Georgia has long marketed itself as an open, easy-to-enter hub-especially for regional visitors, remote workers, and small traders. But in late 2025 and early 2026, that reputation began to collide with a more forceful state approach to immigration control. A series of street- and workplace-level raids, a faster deportation pipeline, and higher penalties for overstaying signaled a clear shift: Tbilisi is tightening the rules and actively hunting for people living or working in the country without a solid legal basis.

This article explains what’s happening, what the latest 2025-2026 data says, and why the raids have intensified-without tying the story to any single news cycle.

What the Crackdown Looks Like on the Ground

The most visible feature of Georgia’s recent crackdown is the operational style: targeted inspections where police and migration officers check specific venues and addresses based on “received information,” then detain foreign nationals found to be in breach of stay rules or without lawful grounds to remain.

Recent reports describe raids in Tbilisi and Batumi that included checks of food-service businesses and the work gear of couriers linked to delivery platforms-a clue to where enforcement is concentrating: informal or semi-formal urban labor markets with high turnover and mixed documentation practices. Video published alongside official statements showed inspections extending beyond public-facing workplaces into residential premises allegedly used by migrants.

The second feature is the speed and scale of removals. Official updates and media reports in early 2026 describe routine batches of expulsions (dozens at a time) and note that deported individuals are typically issued re-entry bans under existing legislation.

In practice, that means the crackdown isn’t limited to border refusals. It is increasingly a domestic compliance campaign: identify overstays or violations inside the country, remove the person, and restrict their ability to return.

The Latest Numbers (2025-2026) and Who is Being Targeted

Two figures frame the enforcement trend.

2025 expulsions: Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Georgia expelled 1,131 “illegal migrants” in 2025 (over 11 months), calling it a sharp acceleration compared with prior years.

2026 target: In the same remarks, he said the government plans to expel at least 3,500 more in 2026, signaling that enforcement is not a temporary spike but an explicit policy goal.

Monthly and even weekly snapshots reinforce that trajectory. Georgia’s public broadcaster reported that 232 foreign nationals were expelled in January 2026, including citizens of a wide range of countries across the region and beyond. That single-month figure matters because it suggests a pace that, if sustained, would materially exceed earlier annual totals.

Raids reported in early 2026 also show a diverse set of nationalities being detained. In one widely cited operation, the Interior Ministry said 32 foreign nationals were detained in Tbilisi and Batumi, including citizens of India, Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Türkiye, Palestine, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, and Egypt.

The pattern here is important: enforcement is not described as focused on one diaspora alone. It is framed as a broad campaign against irregular stay-especially overstays and other administrative breaches-paired with a labor-market reality in which many newcomers find work quickly in services, delivery, hospitality, or seasonal activities.

Source: newsgeorgia.ge

The Legal Engine Behind the Raids: Tighter Rules and Faster Deportation

The crackdown did not appear out of thin air. It has been enabled by a stack of legal and regulatory changes adopted in 2025 and rolled out through late 2025 and early 2026.

Higher fines and longer entry bans for overstaying

Civil society and legal reporting on amendments in 2025 described a tougher penalty structure for foreigners who exceed their permitted period of stay, including fines and entry bans that escalate with the length of overstay.

In parallel, reporting in early 2026 described changes that made deportation procedures more streamlined and penalties for overstaying more painful, supporting a higher-volume enforcement approach.

Tightening “Visa-Free via Third-Country Documents”

Georgia also tightened entry conditions for certain travelers who previously relied on visas or residence permits from Gulf countries as a pathway into visa-free entry. The Interior Ministry explicitly said these changes were intended to combat illegal migration and to prevent misuse of loosely defined validity rules.

A new work-permit/compliance direction (March 2026)

Georgia’s immigration reform package also points toward more formal control over foreign labor. Professional services firms tracking regulatory changes reported that Georgia is moving toward greater scrutiny of residence permits and a new work-permit system scheduled to launch 1 March 2026, indicating a shift from informal tolerance to documentation-first governance.

Tightening residence channels, including investment routes

Even the investor-residency route has been adjusted: media reporting says Georgia will raise the minimum real-estate investment threshold for a temporary residence permit to $150,000 from 1 March 2026, citing earlier amendments passed in June 2025.

Taken together, these measures create a clearer state toolkit: restrict loophole entry, raise the cost of overstaying, expand work-related oversight, and run raids to demonstrate capacity.

Source: newsgeorgia.ge

The Main Reason for the Intensified Raids

Georgia’s government and aligned reporting typically describe the crackdown as a response to illegal migration-especially overstays-and as a way to restore control over who is living and working in the country.

But “illegal migration” is an umbrella. The drivers behind the raids are more specific-and they explain why enforcement is targeting certain places and jobs.

Overstay enforcement is administratively straightforward: it does not require proving criminal intent, only that a person’s legal stay has expired or that their residence basis is invalid. As penalties rose and deportation procedures became simpler, the state gained an efficient way to produce visible results-reflected in the jump to 1,131 expulsions in 2025 and the announced 2026 target of 3,500.

The raids map onto the urban informal economy The operational details-checks at restaurants and courier activity, plus inspections of residences-suggest enforcement is concentrated in sectors where documentation can be inconsistent and where workers can blend into fast-moving gig systems.

That matters because, for many migrants, Georgia is attractive precisely due to ease of entry and flexibility, but those same conditions can lead to gray-zone employment (cash wages, short-term arrangements, unclear sponsorship) and higher overstay risk.

A Broader Governance Move: Shifting from “Open Door” to “Regulated Door”

The upcoming work-permit framework (from March 2026) and tighter monitoring of residence permits indicate the raids are not only about removals; they are about setting new expectations for the market. In plain terms: Georgia appears to be replacing a reputation for low-friction mobility with a model that prioritizes compliance, registration, and enforceability.

Georgia’s internal political climate has been tense in recent years, and migration enforcement can function as a “state capacity” signal-showing the government is in control of borders, streets, and rules. While migrant raids are not the same as protest policing, the broader environment of crackdowns and enforcement politics forms part of the context in which hardline administrative actions become more likely.

Georgia is a transit and opportunity country for many across the wider neighborhood. A more restrictive approach could redirect mobility toward other hubs-or push some flows further underground-unless legal work/residence pathways expand at the same time as enforcement.