Checks Conducted at Passport and Visa Department Following Prime Minister's Statement

On January 25, 2020, a woman's complaint was published on the Facebook page of the Prime Minister of Armenia, stating that after living in Canada for about 20 years, she returned to Armenia in July 2019 and applied for Armenian citizenship and a passport at the Passport and Visa Department of the Police, as well as at other agencies. However, due to the poor professional quality of the responsible officials, the process took about five months, during which she experienced disrespectful treatment.

In this regard, an internal investigation was conducted by the Department of Internal Security at the Armenian Police. It was found that on July 30, 2019, the woman applied to the Passport Division of the Police for an Armenian citizen’s passport. Since she had changed her surname in Canada, she was directed to the Territorial Division of the Ministry of Justice to obtain a document regarding her name change. Based on the marriage certificate provided by the Ministry, on October 24 of the same year, she applied to the Passport Division at Mashtots and, approximately three months after her initial application, the passport was issued on October 31, 2019. She received it on November 14, 2019.

At the same time, it was revealed that the head of the citizenship department of the Passport Division displayed behavior unbefitting a civil servant while directing the woman to the passport division, serving her rudely and in violation of norms of decorum. Additionally, an employee of the passport division engaged in inappropriate conversation with her, asking accusative questions about her return from Canada, and upon learning that her return was linked to the Prime Minister’s announcement, made derogatory remarks about the representative of the highest authority in Armenia, stating that 'Pashinyan has deceived all of you.'

This indicates that both the chief and the employee violated the ethical rules of public servants. In turn, the head of the passport division did not clearly present the procedures to the applicant in a timely manner and only clarified two months later that it was necessary to apply to the Territorial Division of the Ministry. This means that he also failed to properly fulfill his duties.

As a result of the above, the employee of the passport division was dismissed from her position by order of the head of the Armenian Police, while the other two received a severe reprimand.