration policy.
Context
Earlier, the Russian Union of Travel Industry refuted reports of a mass cancellation of tours to Georgia following news of attacks on Russians, noting that only isolated trip cancellations were recorded. According to the Interior Ministry, the increase in the number of deportations is precisely due to the tightening of migration control rather than changes in the tourist flow.
