Immigration: Knowledge of EU Visa-Free Traveling Requirements Drops Among Georgians, Survey Shows

Did immigration issues drive us to Brexit? What is the word on the streets right now?

Almost three years after Georgians started traveling visa-free to the Schengen member countries, most of them are still unaware of the requirements of visa-free travel, a recent Survey on the Knowledge of and Attitudes Towards the European Union in Georgia shows.

Despite the period of three years and a major EU-funded public information campaign, the survey suggests that the public knowledge of these requirements among Georgians has in fact dropped, in the last years. Parallel to that, the number of Georgian citizens denied from entering the EU countries has increased.

Under the EU-Georgia visa liberalization agreement Georgians need to present their biometric passports, proof of financial means to cover their own expenses, roundtrip ticket, and proof of address of stay in Schengen, in order to be permitted to enter the Schengen area visa-free.

The Caucasus Research Resource Centers explains in a press release that in both the 2017 and 2019 waves of the EU survey, respondents were asked about their knowledge of requirements for documentation, length of stay, and right to work, many of them showing lack of awareness that they need such documents to enter the Schengen Area.

“The data suggest a marked decline in areas of knowledge asked about aside from the requirement for a biometric passport and the duration of stay. Falls were seen in awareness of the need for proof of address during the stay, proof of financial means to cover expenses, and a return ticket. In addition, there was a steep decline in knowledge of whether or not one can work during a stay,” CRRC explains.

The survey shows that there are no significant differences in the awareness of travel requirements between residents of Tbilisi and other urban and rural areas of the country.

However, youngsters, regular internet users, men, those with tertiary or higher education, in average are more likely to be more informed on these requirements. The biggest difference is spotted among ethnic minorities, who compared to ethnic Georgians are less informed on the topic.

Among all questions that were asked during the survey, minorities showed lower levels of awareness, except travel insurance.

“56% of ethnic minority respondents knew about the need for a biometric passport compared to 81% of Georgians – a 35 percentage point difference. Similarly, large differences between Georgian and minority respondents were observed in correct responses relating to the right to work and financial requirements for entry, with minority respondents as a group respectively scoring 17 and 14 percentage points lower than their ethnic Georgian counterparts,” CRRC says.

However, the overall decline in the knowledge of visa-free travel requirements seems to have been caused by ethnic Georgian respondents, as correct responses from ethnic Georgian respondents have fallen in three of the six domains asked about, comparing 2017 to 2019.

Fall in the awareness of the EU rules regarding visa-free entry to third-country nationals under the visa liberalization agreement has caused to many Georgians significant financial costs, as those that do not meet these requirements are turned back at the borders.

The survey suggests that this drop in the level of awareness regarding the issue shows that there’s need for a renewed messaging around the details of the scheme.

 

Source by [author_name]

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2Xtvdig