Shortage of Vehicle Registration Materials in Armenia: Border Issues and Solutions

In Armenia, when citizens are clearing their vehicles through customs, they are not being issued state license plates or technical passports. Instead, they are only given some temporary paper as the material for vehicle license plates—iron sheets—and technical passport plastic has run out. This information was previously shared by the Road Police.

According to their statement, due to an unprecedented increase in the number of vehicles imported in 2019, the protective films used for printing vehicle registration certificates and driver's licenses have been exhausted in the territorial subdivisions responsible for registration and inspection, and the delivery of new materials may take approximately a month.

If it is not possible to issue the registration certificate on the day of registration (or re-registration) for technical or other reasons, the vehicle owner (or representative) is given a temporary registration certificate valid for up to one month, the form of which complies with the established format approved by the Chief of the Police of Armenia.

When it is not possible to prepare a driver's license for technical reasons, a temporary driver's license is issued immediately, which must be returned. Apologizing to drivers, the Road Police also clarifies that for traveling to another country during the validity period of the temporary registration certificate, a translated version of the temporary registration certificate is required. It should be noted that translating such a document costs between 5,000 to 6,000 drams.

AuroraNews has received numerous complaints that this translated version does not pass at the Georgian border crossing. We contacted representatives from Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Road Police, and the Armenian Embassy in Georgia. The Road Police informed us that they have sent the relevant documents to the police in EAEU countries, as well as in Georgia and Ukraine.

Shortly before publishing this report, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed us that the issue has been resolved and drivers with temporary documents will not face any problems at the Georgian border crossing. AuroraNews urges citizens to call 011 21 10 07 or 8077 in case of such issues.