Georgia and Ukraine to allow ID cards for traveling from September

Starting September 2018, citizens of Ukraine and Georgia will be able to travel to each other’s countries without passports, using biometric identity cards instead.

A corresponding agreement will be signed by delegates from both parties at a UN General Assembly session in New York.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Georgia Igor Dolgov told reporters that Ukraine had already agreed to the proposal and has handed over documents regarding the matter to their Georgian colleagues to sign.

“We received confirmation that the text of the agreement … was agreed upon by the relevant agencies in Ukraine. This text has already been officially sent to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, who must now decide whether or not to sign the agreement, and also authorize an official to do so,” said Dolgov.

• The idea of canceling passports as a requirement for citizens of Georgia traveling to Ukraine and vice versa was announced by Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman in Tbilisi in November 2017.

• In February 2018 it was also made public that the authorities of Georgia and Ukraine are working on the mutual recognition and exchange of driving licenses.

• New identity cards appeared in Georgia in 2011. The ID cards allow an individual to be identified and to sign electronic documents with a digital signature, which has legal force in Georgia.

• Since 2011, citizens of Georgia and Turkey have been able to cross the Georgian-Turkish border by using internal documents.