The Cabinet of Ministers of South Ossetia at the meeting on Wednesday made changes to the rules for crossing the state border with Georgia in a simplified manner.
Valery Alikhanty, the head of the Border Guard Service of the KGB of South Ossetia, has reminded that residents of the Republic’s settlements have been applying to the district departments of the KGB since 2011 to obtain a pass granting the right to cross the state border in a simplified manner.
"In order to simplify the process, the Committee considers it appropriate to assign the functions of accepting applications and issuing passes to the administrations of the Dzau and Leningor districts of South Ossetia," Alikhants said.
He added, in order to issue a pass, according to the government decree, it is necessary to provide a birth certificate, "if it is in Georgian, then a notarized translation into Russian is required."
“This requirement was laid down taking into account the fact that the citizens of South Ossetia had the right to cross the state border in a simplified manner upon presentation of a passport. But since 2018, the general civil passport of a citizen of the Republic of South Ossetia with a stamp and registration in the corresponding settlement of the Dzau or Leningor districts has ceased to be a document granting the right to cross the state border in a simplified manner,” Alikhanty has clarified.
However, he noted, the presentation of a birth certificate when issuing a pass remained necessary for citizens of the Republic.
"Since a passport is an official identity document, the Committee proposes to exclude the requirement for citizens of South Ossetia to issue a pass to present birth certificates," the head of the Border Guard Service said.
Members of the Cabinet unanimously supported these changes.
