Restauración / readquisición de la ciudadanía para un ex ciudadano (Art. 18)

A former citizen of Georgia may have citizenship restored / reacquired (Art 18), one of the four Art 9(3) types of naturalisation, by Presidential decree. Restoration applicants are not put to the full ordinary-route burden in the same way as first-time naturalisers, but where the language/history/law conditions apply they are checked through the same PRE-APPLICATION electronic examination (Art 24(6-1)–(6-4); MoJ Order No 996), and a restoration grant outside the Art 17 exception takes effect on proof of renunciation of any conflicting citizenship; the Art 8 oath of allegiance applies to naturalisation acquirers. A distinct TEMPORARY restoration/retention window (Art 32-2) lets a former citizen who lost Georgian citizenship by acquiring a foreign one apply, before 1 January 2027, for restoration on eased terms — a sunset to be distinguished from this permanent Art 18 restoration. (The Constitutional Court's Decision No 3/3/1601 of 7 March 2025 bears on the appealability of citizenship decisions generally.)

• Citizenship is granted by way of restoration to persons whose Georgian citizenship was terminated (a) unlawfully, (b) by renunciation, or (c) as a result of a parent's choice; the applicant must know the Georgian state language within set limits and have no Art 16 refusal grounds. - A time-limited transitional window (Art 32²) lets a former Georgian citizen who lost citizenship by acquiring a foreign nationality apply, before 1 January 2027, for restoration on eased conditions (Georgian language + no Art 16 grounds; Art 15 renunciation requirement DISAPPLIED), with the restoration extending to the minor child (14+ with consent); the same window also permits retention applications for those against whom no loss decision was taken before 15 August 2018.

• A person who acquires citizenship through naturalisation (except the Art 12(2)/(3) exempt cases) must give an oath of allegiance to Georgia in the Georgian language and sign it before the grant takes full effect. [NB: Art 12(2) was deleted by Organic Law No 3400 of 20 Mar 2015; the only operative Art 8 oath exemption is the Art 12(3) disability case — the Art 8 cross-reference to 12(2) is a residual stale reference in the consolidated text.] - For grants other than the exceptional grant (Art 17), the President's decree granting citizenship takes effect only upon receipt by competent Georgian authorities of a document certifying the applicant's renunciation of the other country's citizenship — operationalising the single-citizenship default for ordinary/simplified/marriage/restoration applicants. - Ordinary Art 18 restoration does not by itself exempt the Art 15 renunciation-of-foreign-nationality requirement, so a restoration applicant who acquired an intervening foreign nationality must generally renounce it for the grant to take effect — except where the termination was unlawful (Art 18(4) disapplies the conditions) or where the transitional Art 32² window applies. - Restoration applicants are still subject to the pre-application knowledge check, but a reduced one: Order No 996 requires only the STATE LANGUAGE for restoration grants (matching Art 18(2)(a)), and exempts entirely those whose citizenship was terminated unlawfully — consistent with Art 18(4) disapplying the Art 18(2) conditions for unlawful termination. - The pre-application knowledge-exam service fee is set by MoJ order and statutorily capped: under Organic Law Art 24(6-4) the fee 'must not exceed the highest rate of a fee, fixed by the legislation of Georgia, payable in Georgia and effective on 7 June 2023, for the expedited service set in relation to the issue of granting citizenship of Georgia under regular procedure and for preparation of a relevant opinion'. MoJ Order No 996 Art 7(1) sets the figure within that ceiling: the first test is free, and each subsequent (re-)test costs GEL 40 domestically (Art 7(1)); under delegated consular authority abroad the first test is free and each subsequent test costs USD 15, payable in USD or local currency at the National Bank fixed rate (Art 7(2)).

• Since the 2023/2024 reform the language/history/basics-of-law examination is a PRE-APPLICATION step: the level of knowledge is checked before the citizenship application is submitted to the Agency (PSDA) or a Georgian diplomatic/consular mission; the test result is valid for 1 year. - Decision authority: PSDA (the Public Service Development Agency / 'the Agency') processes the application with the assistance of the 6-member Citizenship Commission; the President of Georgia makes the final decision to grant/retain/refuse/terminate (positive = decree, negative = ordinance). - On filing a citizenship application the applicant pays a service fee set by the Government of Georgia under the procedure prescribed by it (Art 27); in the case of restoration the service fee is refunded where the citizenship had been terminated unlawfully. The exact GEL fee schedule is set by Government ordinance (administrative figure), not by the Organic Law. - The pre-application knowledge examination (MoJ Order No 996 of 30 Apr 2024, in force 1 May 2024) is administered as an electronic test booked through the PSDA Civil Registry's citizenship/migration electronic management system: the candidate registers in person or via a representative at PSDA, a Justice House, or a Georgian diplomatic/consular office (Art 3(2)) and selects a slot from free times available within 2 months of registration, and may reschedule no later than 48 hours before the test (Art 3(6)). Each subject presents 10 items (30 total) with 4 options each, one correct (Art 4(1)); 20 minutes per subject (Art 4(2)); a pass requires at least 7 of 10 in each subject (Art 4(4)). A candidate may appeal the result to a Claims Commission (of at least 3 PSDA members) by lodging a claim within 3 working days of being notified (Art 9(1),(3)); the Claims Commission decides within 10 working days (Art 9(6)); where the result is annulled, a re-test is held within 15 working days free of charge (Art 9(8)). The fee is non-refundable on a no-show or removal from the test room (Art 7(5)). A successful result is valid for 1 year (Art 8).

Timeline: standard, ~3 months. Document burden: medium. Required: none of residency/language/presence/renunciation.

• The citizenship service fee is fixed by Government of Georgia ordinance under Art 27(1) of the Organic Law and varies by processing-speed tier (the gazetted schedule is Government Decree No 508 of 29 Dec 2011, citizenship items as amended by Resolution No 217 of 21 Apr 2022, in force 1 May 2022). For regular-, simplified- and special-procedure naturalisation (Decree 508 item 15: GE-NAT-01, GE-NAT-02, GE-SPC-01) the fee is GEL 65 at the 80-calendar-day tier, GEL 130 at 60 days, GEL 260 at 40 days and GEL 390 at 20 days; a stateless person having a status in Georgia is exempt from the 80-day-tier fee for regular-procedure naturalisation (Decree 508 Art 1(6) inserting item 6-2). Marriage-based simplified naturalisation (GE-MAR-01) takes the same item-15 band. Restoration (GE-RST-01, item 18) is GEL 130 at 30 days and GEL 195 at 20 days; the temporary-right restoration track (item 20-1) is GEL 325 / 455 / 650. Exceptional grant (GE-SPC-01 in its exceptional mode, item 20) is GEL 500 / 700 / 1,000, and retention (item 20-2) is likewise GEL 500 / 700 / 1,000. Renunciation (GE-XCT-01, item 16, 'exit from citizenship') is GEL 130 at 30 days, GEL 260 at 20 days and GEL 390 at 10 days. Establishment of citizenship / legal-bond determination (GE-HIS-01, item 19) is free at the 15-day tier, GEL 40 at 5 days, GEL 65 at 3 days and GEL 100 same-day, with the Abkhazia/Tskhinvali establishment track (item 19-1) free at 30 days then GEL 40 / 65 / 100. The compatriot-status fee (item 40) is GEL 65 (80-day) / GEL 130 (70-day). Under Art 27(2) the restoration fee is refunded where the prior termination of citizenship was unlawful. Consular (delegated-authority) tracks are denominated in USD (Decree 508 Art 1(4) amending item-set 4).

Primary statute: Organic Law Art 18; Art 15(3); CC Decision 3/3/1601 (7 Mar 2025). Operative 2014-05-27–present. Authority: Public Service Development Agency (PSDA); President of Georgia (grant/loss decree).