On 26 October, IOM Georgia launched a 3-day training course “Document Examination and Identity Management Training” for the staff of the Public Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. IOM invited Alex van Duuren – a document expert from the Netherlands who will share his experience with the participants about document verification, identification tools, tactical and technical equipment to authenticate ID documents and various other topics.

Ms. Sanja Celebic Lukovac – IOM Georgia Chief of Mission, Ms. Jurate Juodsnukyte, Programme Officer – EU Delegation to Georgia and Mr. Zurab Sanikidze – Chairman of Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) officially welcomed the training course participants.

This activity follows up on the recent procurement of 77 document inspection devices that were handed over by IOM and will serve as a continuation of PSDA’s capacity-building effort. The training is tailored to the needs of the PSDA officials dealing with the examination of documents submitted by foreigners during residence permit applications and will introduce them to new security features in documents and demonstrate examination techniques.

This activity is part of a multi-annual project funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia called “Sustaining Border Management and Migration Governance in Georgia” (SBMMG).