The second place is held by India - residence permits have been issued to 23,930 individuals, the vast majority of whom are students studying in Georgia. The third place is Azerbaijan - 6.3%. Here too, it should be assumed that the vast majority are Azerbaijanis who left Georgia, now hold Azerbaijani citizenship, and have returned to Georgia. As for Ukraine, it accounts for 5.9%, or 6,290 people; however, in addition, under our legal acts and without a residence permit, up to 25,000 Ukrainians live in Georgia with actual refugee status.

In total, more than 107,000 citizens of foreign countries hold residence permits in Georgia, - this was stated by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze during his interpellation speech in Parliament.

He spoke about the statistical data on residence permits and noted that 30% of Russian citizens who are in Georgia with foreign status are actually Georgians.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, the second place is held by India, whose majority are students studying in Georgia.

“As for the statistics on the issuance of residence permits, residence permits have been issued in Georgia to 107,307 citizens of 164 countries. Let me clarify that one of the grounds for stay in Georgia is a residence permit. As for the statistics specifically on residence permits, citizens of the Russian Federation account for 29.9% - 32,129 people. I would like to clarify here that a large part of them are former citizens of Georgia and persons with Georgian surnames. We reviewed the border crossing statistics and found that this figure is approximately 30%. In other words, 30% of Russian citizens who are in Georgia with foreign status are actually Georgians. The second place is held by India - residence permits have been issued to 23,930 individuals, the vast majority of whom are students studying in Georgia. The third place is Azerbaijan - 6.3%. Here too, it should be assumed that the vast majority are Azerbaijanis who left Georgia, now hold Azerbaijani citizenship, and have returned to Georgia. As for Ukraine, it accounts for 5.9%, or 6,290 people; however, in addition, under our legal acts and without a residence permit, up to 25,000 Ukrainians live in Georgia with actual refugee status. In total, the number of Ukrainians in Georgia is around 30,000, of whom 6,290 have residence permits. Up to 25,000 Ukrainians have been granted the possibility of stay in Georgia without a residence permit. Armenia - 4.8%, around 5,000+ people. Here too, according to our assumption, these are people who left Georgia, acquired Armenian citizenship, and then returned to Georgia. Belarus - 3,738 persons have been granted residence permits. Turkey - 3.4%, 3,645 individuals. Iran - 3.1%, 3,331 Iranian citizens have been granted residence permits in Georgia. Sudan - 2%. These are entirely students studying in medical fields in Georgia. China - 1.9%. More than 2,000 Chinese citizens. These are mainly labor force employed primarily in infrastructure projects. Jordan - 1.9%, more than 2,000 Jordanian citizens are in Georgia. The vast majority of them are medical university students. Pakistan - 1.5%, 1,618 individuals, and they too are entirely medical students studying in Georgia. Egypt - 1.2%, and here too almost all are medical students. USA - 1%, more than 1,000 such persons. This is the overall statistics that we determine based on the indicators of residence permit issuance. In total, more than 107,000 citizens of foreign countries hold residence permits in Georgia,” - stated Kobakhidze.