Assessment of Current Migration Related Data Collection Systems in Georgia

Transcription

1 Assessment of Current Migration Related Data Collection Systems in Georgia Methodological, Institutional and Technical Perspectives on Possibilities for (Improved) International Migration Statistics FINAL Report Eivind Hoffmann, Consultant to IOM Peter Reichstädter, Consultant to ICMPD Reinforcing the capacities of the Government of Georgia in Border and Migration management This project is funded by the European Union

2 Background The project context for this report This report has been prepared as a contribution to the EU-funded project Enhancing Georgia s Capacities for Border Management and Migration : The overall objective of the project is to enhance the capacities of Georgian authorities in the area of integrated border management and migration in line with relevant EU-Georgia Agreements and action plans, in particular the Visa Liberalization Action Plan (VLAP). The specific objectives of the action are the following: 1) To strengthen the legal and institutional capacity for integrated border management (IBM), including improved inter-agency cooperation, and upgraded cooperation with civil society, strengthened border check and border surveillance procedures and operation, in particular along Georgia s green borders; 2) To strengthen the migration governance framework, including improved interministerial coordination among others for coordinating the VLAP implementation, strengthened legal and institutional capacity for labour migration management, measures to reduce irregular migration, return and reintegration and diaspora engagement; 3) To improve analysis of the impact of migration on socio-economic development and define appropriate strategies for addressing root cause of migration; 4) To strengthen the capacity of the government to fight cross-border crime, organized transnational crime, trafficking in human beings in line with the orientations of the VLAP. One of the main challenges facing the management of migration in Georgia is the lack of a common strategy for statistics and analysis of international migration to and from Georgia, making analytical use of the statistical and administrative data that are or will be available. A common strategy must include the exchange and sharing of administrative registrations, as well as comprehensive analysis of migration statistics covering both actual movements across Georgian borders and the institutions and activities regulating international migration, with the aim to monitor and improve the implementation of the migration policies, based on credible and properly analyzed statistics. The EU-funded More for More" program makes possible mobilizing support of the international organizations aimed at capacity-building of Georgian governmental structures in developing the analytical system of migration data, helping in drafting annual reports, 2

3 making regular updates of the country s migration profile and conducting the migration research based on relevant statistics. All the above-said will affect migration management process positively. An important prerequisite for implementing the above-mentioned objectives is improving the internal coordination and further expand the inter-agency cooperation in the field of data exchange as well as ensure an active work of the existing SCMI working group, considering the interests and needs of all relevant bodies involved in the data management process. The analytical system aims at carrying out analysis and research based on processing the migration-related data secured in the databases of various administrative agencies as well as relevant statistical data collected by GeoStat, and using key parameters from the former to improve the migration processes management and implement the country s migration policy. The objective of this report is to support the efforts of the Georgian authorities to establish well-functioning and effective mechanisms for the collection and processing of migrationrelated data This report was produced in cooperation by the two experts provided by IOM and ICMPD: Mr. Eivind Hoffmann (consultant to IOM) contributed to the descriptions and recommendations on data collection processes that may be used as basis for statistics, and Mr. Peter Reichstädter (consultant to ICMPD) on ICT technical issues. In Annex 1) is a summary of the recommendations made in the report, and for the next steps to be performed within the project.. 3

4 Scope of the report The thematic scope of this report is the basis for and the effective production and /use of relevant and reliable migration statistics 1, in Georgia. Administrative data systems used in the control of foreign citizens entry into, activities when present in or departure from Georgia are only described and discussed in-so-far as they may serve as a source for (some parts of) migration statistics. The geographic scope of this report does not take into account the situation of the occupied territories: thus neither when discussing statistics on immigration and immigrants, nor when discussing statistics on emigration and emigrants are the consequences for the statistics of this situation considered. To have done so would have made the discussion significantly more complicated. The analytical/technical scope of this report reflects the information given during the visits to the different organisations as well as the information received from a survey of the existing technical possibilities / systems for registering and storing data generated by the processes involved in the regulation of international migration to Georgia in a broader sense. The main findings and points of discussion cover technical (including operational), semantic, organisational and legal issues. 1 In this report migration statistics is used for all statistics on the number, composition and situation of foreign nationals in Georgia and the number and situation of Georgian nationals abroad (its diaspora), as well as on their movements across Georgia s international borders and on remittances that the foreigners and Georgian nationals may send to their country of origin. Included are also statistics that are used for monitoring the operation of agencies regulating migration, unless otherwise indicated. 4

5 Observations, challenges and recommendations (thematic scope) General observations In all countries the sources for official statistics are administrative registrations and statistical censuses and surveys (statistical sources). In some countries it is possible to base official statistics on records where information on the same unit (person or establishment) is available from both administrative registrations and a statistical source. The advantage of statistical sources is normally that both the population for which one wants statistics and the characteristics that are of interest can be determined by the needs of the most important descriptive and analytical uses; statistical sources also reflect the expectations what the statistics should serve. A disadvantage of statistical censuses is that they are very expensive to conduct, and the result takes long time to be prepared, while a disadvantage of statistical surveys is that even if well designed the precision in the resulting statistics, especially for small groups of units, is too poor to be used by many users: in particular for those whose concern is mainly with differences between groups or over time. The advantage of using administrative registrations as a source for statistics is that they represent a full coverage of those units for which information is being registered. This coverage may be a disadvantage for those who would like to use the statistic from this source to describe a wider population, e.g. all unemployed persons or vacancies, and not only those that have been registered by the Employment Service. In addition, the characteristics which are registered completely and reliably for (almost) all units are only those which are of interest to the administrative organization that is making the registrations: if it does not matter whether a person is male or female, or if the date of birth is irrelevant, then such characteristics may be registered incompletely and with errors, especially with manual registrations. Thus statistics based on administrative registrations may primarily be used to describe and analyze the operations and results of the agency making the registrations to support its operation. Such statistics may be important, however, in particular when one is concerned with the effectiveness and consequences of regulating immigration to a country Statistical censuses and surveys Introductory remarks In Georgia GeoStat is the agency responsible for producing official statistics, including official statistics on immigration. Following some general observations and recommendations on the situation of GeoStat, this report reviews the main sources for such statistics: the combined Labour Force and Household Income and Expenditure Survey (LFS/HIES) 2 and the Population Census (PC). Potentially establishment surveys and censuses may be a source for statistics on the use of foreign 2 The correct English title for this survey would be Integrated Household Survey (IHS), but for convenience the more descriptive conventional international designations are used. 5

6 labour, including commuters across the borders with neighboring countries, but internationally such surveys are seldom used for this purpose. In preparing its annual estimates on the size and composition of the Georgian population GeoStat is using statistics from the registration system of actual border movements. General observations and recommendations Observations While the Statistics Law says that GeoStat has the competence to process the administrative data exclusively for statistical purposes (article 7.1.c.b)) it does not seem that GeoStat is given any legal basis for requesting such data from the respective administrative bodies for the purpose of producing statistics, nor for advising and influencing (changes to) the design of administrative registration systems and how data are stored therein, to ensure that the data can be a source for statistics. Such provisions in other countries national legislation on statistics have proved to be effective in ensuring that administrative registrations can be used as basis for official statistics. They work most effectively when those responsible for developing (changes to) an administrative registration system experience that the cooperation with the national statistical office is helping them. The Personal Data Protection Law has no provisions that permit or regulate the use of data on individuals for official statistics or for research (some aspects are mentioned in Article 7.5 and 15.4). Such provisions in other countries national data protection legislation have proved to be very useful in ensuring that properly anonymized data on individuals can be made available for official statistics and research. The consultant is not aware that Georgian institutions of higher learning or other institutions have created a Data Archive for the controlled access by researchers to properly anonymized micro-data from official surveys, opinion polls, market research etc. In a number of other European countries as well as in the United States and elsewhere, such data archives have proved to greatly facilitate the access of researchers to such data, as well as for the training of students in empirical analysis. Eurostat and OECD are currently cooperating with a large number of national statistical offices to develop guidelines for making micro-data used for official statistics available to researchers. 3 Recommendations The Statistics Law should be supplemented with provisions that allow GeoStat to receive micro-data (copies of individual records) from administrative registrations for the purpose of producing statistics, as well all necessary metadata. The Statistics Law should also have a provision stating that 3 As a deliverable from Georgian Open Goverment Project for Statistical and Reasearch Purposes, from the end of 2014 Open Goverment data collected from the state institutions will be published at State institutions have an obligation to send public data for publishing. At the first phase, the state institutions are free to define what data is public. At the next phases, it is planned to reguest data from the state instiutions according the public needs. The recommended Data Archive may be one mechanism for making such data available safely and effectively. 6

7 GeoStat should be notified at an early stage whenever a new administrative data system is to be developed or an existing one is to be substantially revised. This is to ensure that the design of the new (or revised) system will make possible the generation of relevant and reliable statistics. The Personal Data Protection Law should be supplemented with provisions that allow GeoStat to use micro-data on individuals to produce official statistics, and that regulate the access to such data for research. In cooperation with one or more institutions of higher learning GeoStat should investigate the experiences with Data Archives in other European countries 4 and make recommendations on whether and how a Georgian Data Archive could be established. LFS/HIES Observations As described this survey seems well designed and those responsible seem to have a good understanding of its methodology and the relevant international (and European) standards and recommendations. The survey includes questions on the migration experience of persons who were absent in the first interview round for the selected households. 5 Questions are also asked about remittances received and sent. In this respect the Georgian survey is much more ambitious than most other corresponding European surveys. Interviewers are able to speak Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian (important language groups in Georgia) in the regions where these languages are frequently used. The sampling plan is designed to cover non-institutional collective households often used by foreign workers, e.g. camp sites and dwellings for unrelated individuals sharing certain facilities such as kitchen, bathroom, living room and perhaps bedrooms with several beds. For the selection of persons to interview addresses of private dwellings are selected from a sampling frame based on the 2002 PC with some updates. A new sampling frame and sampling plan will be designed on the basis of the results from the 2014 PC. The response rate for the LFS/HIES is about 80 percent, which is fairly high considering the age of the sampling frame. The current sampling plan, with four independent quarterly samples and rounds of interviews, has been designed to provide good annual estimates of the total number of persons in the different categories of interest. Results from the LFS/HIES are published on the web-site of GeoStat as (anonymized) micro-data, presented in a format (SPSS) which facilitates further tabulation and analysis. This is a much more 4 See for a list of European data archives and a presentation of their activities. 5 In the questionnaire Shinda02 questions 8 (Returned from abroad) and 9 (Returned from another location of Georgia) as well as the question 14 (changes in household composition during the last three months compared to the 1 st interview) are used only for those members of the household who were temporarily (from 3 months to a year) absent at the moment of the first interview. 7

8 advanced service to researchers and other users of the results from the LFS/HIES than is available in most other countries. Challenges One challenge facing all survey operations aiming to obtain information from foreign citizens is that for most of them their knowledge of written and spoken Georgian is limited. Another challenge to all sample survey observations is to calibrate its findings in a manner which can adjust for bias due to weaknesses in the sampling frame, in the sampling procedures and/or arising from the higher non-response rates of some population groups (e.g. foreign citizens, young persons). Recommendations Survey instruments (questionnaires, instructions etc) should be formulated in the first language of all important language groups present in Georgia. This will facilitate the work of the interviewers using these languages, and making their translations of the Georgian questions uniform. GeoStat should contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) to discuss whether and how it can get access to data from the border registrations to use for the calibration of the results from the LFS/HIES from the questions concerning immigration as well as migration experience and absent household members. The use of identifiable micro-data would be preferable, if at all legally and technically possible, but detailed statistical tabulations will also be useful for such calibrations Population Census Observations From an English translation of the questionnaire that has been designed and tested for the 2014 PC as well as from the consultant s conversation with one of the persons involved with the census preparations, these preparations seem to have been very thorough. Thus the substance of the recommendations below may have already been considered and acted upon. The census questionnaire has questions designed to identify both internal migrants and migrants from and to other countries. As presented in the English translation of the questionnaire the questions seem well designed. The first, aggregate results from the 2014 PC are expected to be published in 2015, while more detailed results will be available in Challenges It is important that both local and central authorities, as well as other users of census results, quickly can get useful statistics from the census. Both for the statistics on international migrants and for other statistics from the 2014 PC, e.g. persons employed, it is important that the responses to questions which require write-in replies are processed (coded) precisely and rapidly. 8

9 Because respondents memories about migration experience and about household members who are absent and abroad may be faulty, it is important to calibrate census results from these questions with data from other sources. The possible descriptive statistics and analysis that can be produced from a PC are virtually unlimited, as are the types of analysis that can be carried out on the basis of the PC results. Recommendations The procedures to be used for the coding of write-in responses need to be tested for speed and reliability well in advance of the actual census coding operations. If computer assisted coding tools are not available then the number of codes to be used for industry and occupation may need to be limited, but they should not be restricted to the most aggregate groups in the relevant classification systems when the coding procedure is manual, as it may be easier to code correctly to a more detailed group than to an aggregate group 6. GeoStat may already have started consultations with local and central authorities and other users to determine which statistics should have priority for publication in 2015 and which should be prepared for Such discussion should also include the form in which the statistical results most effectively may be made available. GeoStat should contact MIA to discuss whether and how it can get access to data from the border registrations to use for the calibration of the results from the 2014 PC to the questions concerning immigration as well as migration experience and absent household members. The use of identifiable micro-data would be preferable, if at all legally and technically possible, but detailed statistical tabulations will also be useful for such calibrations. If it is not an option to make micro-data from the PC available for researchers and others through a Data archive, then GeoStat should consider making them available in a way similar to that used for micro-data from the LFS/HIES (see above). Establishment surveys Observations: Very few countries make use of establishment surveys as a source for statistics on the employment of foreign workers, but some countries can make use of registrations about the ownership and managers in a central register of establishments to produce statistics on production etc as well as on total employment according to the nationality of the owners and/or managers. If such statistics are not already prepared in Georgia it should be possible to do so through the cooperation already established between GeoStat and the National Agency of Public Registry (NAPR). The need for such statistics was stressed by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. 6 Guidance on the coding of economic characteristics in a PC, valid also for a LFS, can be found in UN & ILO (2010). 9

10 The Ministry stressed the need for statistics on the establishment of new businesses in Georgia by foreigners, as well as the consequent employment (including for the employment of foreign employees in the companies founded by foreigners, according to the types of economic activity/specialization). To obtain these statistics without placing an inordinate burden on the responding establishments, it is necessary that they keep electronic personnel records where the nationality has been registered. If they do, then it should be fairly easy for them to provide data for such statistics, either as anonymized micro-records 7 or as summary numbers. Recommendations If GeoStat (like most other national statistical offices) has not yet started to exploit the possibilities that electronic staff records open for obtaining the basis for good statistics on employees characteristics, such as wages paid by type of employee and their nationality, discussions should be initiated with representatives of business organisations to establish the extent to which, and for what type of businesses, electronic staff records are usually maintained. 7 The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has conducted establishment surveys of this type for many years. 10

11 Statistics from administrative registrations Observations, challenges and recommendations It is important to distinguish between information about applications and decisions on the one side and information about actual movements on the other. Observations about applications and decisions Applications for visa and residence permits Until 1 September 2014 the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA), in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), was responsible for receiving and deciding most of the applications for visa and a residence permit. After that date PSDA will continue to be responsible for granting residence permits for studies as well as for family establishment and reunification, and for other grounds of residence defined by the law on legal status of foreigner and stateless persons. Still being discussed in late August were some elements in the new Law on Labour Migration, including where applications for work permits are to be processed. The outcome of these discussions is not likely to make it necessary to change the recommendations in this report, even if the precise conditions for granting work permits as well as the responsibilities and procedures for their handling may differ from those currently in place. 8 PSDA is responsible for making recommendations on applications for Georgian citizenship. Those recommendations will be forwarded to the President s Office for final decision. The responsibility for making recommendations on expulsion will be on the same date transferred from PSDA to MIA and court. Until 1-st September the expulsion decisions was made by MoJ. From 1 September 2014 the officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) working at Georgian consular offices abroad will represent the first line receivers of the applications for a short term visit (i.e. a C or T visa) or for a longer term residence (i.e. an A, B or D visa), of which the C and D visas are the ones likely to be most important numerically, 9 A visa application is to be completed on-line and then forwarded electronically to the Georgian consular office nearest to the applicant s residence, accompanied by documentation that the applicant has been granted a residence permit in the case a longer term residence for work, study or for family establishment or reunification 10. Starting 1 September 2014 all visa applications are to be decided at this consular office, but the Consular officer may request from Tbilisi relevant information and the verification of information provided by the applicant. Such requests are to be channeled through MFA, who will forward them to the competent authority, as well as serve as the channel for 8 While the process of considering applications for a residence permit does not involve FID (Foreign Intelligence Department, under theo President s Administration). However, other decisions tob e made by PSDA can be sent to FID for advice or final decision. 9 The citizens of a number of countries do not (and will not after 1 September 2014) need a visa for short visits to Georgia, i.e. visits that last up to 90 days over a 180 day period, calculated from the first day of entry. 10 See the scheme of administrative records which possibly might be registered on a foreigner in different Georgian databases, presented in annex 2. 11

12 the information back to the requesting consular office. It is not clear to the consultant whether and how information about residence permits and answers to requests for information or confirmations will be stored in MFA s case handling system. Having been granted a visa the successful applicant has to come to the nearest Georgian consular office for verification of his/her identity, paying the visa fee, and being issued the visa. The application and all supporting documents has to be presented to the Consular Office after Online registration/el-registration of the visa application as well as all documents, including payment receipt, has been uploaded. The workload on the officers of MFA when handling applications for visa will depend not only the volume of applications and the complexity of the cases, but also on the effectiveness of the system that receives and communicates applications to the Consular offices, the speed with which requests for information and clarifications from Tbilisi are answered, how applicants can be informed about of any faulty or missing information, how a decision and its reasons are registered, and the outcome of this process is communicated to the applicant together with information appeal possibilities for applicants whose application has been rejected. An appeal has to be initiated by the (rejected) applicant directly to the responsible court. It is unclear to the consultant whether the court can request all available documentation from MFA or PSDA. The outcome of an appeal is communicated to the applicant who, in case of a positive outcome for him/her has to re-apply for the residence permit. In the case of an expulsion order having been confirmed by the appeals court, and the person is still on Georgian territory, the decision is also communicated by the court to the MIA: to ensure the execution of the person s obligation to leave Georgia the MIA will act in accordance with the stipulation in the law On the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons concerning the expulsion of foreigners staying unlawfully at the territory of Georgia. The effectiveness of a system will be a function not only of the speed in which it operates, which depends on the capacity of all elements in the network being used, but also on the user-friendliness of the screens that applicants and case officers face. All the above factors will influence both the number of visa or resident permit cases an officer can decide in the course of a working day and the completeness and correctness of the data that s/he enters into the system: a large number of compulsory entries and controls may slow down the work and officers may try to find short-cuts. The effectiveness of a system, as well as how it stores information about the application (including about references/sponsors), the applicant/individual and the decisions, including the dates for all transactions in the process, and these factors will also determine how easy it will be to use these registrations as basis for statistics. The types of statistics that can be produced depend on the data on applicants, their references/sponsors, applications and decision that are being entered into the system. According to the information that the consultant has been given a system has been developed and tested for MFA s handling of visa applications. The MIA and PSDA have also made the necessary 12

13 changes to their registration systems in order to adapt with the requirements of the new law on foreigners and stateless persons. Applications for protection Most of those seeking asylum in Georgia (99 percent) are presenting themselves at a border post with a valid and credible travel document. The person is then given a form to complete, explaining why there is a need for protection, and told to present him-/herself to the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Refugees and Accommodation (MRA). (In 2014 one expects there to be about 1000 such applications.) In MRA the information from the ID-document and the registration forms, as well as information concerning all subsequent activities (accommodation provided, reported moves, type of decision, any appeal (and the outcome(?)) are to be registered in a new system for handling asylum applications that is being developed. This system will have more functions and be more robust and ready to accommodate changes to the relevant rules and regulations than the system currently in use. The plan is that the new system should operational by the end of The staff doing the development work is financed by donors who have pledged finance for all of The effectiveness of the officials handling asylum applications will depend on the system that they use for receiving, entering and storing information in the same manner that officials considering visa and resident permit applications are dependent on their systems, as are the possibilities for producing relevant and reliable statistics from the system. The Social Services are responsible for taking care of the (few) unaccompanied minors (UNAM) who are seeking protection in Georgia. As they have acceptable ID-documents the main challenge is to establish whether a parent or someone who can be given the role of a parent, in addition to considering the need for protection, which is done in MRA. Registrations about actual movements across Georgia s borders That a high proportion of asylum seekers can and do present valid ID-documents is probably because they regard Georgia as a country of transit, rather than a country of extended residence. This is confirmed by the fact that in a large proportion of the cases that have been decided the person cannot be reached. It is thought that the largest numbers of those who leave are leaving through the border with Turkey. Since 2009 Georgia has had in place a very sophisticated and advanced system for registering a face photograph, all passport/id-document data and all visa data (if relevant) of those who cross the Georgian border legally. They also have the ICT technology needed to make the data collection at all border posts, and they will also have access to all information available from other border posts and in mobile border units. All border crossings are registered, including those of well-known daily commuters. The system s verification process takes a few seconds, and even during the busiest periods the maximum waiting periods is said to be about 15 minutes on the busiest border crossings. The system also stores information on the same individuals when such information is received from other agencies. Data on asylum seekers registered by MRA was said to arrive automatically. 13

14 Two persons in MIA s statistics unit are responsible for using border crossing data to produce statistics. MIA s statistics unit has a total staff of about 20. The consultant did not request information about what MIA knows about any illegal crossings of the Georgian borders outside the regular border post, and whether the number of such crossings is large enough that they and those who do so represent a serious problem. IOM Georgia is responsible for facilitating voluntary assisted returns (VAR) to and from Georgia, of Georgian and foreign citizens respectively. Only rudimentary statistics on this activity is available from the current registration systems, and the MIA border registrations cannot distinguish VAR travelers among those crossing the border. Challenges to the administrative registration systems From an operational point of view the main challenge is to ensure that the officials making decisions on applications for residence permits, visa or protection, as well as recommendations on applications for citizenship or on expulsion cases, or when decisions are being appealed, have effective access to relevant, reliable and up-to-date information about the individuals, the references/sponsors and any previous decisions involving the applicant or the sponsor, as well as any movements that the person has made across the Georgian border, and any currently relevant pending cases involving him/her. It must also be easy for the case officers to enter any new information about the individuals, the application and the decisions into the system in a manner that clearly documents why and when the entry was made, and whether the entry was new information (e.g. about a decision or about changed circumstances) or a correction of information that was found to be faulty (e.g. through the incorrect transcription of a name or a date). Reliable statistics from the data registered in an administrative registration system depend on how effective the system is as a support tool for the work to be done by the officials using the system, as this determines the priorities when developing and improving the systems, as well as the completeness and correctness of the data registered. Relevant statistics also depend on how the data for different administrative actions concerning the same person are stored: together or in separate systems. It is also important that all events (applications, decisions etc) as well as all relevant transactions concerning the individual and his/her cases are clearly dated. In Georgia different systems store information about different types of applications and decisions (residence permit, visa, protection, citizenship, expulsion). It is therefore important to have clearly defined procedures and protocols for sharing information that is relevant for the different decisions. Those preparing the algorithms used to extract information from the registrations to generate statistics must know the details of the case handling and registration processes, including the processes and protocols for sharing information, including personal data and other sensitive information related, for example, to asylum seekers cases, and for storing information originating in other systems. Recommendations Together with the Personal Data Protection Inspector (DPI) those officers in MFA, MIA, MRA and PSDA and the courts of appeal currently responsible for developing, maintaining and using the 14

15 registration systems that these agencies are to be using for case handling following 1 September 2014, should carefully analyze which tasks are best served by their systems using an agreed set of procedures and protocols for electronic communication about individuals between the systems, regularly or upon request, if these are not already in place. 11 It will be an obvious advantage if all foreigners could be given a Unique Personal Identification Number (UPIN) the first time s/he contacts Georgian authorities either by applying for work or residence permit and a visa, for protection, by entering Georgian territory legally, by being apprehended for irregular arrival/stay. The UPIN should then be used for all subsequent contacts with Georgian authorities.until s/he is granted a Residence Identification ID. 12 In the absence of a formal UPIN representative of the relevant authorities, including the Data Exchange Agency (DEA), should establish a virtual UPIN to which the ID information used in their systems can be converted. 13 The scheme in Annex 2 illustrates how data about one and the same foreigner may possibly be needed for one or another procedure implemented by different agencies. To make effective use of the registered data for statistics that can be used to monitor the operations of the agencies responsible for regulating migration as well as for analyzing the effects of these regulations, it is necessary to have one or more statistical units with officers who are trained in applied statistics and who as well have a good knowledge of how the case handling processes and systems functions in practice, preferably through having had case handling experience. The Unified Migration Analytical System Working Group (MDMWG) should discuss whether and how to create such (a) unit(s). The UMASWG should have members from all the agencies responsible for implementing the provisions in the Law of Aliens, including the courts handling appeals, as well as from GeoStat and DPI. Among its members should be IT specialists, case officers with experience in using the systems, statistics producers and statistics users. Sub-groups may be formed to discuss and work on particular issues of joint interest. 14 In cooperation with IOM Headquarters IOM Georgia should establish a system for managing its AVR work that will allow it to prepare regular statistical reports on the number of VAR individuals distributed by basis for the return, country from (for Georgian nationals) or to (for foreign nationals) which they return, as well as key demographic variables and the time needed for executing the VAR. 11 Through its recently concluded EFFEKT program the Norwegian immigration authorities have modernized their joint immigration data base (UDB) and registration systems (DUF, NORVIS), as well as established mechanisms for the effective exchange of information from UDB with other agencies (Central Population Register, National Labour and Social Services Administration (NAV), State Student Loan Authority (Lånekassen)). 12 If a Residence identification ID is requested a Unique Personal Number (UPN) is generated for the resident. If not requested, the UPN is not generated. 13 As PSDA is responsible for providing the UPN it should probably also be responsible for coordinating the generation of UPINs and for linking a UPIN to any UPN issued to the same person. 14 To ensure that the operational planning and the budget proposals of different, interdependent agencies are coordinated and based on the same or consistent expectations about the future, the Norwegian immigration. authorities have joint processes for projections of workloads and production over the next months: with separate working groups for refugees, visa/residence permits and return. 15

16 A report in the English language weekly Georgia Today (p. 15 in the August 22, 2014 edition) claimed that there has been widespread confusion about the validity of existing residence permits in general and work permits for freelancers in particular, leading to the discrimination of certain groups of foreign nationals, and of those from Muslim dominated countries in particular. PSDA should analyze these claims, making use of the registrations that were made of the renewals of resident and work permits. The primary objective of this exercise would be to test to what extent the registrations can be used for this type of analysis, but it would also demonstrate that the Georgian authorities take serious such reports when it is claimed that they represent more than isolated episodes. 16

17 Statistics on emigration from Georgia and the Georgian diaspora Observations Given the GeoStat and MIA sources described above Georgia is in a much better position than most other countries to obtain a reasonably good statistical picture both of emigration from Georgia (by foreigners and Georgian citizens) and of Georgian citizens abroad from its own sources. In addition other countries statistics on the immigration of Georgian citizens as well as on the number and situation of Georgian citizens and persons of Georgian origin living there will potentially be an important source: some of these statistics are available from international organisations such as United Nations (i.e. UN Statistics Division, UN Population Division and UN/ECE), OECD, Eurostat and others, and other statistics of interest are usually available directly from the national statistical offices of the countries with the largest Georgian diaspora. 15 Recommendations GeoStat and MIA should together explore the possibilities for extending the already established cooperation for estimating emigration on the basis of border registration, cf. also the above recommendations for calibrating results from LFS/HIES and 2014 PC with the border crossing registrations. GeoStat should use its contacts with other national statistical institutions through UN/ECE Conference of European Statisticians (CES) 16 and Eurostat, to establish agreements on statistics how to exchange relevant statistics on the immigration of Georgian citizens to the most important receiving countries and on their activities and situation in these countries. MFA and the Ministry for Diaspora Issues (MDI) should explore how Georgian consular offices best can encourage members of the Georgian diaspora to register with the office, and establish procedures for de-registration of those who no longer should be registered, e.g. because they have moved to another country or died. Following a notification of the death of a Georgian citizen, the Consular registration is cancelled. When notified that a citizen has moved to another country the consular office responsible for the country of arrival should register his/her arrival and the registration in his/her previous country of residence should be cancelled. The key issue is then whether such moves are reported, and this depends on the incentives that the Georgian citizen has for registering with the Consular service when moving to a country. Statistics on remittances Observations Both the LFS/HIES and the 2014 PC can provide estimates on the number of households that receive remittances from abroad, by characteristics of these households, including the level of income from other sources. Such estimates must necessarily be different from the estimates of remittances 15 Table 2 in ICMPD (2014) illustrates how difficult it is to get reliable numbers on the diaspora. 16 Australia, Canada and the United States all participate regularly in the work of UNE/ECE/CES. 17

18 prepared by the National Bank of Georgia on the basis of the reports from the Georgian financial enterprises: not all remittances to households are made through such channels, and it is not easy to determine whether a money transfer from abroad is as payment for goods or services received or is gift, even if it can be determined that the transfer is to a private household. When exchanging foreign currency to GEL one is not asked to show an ID document, and frequently no receipt is given that can show the amount of the transaction, thus reports of these transactions are not well suited for estimating the amount of foreign currency that is being exchanged into GEL by Georgian households. Recommendations If this is not already being done GeoStat officers and officers from the National Bank of Georgia should together analyze the reasons for the difference between their respective estimates of remittances and the possible direction and size of the impact that these sources may have on the differences. Those exchanging foreign currency into GEL should be required to show an ID-document, not for the recording of the ID but to enable the seller of GEL or foreign currency to determine and record whether the purchaser of GEL/currency was a Georgian citizen or not. Depending on whether households tend to use other types of foreign exchange establishments such records may provide a better basis for estimating the amount of remittances to households than through the current report systems. On the cooperation between agencies and their officials There already is a Unified Migration Analytical System Working Group (UMASWG) in place in Georgia. The mandate of UMASWG is to define and recommend to the state commission on migration issues a technical architecture and content of the system. It seems clear that it existence can be, and probably is, a good platform for ensuring that there is some coordination and cooperation between those who are responsible for developing the case handling systems in the various agencies. Contacts need to be maintained at all levels in the organisations: formal contacts between the top managers should be supplemented with informal, direct contacts between officers responsible for system developments and maintenance, as well as for statistics. Officers responsible for producing statistics from the systems should also be involved in such contacts. On the establishment of capacities for analyzing migration statistics and systems for supporting such analysis Observations It is evident that there is a need to strengthen the capacity for analyzing the statistics that it will be possible to have available once the results from the 2014 PC becomes available and sufficient data from the systems developed to implementing the new legislation are available to make it possible to 18

19 analyze both patterns and developments in the regulation of immigration to Georgia, Most important for the immigration authorities and the Ministers are the possibilities for monitoring the workload and performance of those implementing the immigration regulations, through statistics on the number of applications and decision by origin and type of application/decision, back-logs, processing time for decisions, and the age of back-logs 17. Through such statistics as well as from statistics on the type of sponsors/references, the number of applications with the same sponsors/references or the same applicants it may be possible to reveal patterns that can lead to investigations of abuse of the system. It will be equally important to analyze and evaluate the consequences of the new legislation for the actual immigration to and from Georgia, including its impact on the number and origin of asylum seekers and whether they remain in Georgia. This analysis should also include an analysis of any consequences for foreigners who were present in Georgia on 31 August It will be important to analyze the impact of a Labour Migration Law on the demand and supply of labour in Georgia, as well as the impact on wages and other working conditions in the most affected industries and occupations. The willingness of employers to organize in house training for skilled workers and the preparedness of foreign investors to engage Georgian workers are also important issues that may need to be analyzed in light of the new legislation and other developments. It has been proposed to create in Georgia what the authors call an Unified Migration Analytical System, which should carry out analysis and research based on the processing the migrationrelated data secured in the data bases of various administrative agencies and collating the latter with other key parameters with the view to improving the migration process management and conducting the country s migration policy on the predictable characteristics, see PSDA (2014, p.1). If the author(s) had presented proposals for a system to support the coordinated implementation and operation of the new immigration legislation several of the proposals might have made sense, and some are similar to recommendations made in this report if you see them as recommendations for a coordinated operational information system instead of a system for analysis. What the author(s) seem(s) to have missed is that analysis cannot be made automatic and left to IT systems: humans are needed to define issues, evaluate data relevance and quality, design appropriate algorithms for processing the original data into statistics or other forms of results, and then for interpreting these results. In addition: the consultant has yet to see any predictable characteristics for the analysis of international migrants, unless the intended meaning is useful characteristics. Earlier reports, see e.g. Beltrame (2011) and Odyssey et al (2010) also seem to have advocated the creation of a centralized data management system for migration data and a Migration data Management Centre that could combine in one database or centre all the data generated by the different Ministries (the role of data from GeoStat being unspecified). The consultant is of the opinion that it probably is fortunate that the preparations for the implementation of the new Law on 17 In the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) a wide range of such statistics are being produced as information to the Ministry, UDI s management and the public. Only a limited number of statistical tables, concerning asylum applications and decision, are presented in English on UDI s web-page: It may be possible, however, to receive examples of other types of statistics as presented to the Ministry and the UDI management by writing to statistikk@udi.no. 19

20 Aliens has not aimed for one integrated operational registration system, because of the likely complications that would have arisen 18, but he will not be surprised if the need for effective exchange of information between different agencies will lead to developments where the different systems become more integrated. Time will show how easy it is for the systems to exchange data and to serve as basis for statistics and analysis of the regulation of migration to Georgia. Recommendations As already indicated the relevant Ministries and Offices should establish a minimum capacity to define and analyze the statistics that in the future will be available from the administrative registrations, alone or as a joint undertaking. The unit(s) given such tasks should have a minimum staff of 5 to ensure that it/they is/are robust enough to function with staff turn-over, or absences because of sick-leaves or parental leaves. The Georgian government should establish a Forum for Research on International Migration and its Consequences. In addition to GeoStat and the relevant Ministries/Offices both national and foreign researchers should be invited to participate in this Forum. (Foreign researchers should be invited to participate on the basis of their own financing.) One of the first tasks of members of the Forum would be to propose how the micro-data and statistics on international migrants to and from Georgia, as well as micro-data from the regulation of international migration best can be made available for research, within the limits set by the Data Protection Law, hopefully supplemented with provisions for statistics and research. The Forum members may also want to establish a framework for the joint use of statistics on international migration and its regulation that have originated from different sources and processes. 19 Both the members of the Forum and the agencies involved in the direct regulation and study of international migration to and from Georgia and its consequences will benefit from having easy access to a catalogue of who does what with respect to the collection of data relevant for the regulation and description of migration to and from Georgia and its consequences, relevant statistics and reports and who to contact for further information. 18 The Norwegian DUF system is an example. Made operational in 2003 it aimed to be, and has been, an integrated system for the handling a range of different applications for entering, residing and working in Norway, including the handling of asylum applications, applications for citizenship and expulsion. However, the cost overruns were significant, as were development delays, and when made operational the system had important weaknesses, not least as a basis for the report generation that serve as basis for statistics. 19 An example of a possible framework of this type is presented in Hoffmann (2010). 20

21 Architectural perspectives on the administrative/operational systems (analytical/technical scope) Status quo analysis The overall big picture of the organisations involved in Migration Data Management contains organisations with OnLine Databases as well as organisations with data in relation to Migration Data Management in OffLine sources (.xls, or other partly unstructured text items). The elaboration and research on the existing systems also provided a clear understanding for the OnLine DBMS of the various process models of the data life cycle regarding the requirements of origin system design as well as the involvement for providing data, adding data as well as receiving data (IN/OUT categorisation) from a combination of the data sources mentioned (a precondition applied: the completeness and correctness of the data registered). The paper Unified Migration Analytical System provided by PSDA offers a good understanding of the future system design and the potential challenges: carry out analysis and research based on the processing the migration-related data secured in the data bases of various administrative agencies and collating the latter with other key parameters with the view to improving the migration process management and conducting the country s migration policy on the predictable characteristics. But one always needs to consider and take into account, how the data in the subsystems has been generated, processed and stored and what analytical needs the statistics and reports were designed to (help) answer; but most important: the quality of the operational data in the various systems and whether the combination of data from different systems can result in improved analysis by qualified personell/researchers. Currently, the key source-information required for the analytical system is accumulated in 6 agencies: The Public Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice; The National Agency of Public Registry of the Ministry of Justice; The Ministry of Internal Affairs; The Ministry of Foreign Affairs; The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees; The Revenue Service of the Ministry of Finance. The following scenario should help to provide a better understanding of the potential and challenges within the system to be achieved. It is also taking into account, that a combination of OnLine and OffLine Data Sources is applied and therefore a scenario to collect information required for the analytical system within one space (that assumes that the data has been structured according to a common (semantical) model for the relationship between the different data providers), on the basis of which statistical calculations will be performed looks more feasible. Nevertheless it is also taking into account that the system can be source for providing reports and information without missing sources due to unavailability (even if a high Service Level Agreement (SLA) is applied we know that this can happen): 21

22 Different Data Sources have been designed according to their requirement analysis as well as the relevant legal acts and regulations regarding the data processing and administration issues. From a technical point of view (but the details need to be analysed and provided in the following up phase) and based on the responses received to the survey (see attachment), the technical layer seems interoperable with some adoptions and probably some extensions to be included (messaging, transport, security, ). The challenge within those systems may be that the concept, model for and representation of a person differ between systems. Therefor a semantic definition of the person, including the understanding of natural and non-natural persons, needs to be introduced when building up a collected picture of data related to migration data management. It is also very important to mention that the identifiers are mostly artificial (sequence) which is good on the one hand side but there is NO common identifier for a person across the system which may act as a starting point for merging the datasets but also in a later stage reduce the need to collect the same personal data for different systems (because already established as a unique /secondary key in many systems a potential approach could be: Georgian citizens Personal Definition comprises the following items (in Georgian): 1) Personal Number (11 digits - Personal Number is a unique number and is common for all Georgian Databases at least for state-operated databases); 2) Name, 3) LastName 4). DateOfBirth. 5)Sex 6) Place of Birth; if a person is not a Georgian citizen: a) receives Residence Permit and after that is granted b) Residence ID, then Personal Number (11 Digit compare with 22

23 above) will be generated and will be used in all state operated databases; this information should be taken into account and be combined with the UPIN recommendation from above). The format / character set used of the datasets stored are mostly Unicode and form a good basis for later combinations of data. Also OnLine connectivity (webservices, messaging transactions, ) is available and could foster the model chosen. For those data sources NOT available online a semantic definition of the person and requirements related to migration data management must be provided to reflect the need for inclusion but also make different technical developments possible. (It should also be noted that databases operated by the individual ministries differ and this may cause problems of compatibility, which should be considered when ensuring a proper data exchange and setting up a common data source ( single analytical space ). Therefore, it is planned to conduct a detailed technical assessment of the relevant software applicable in the agencies producing the basic migration data). There is also a messaging point indicated in this scenario (Gateway) which could provide a common messaging infrastructure as well as a (standardized) messaging format (G3 gateway provided by DEA). The advantage would be that from an overall Georgian perspective this interoperability gateway could help to create well/better connected data sources and provide existing transaction and information security containing messaging gateway functionality and a standard messaging format. It also needs to be mentioned, that this layer may add a different level of complexity to the system (needs to be analysed in detail) but could help to avoid to (re-)design and (re-)implement a similar solution for the data exchange again, which may be add complexity to the Georgian interoperability scenarios. It also needs to be evaluated if the gateway is applicable to bulk transactions or only limited to single requests & messages which could result in performance potentials. (There is a need to elaborate an agreed form/protocol (bilateral) for inter-agency data exchange and a form/protocol (multilateral) for inter-agency data exchange through the central body 20.) The storage of the datasets combined and coming out of the different OnLine/OffLine data sources faces the challenge of possibility to combine after reducing the personal information. A potential approach to that may be the a) introduction of a common/derived identifier within the different data sources (e.g. based on name, surname, birthdate, citizenship inclusion of history data needs to be considered) and the derivation (encryption, ) of this identifier which makes it possible for delivering institutions to connect to the data records their updates (inserts) performed as well fulfill the (personal) data protection needs on the target side. As a general recommendation the big picture of a core Person (natural as well as non-natural) including also foreign instances should be considered and included. Out of the requirement analysis of the dimensions and details needed in the analytic data (statistics, reports, ) and integrating capacities to derive those analytical outputs an (attached) OLAP/BI instance of the operational data is envisaged. This would on one hand side separate 2020 IIS Security Obligations for governmental agencies should be considered (MGS 27001:20111, ) it should be Government agencies responsibilities to apply security rules before publishing information (in general it should be considered during information publishing Projects inside Government Agencies). 23

24 transactional/operational data from making strategic reports and their dependencies and on the other hand side encourages the delivery of high quality data sets. Summary & recommendations in detail From a technical point of view within/with the organisations visited/contacted with the survey a (OnLine) data interchange looks possible regarding the technical solutions in use or being put in place soon. There is not really a (technical) barrier to start a data exchange, although an interface for the semantic model of the data exchange needs to be derived after a detail analysis of the existing data sources (therefor architectural approach, DBMS models, Data exchange model must be elaborated in detail); This will also trigger a discussion of legal issues to be raised & discussed according to the proposed architectural model and may result in some organisational challenges. 24

25 Concluding remarks and thanks By visiting Tbilisi for 7 working days and a weekend to get briefings from Georgian authorities as well as from IOM and ICMPD officials, studying previous reports and relevance legislations, the consultants did hopefully get a good enough understanding of the processes that are and will be influencing migration statistics in Georgia, including statistics on the operation of the regulatory agencies, to be in a position to render some useful advice. The resulting observations, challenges and recommendations are presented above, and the recommendations are summarized with comments in Annex 1. We would like to use this opportunity to thank all those Georgian officials who made it possible for us to (hopefully) understand the Georgian situation well enough to make some useful recommendations. Special thanks are due to Ms. Natia Kvitisiani, the IOM Georgia officer mainly responsible for organising Eivind Hoffmann s program and assisting him at most of the meetings with Georgian officials 21, as well as Ms. Natia Mechitishvili and Mr. Zurab Korganishvili, the ICMPD officers for their support. 21 A list of Georgian institutions visited and the key officials that were met is given in Annex 4. 25

26 Annex 1: Recommendations Recommendations Statistical censuses and surveys 1 The Statistics Law should clearly state that GeoStat should be informed about all new administrative registrations to be developed and about all changes to existing registrations that are being planned. 2 The Statistics Law should give GeoStat the right to use administrative registrations as basis for official statistics 3 The Data Protection Law should include provisions which allow the use of administrative registrations about individuals to be used as basis for official statistics and research. 4 GeoStat and institutions of higher learning in Georgia should investigate the experiences with data archives in other European countries and make recommendations on whether and how a Georgian Data Archive could be established 5 Survey instruments used for the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (questionnaires, instructions etc.) should be formulated in the first language of all important language groups present in Georgia. 6 GeoStat and the Ministry of Interior (MIA) should discuss how GeoStat may use the border crossing registrations to calibrate the results on international migration from the HIS and the 2014 Population Census (PC) 7 If a data archive solution is not available, then results from the 2014 PC should be made available for researchers and others in the same manner as is done with HIS results. 8 GeoStat should initiate discussions with representatives of employers to establish to the extent to which Comments Corresponding provisions in other countries laws on official statistics have proved to be important tools in developing the basis for official statistics, in particular when the dialogue with the national statistical office can improve the quality of the registrations See the above comment Corresponding provisions in other countries data protection laws have proved to be important tools in developing official statistics and research. There are no known examples of the misuse of individual registrations when used for official statistics or research. Where established and adequately funded these archives have proved to be effective instruments in making data collected for private (e.g. opinion polls, market research) and official statistics available to a much wider range of analysts and to serve as material for training in empirical research. To have questionnaires in the main relevant languages ensures uniform translations from the original Georgian wording of questions and response alternatives,reducing misunderstandings and non-response. The border crossing registrations should give Georgia a unique opportunity to calibrate and adjust the results from HIS and 2014 PC. This will greatly increase the pool of (potential) analysts of the results from the 2013 PC. The use by employers of electronic personnel records should dramatically reduce the burden of providing more details on their employees in 26

27 employers are using electronic personnel registrations, and the possibilities that such use opens for more information about their employees through establishment surveys (including on nationality and other factors determining their wages) Administrative registrations 9 Officers of MFA, MIA, MRA, PSDA and the Data Protection Inspector (DPI) should carefully analyze which tasks are best served by their systems using an agreed set of procedures and protocols for electronic communication about individuals, regularly or upon requests. This should include a defined format for a common unique identity number (UPIN) for all foreigners applying for a permit or a visa, to be derived from the ID registrations in each of the different systems. 10 The Unified Migration Analytical System Management Working Group (UMASWG) should have members from all the agencies responsible for implementing the new Aliens Law, including the court(s) of appeals, as well GeoStat and DPI. Among its members should be IT specialists, case officers statistics producers and statistics users. 11 UMASWG should discuss and agree where to establish (a) statistical unit(s) that can produce statistics relevant for monitoring and reporting on the regulation of immigration to Georgia 12 In cooperation with IOM Headquarters IOM Georgia should establish a system for managing its AVR work that will allow it to prepare regular statistical reports on the number of AVR individuals distributed by basis for the return, country from (for Georgian nationals) or to (for foreign nationals) which they return, as well as key demographic variables and the time needed for executing the AVR. establishment surveys. As the different agencies have (or are developing) systems that are designed for effective execution of their respective tasks for regulating and monitoring migration to and from Georgia, it is important that they have clear procedures and well defined protocols for electronic exchange of information about individuals subject to or affected by these regulations (e.g. as reference persons). For foreigners granted residence the UPIN should be linked to the UPN (Unique personal Number) issued. With this MDMWG membership it will be possible to ensure that both the operational and the reporting/statistics demands on the (joint) systems will be considered in the development of the systems and how they communicate. Such statistical units need to have a minimum level of staffing to be robust and sustainable, as well as a good understanding of the case handling processes and registration systems used. Although few persons are subject to (take advantage of) AVR to/from Georgia in a typical year, there is considerable interest in understanding who they are, why they have been included in the VAR program, to/from where they return and how effective the return process is. 27

28 13 PSDA should analyze the claims that the transition process between the old and the new legislations has been confusing and resulted in the discrimination of some groups of foreigners present in Georgia before 1 September 2014, making use of registrations of renewals. Statistics on emigration and the diaspora 14 GeoStat and MIA should explore the possibilities for extending the already established cooperation for estimating emigration on the basis of border registrations, see also recommendation GeoStat should use its contacts with international organisations and other national statistical agencies (through UN/ECE/CES, OECD and Eurostat) to obtain statistics on Georgian citizens immigrating to and present in other countries. 16 MFA and the Ministry for Diaspora Issues (MDI) should explore how Georgia s consular offices best can encourage members of the Georgian diaspora to register with the consular office, and establish procedures for de-registration. Statistics on remittances 17 GeoStat and the National bank of Georgia should analyze the reasons for the differences in their estimates of remittances to and from households 18 Those exchanging from/to foreign currency in Georgia should be asked to show an ID document, to establish whether s/he is a Georgian citizen or not. 19 In addition to recommendations 7, and 15 above: Contacts between the different agencies should be maintain at all levels in the organisations: between top level managers as well as the between the officers responsible for systems development and maintenance, as well as for statistics. The primary objective of this exercise would be to test to what extent the registration of renewals can be used for this type of analysis. The border registrations gives Georgia a fairly unique source for the estimation of both emigration and immigration according to different definitions of the duration of absences and presence in the country, as well as the possibility for estimating the extent of circular migration. Most countries have much better statistics on immigration and immigrants than on emigration and emigrants. Such registrations will never be complete, and lacking de-registration is always a problem, but this could help Georgian authorities to retain contacts with a significant proportion of the diaspora. Even if it may not be possible to account for the impact of these reasons, to understand which they are and the likely type of impact will be useful. This will enable the purchaser/seller of foreign currency to record whether the transaction is with a Georgian citizen or with a foreigner, thus providing a better basis for estimating the amount of remittances received by households. The experience from other countries is that contacts needs to be established and encouraged at all levels in the relevant organisations for successful cooperation and coordination to take place. 28

29 Enhancing the capacity in Georgia for the analysis of international migration 20 In addition to recommendations1-4, 7, 11, 13 and 17 above; The Georgian Government should establish a Georgian Forum for Research on International Migration and its Consequences. 21 UMASWG should take the initiative to establish and maintain a catalogue on who does what in the area of regulation, statistics and research related to international migration to and from Georgia. The Forum should have members from all relevant ministries/offices as well as Georgian and foreign researchers. (The foreign researchers should be invited to participate on the basis of their own financing.) The catalogue should have contact details and short summary descriptions for all relevant institutions (Georgian and foreign), their activities and reports. Architectural perspectives on the administrative/operational systems 22 Architectural approach of each (administrative system involved) must be elaborated in detail 23 DBMS models must be elaborated in detail therefor requirement of analytical & statistical dimensions (reports, indicators, ) must be clear defined and is a necessary prerequisite and requirement Depending on the requirement (compare 23) of the target data dimensions in the analytical system the operational databases and OffLine sources of data need to be analysed in detail and report the potentials as well as obstacles Challenge: question of unique ID 24 Data exchange model must be elaborated in detail 25 Legal issues to be raised & discussed Depending on point from above 26 Organisational challenges Depending on point from above Evaluate/comment report provided 27 Tbd Needs to be done after comments of all organisations and institutions involved are provided 29

30 Annex 2: Scheme of administrative records/data which possibly might be registered/collected on a foreigner in different Georgian database Procedures when an application is submitted to PSDA and FID and MIA is involved (please note that the arrows don t indicate a timeline but only the logical flow/interaction level). 1. The applicant submit request for Residence Permit to PSDA; 2. PSDA Registers request and store the information provided by the applicant; 3. PSDA sends the applicant s information electronically to FID (Foreign Intelligence Department. Reported to President s Administration) and MIA to obtain additional information; 4. FID and MIA send their final recommendation to PSDA based on the analysis of the applicants records 5. PSDA analyses received information and, if necessary, make a search for additional information; 6. PSDA makes its decision and informs the applicant accordingly (by sending SMS / captured during the request registration); 7. The decision is also published on the web and the applicant can check the application status by registration number; 8. If the decision is positive, the applicant can request Residence Identification ID; 9. If ID is requested, the System generates a Unique Personal Number (11 digits) for Resident; If not Requested, the Personal Number is not generated; 10. PSDA prints Residence ID (Plastic Card) and delivers to Resident (in the PSDA s regional office or a Public Service Hall). 11. PSDA registers the delivery of the residence ID. 30

31 31