---
title: "Appealing a Refusal to Grant Georgian Citizenship (Articles 16/29)"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/migration-and-immigration-law-en/appealing-a-refusal-to-grant-georgian-citizenship-articles-16-29-en"
field: "Migration & Immigration Law"
description: "Appealing a refusal to grant Georgian citizenship: appealable after the 7 March 2025 Constitutional Court decision. Lawyer Legal.ge."
updated: "2026-10-15"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Appealing a Refusal to Grant Georgian Citizenship (Articles 16/29)

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/migration-and-immigration-law-en/appealing-a-refusal-to-grant-georgian-citizenship-articles-16-29-en

## A Refusal and Its Appealability — What Changed in 2025

A refusal to grant Georgian citizenship is the most painful answer an application can receive — but it is not the final word. Articles 16, 25 and 29 of the Organic Law of Georgia on Georgian Citizenship govern this field together: Article 16 defines the grounds for refusal, Article 25 determines who takes the decision and in what form, and Article 29 sets out how the adopted decision is appealed.

The decisive role in the question of appealability was played by Decision No. 3/3/1601 of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of 7 March 2025 (published on the website on 11 March 2025): the Court declared invalid the normative content of the first sentence of the first paragraph of Article 29 that excluded the possibility of appealing, in court, a negative decision of the President on refusal to grant citizenship by the ordinary, simplified, restoration or special procedure. Since then, a refusal decision can be appealed in court.

This page explains on which grounds a refusal is issued, in what form the decision is clothed, and how an appeal is built by those who consider the refusal unfounded.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/migration-and-immigration-law-en/appealing-a-refusal-to-grant-georgian-citizenship-articles-16-29-en

### Can a refusal to grant citizenship be appealed?

Yes — after the Constitutional Court’s Decision No. 3/3/1601 of 7 March 2025, the norm that excluded court appeal of a negative decision on granting citizenship has been declared invalid.

### Which act is challenged?

In the negative case the President issues a directive; an agency conclusion that independently produces legal consequences is an administrative-legal act — either can be the subject of an appeal.

### On which grounds are refusals issued?

Article 16: an international crime against peace and humanity; a particularly serious crime against security and order; inexpedience in the interests of security; being wanted or subject to an extradition/expulsion procedure.

### Who is the respondent?

When termination of citizenship is appealed — the President of Georgia; in refusal cases the parties are determined by the procedural legislation.

### Does an appeal suspend expulsion?

From 1 September 2026 — no: the appeal does not hinder examination of the expulsion issue or execution of an expulsion decision.