In Case You Missed It: All of our previous COVID-19 messages and current status information are posted on the embassy’s website.
Staying in Georgia? For those of you NOT trying to return to the United States right now, please visit our COVID-19 page for details on local conditions and restrictions. We are trying not to spam you with excessive emails every time something changes, but we update this webpage often. Please let us know if there is information we could include to make the website or our emails more useful. We love hearing from you (seriously)!
FLIGHTS: Georgian Airways has made significant changes to their flight schedule for June. We also learned today that these flights are now considered “commercial flights” and no longer “special repatriation flights,” which means decisions about destinations and frequency are being made by the airline based on ticket sales and demand, rather than being managed by the Georgian Government. (For U.S. citizens trying to come to Georgia, this also means the inbound portion of these flights may be available for booking directly online, but please remember the entry ban on foreigners remains in place except for very limited humanitarian exceptions. Contact us for details.) Please consult a travel agent or airline representative to book these flights or find out what connections are available from each of these cities:
Changes since our May 22 Message:
- June 1 Amsterdam flight postponed to June 8.
- All flights to Paris and Berlin previously advertised, now cancelled.
- New flights to Vienna and Tel Aviv added.
Current schedule:
- 08 June / 15 June /27 June: Tbilisi to Amsterdam* (RECOMMENDED – direct connections to USA available; see notes below)
- 18 June / 28 June: Tbilisi to Vienna (U.S. citizens may transit Austria, but no direct connections to US are available)
- 4 June/11 June /25 June: Tbilisi – Tel Aviv (NOTE: U.S. citizens are not permitted to enter or transit Israel until at least June 15)
Regular commercial service on multiple airlines may resume on July 1; first flights TBD.
*Transit through Amsterdam: Please notify us if you plan to transit Amsterdam en route to the U.S.; we can send your information to CBP and TSA in advance which can help smooth your boarding and transit procedures at AMS airport. You will be not be allowed to depart the transit zone of the airport, even to collect/re-check luggage, but alternate arrangements can be made to transfer your luggage to your connecting flight.
If you cannot afford to buy a ticket for flights to U.S. you may apply for a repatriation loan from the U.S. government to purchase the ticket; please contact the embassy for details.
U.S. Citizens who Overstay their 365 days in Georgia: In April, the Government of Georgia announced that foreigners who were legally in Georgia on March 14, 2020, and were not able to leave the country due to the closure of borders as part of the State of Emergency, may remain until June 30, 2020 with no penalty. We have no recent updates on this policy but will let you know if we do.
Enroll in STEP: No message from us would be complete with a plug for our Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP)! Yes, the webform can be a little clunky, but it gets the job done, enabling embassies around the world to reach U.S. citizens who are traveling overseas and share news we have that may help you make informed decisions for your safety and security.
Sincerely,
American Citizen Services
Consular Section
U.S. Embassy Tbilisi
AskConsulTbilisi@state.gov
https://ge.usembassy.gov
(+995 32) 227-7724 / after hours (+995 32) 227-7000