Indians tourists with Georgian e-visa sent back

Mumbai: Indians travelling to Georgia are facing major issues in getting clearance from the local immigration officers at the airport in Tbilisi, the capital of the eastern European country. The Georgian embassy is located only in Delhi, as a result of which Mumbaikars are applying for e-visa.

However, they said that even after receiving all the necessary documents and approvals from the embassy, they are being deported back to India from the Tbilisi airport.

In one of the most recent experiences, Khushbu Kaushal took off from Mumbai on June 29 and reached Tbilsi. Immedia-tely after arrival, Geor-gian immigration authorities asked her to wait. Ms Kaushal, an advertising professional, was eventually sent back to Mumbai after being kept at the for nine hours at the airport.

When she asked for the reason, she said the officers scolded for doing so. “After asking around for the reason for my deportation, I was informed by Indian immigration officers that they have been sending almost 90 per cent of Indian travellers with e-visa back every day,” Ms Kaushal said.

Many others, including Iona D’souza, a digital marketer who was travelling on a tourist e-visa on April 17 and Nipun Prabhakar, a photographer, were also denied entry to Georgia on arrival before being sent back.

Mr Prabhakar, who was travelling as a student on tourist visa, had been invited to an international workshop in Georgia. He he said he was denied entry, humiliated and sent back.

Meanwhile, the embassy of Georgia said, “The embassy received a message of Ms Khushbu Kaushal and this issue has already been transferred by the embassy to the relevant authorities in Georgia for further examination. At present we can confirm that Ms Kaushal travelled to Georgia by e-visa.  It is worth mentioning that the Georgian Embassy in New Delhi does not issue e-visas.

To obtain the e-visa the interested person should visit the website www.e-visa.gov.ge.”

They further said, “We are issuing only sticker visas through Georgian Visa Application centres at VFS Global across India, such as New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. After Ms Kaushal’s message was received, the Ambassador called her personally to find out the circumstances of the occurrence. The Comm-unication with her was also reported back to Georgia.”

The ordeal

• Even after having all necessary documents, Indians are being deported from Tbilisi airport.
• In a recent case, an ad professional was sent back after being kept at airport for 9 hours.
• Instead of being told the reason, she was scolded by the officers.