Ciudadanía por vía de excepción - concesión presidencial discrecional (mérito excepcional/intereses estatales, artículo 17) - DOBLE PERMISO
Ciudadanía en Georgia
- Elegibilidad
- La ciudadanía por vía de excepción es una concesión presidencial DISCRECIONAL y un camino completo hacia la nacionalidad georgiana: el Presidente de Georgia PUEDE conceder la ciudadanía a modo de excepción a un ciudadano de otro país que haya hecho una contribución de mérito excepcional a Georgia, o a un ciudadano extranjero sobre la base de intereses estatales (Artículo 17(1)). Para la parte de intereses estatales, la ley enumera circunstancias calificadas (por ejemplo, el solicitante considera a Georgia su patria y él/ella o un antepasado residió en Georgia; inversión significativa) (Artículo 17(2)). La concesión excepcional está exenta de las condiciones ordinarias de naturalización (la residencia de 10 años, los medios de vida y, en general, los requisitos de idioma/historia/conocimiento de derecho del artículo 12 no se aplican) y es la principal ruta legal hacia la doble ciudadanía, porque (a diferencia de otras naturalizaciones) su decreto no está condicionado a la renuncia a la nacionalidad anterior. Es discrecional y no está basado en derechos; Es evidente que la decisión del Tribunal Constitucional n.º 3/3/1601 (7 de marzo de 2025) no amplió una garantía de apelación a la concesión del artículo 17.
- Plazo
- discretionary
- Renuncia
- No requerida
Resumen
Citizenship by way of exception is a DISCRETIONARY presidential grant and a full pathway to Georgian nationality: the President of Georgia MAY grant citizenship by way of exception to a citizen of another country who has made a contribution of exceptional merit to Georgia, or to an alien on the basis of state interests (Art 17(1)). For the state-interests limb the law enumerates qualifying circumstances (e.g. the applicant considers Georgia his/her homeland and he/she or an ancestor resided in Georgia; significant investment) (Art 17(2)). The exceptional grant is exempt from the ordinary naturalisation conditions — the 10-year residence, livelihood, and generally the language/history/law-knowledge requirements of Art 12 do not apply — and it is the principal lawful route to DUAL citizenship, because (unlike other naturalisation) its decree is not conditioned on renunciation of the prior nationality. It is discretionary and not rights-based; the Constitutional Court's Decision No 3/3/1601 (7 March 2025) conspicuously did not extend an appeal guarantee to the Art 17 grant.
Quién califica
- Citizenship by way of exception is a discretionary presidential grant: the President of Georgia MAY grant citizenship by way of exception to a citizen of another country who has made a contribution of exceptional merit to Georgia, or to an alien based on state interests. It is one of the four enumerated types of naturalisation (Art 9(3)(c)). - Honorary citizenship is a distinct, non-nationality status separate from the exceptional grant: it may be granted (with the grantee's consent) to an alien of exceptional scientific/public contribution or of a profession/qualification of interest to Georgia on national-interest grounds, but it expressly does NOT give rise to the rights and duties of a citizen of Georgia.
Cómo solicitar
- Procedurally, an exceptional-grant application is lodged with the PSDA (or a Georgian diplomatic/consular office abroad); the Citizenship Commission ascertains the conditions for granting citizenship by way of exception (except the Art 17(3) knowledge conditions), the Agency prepares an opinion forwarded to the President, and the President makes the final decision by decree within a 3-month time frame.
Base jurídica
Primary statute: Organic Law Art 17(1)(2); Constitution Art 32(2). Operative 2014-05-27–present. Authority: Public Service Development Agency (PSDA); President of Georgia (grant/loss decree).
Escenarios de ejemplo
Los escenarios de ejemplo se muestran en inglés.
conditional
Art 17(1) exceptional grant (merit limb): the President MAY grant citizenship by way of exception to a foreign citizen who has made a contribution of exceptional merit to Georgia. It is exempt from the Art 12 ordinary conditions (no 10-year residence, no livelihood, and - for the merit limb - no language/history/law test, which Art 17(3) attaches only to Art 17(2)(a) homeland/ancestral applicants). It is DUAL-permitted: no renunciation (Art 15 carve-out), Art 21(3) loss-shield. Outcome conditional because the grant is wholly DISCRETIONARY ('may grant') with no entitlement.
conditional
Investor-via-exceptional-grant, NOT priced CBI: investment is only ONE non-exhaustive state-interest circumstance the President MAY weigh (Art 17(2)(b)) - there is no statutory price, tier table, or guaranteed grant (GE-ASSERT-079; positive disconfirmation of CBI). His expectation of a guaranteed price-for-passport outcome is unsupported; the grant remains a discretionary presidential act, hence conditional, not eligible-as-of-right.
conditional
Art 17(2)(a) homeland/ancestral state-interest limb: the President may grant by exception where the applicant considers Georgia his/her homeland and he/she or an ancestor resides in/is displaced from an occupied territory (or emigrated for political opinions / hard socio-economic conditions). UNLIKE the merit limb, the Art 17(2)(a) applicant must have the Art 17(3) Georgian-language and history/basics-of-law knowledge (waived only for qualifying disability under Art 17(4)). Outcome conditional on that knowledge condition and the discretionary presidential decree.
conditional
Art 17(2)(c) sport/science/art state-interest limb: the President may grant by exception where the applicant is successful in sport, science and/or art and is willing to carry on that activity on behalf of Georgia. This limb is not an Art 17(2)(a) homeland case, so no Art 17(3) knowledge test applies, and the grant is dual-permitted (no renunciation, Art 15 carve-out). Outcome conditional because the grant is discretionary ('may grant').
not eligible
Even where some investment exists, the exceptional grant is a pure discretion ('may grant', Art 17(1)) with no entitlement; the investment must contribute SUBSTANTIALLY to the state economy (Art 17(2)(b)) and even then is only a weighable circumstance. Where neither exceptional merit nor a qualifying state interest is found and the President declines, there is no grant; on the strict reading the exceptional-grant refusal is not within the CC 3/3/1601 appealable categories.
not eligible
Honorary citizenship (Art 7, Art 2(g)) is a DISTINCT non-nationality status: it may be granted to an alien of exceptional scientific/public contribution but expressly does NOT give rise to the rights and duties of a Georgian citizen. It is not the Art 17 exceptional grant and confers no nationality; his assumption is incorrect (the genuine nationality route would be the Art 17 exceptional grant, which is discretionary).
Resumen informativo recopilado a partir de fuentes legales primarias: no es asesoramiento jurídico. La ley de ciudadanía cambia; verifica con la autoridad competente antes de actuar. Verificado por última vez el 2026-06-25.
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