Electronic System for Acquiring and Terminating Citizenship Approved by Parliament

The National Assembly has approved in the first reading a legislative package regarding amendments and additions to the law on the citizenship of the Republic of Armenia and to the law on state duty, which proposes to establish an electronic procedure for applying for citizenship and for terminating citizenship.

Taking into account several security considerations, the need for primary identification of the individual, and the verification of the security features of documents, the provision for submitting documents in person will be maintained. However, it will be possible to submit documents in advance in electronic form. In this case, the competent authority will verify their completeness and rule out the applicant’s status as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, after which the applicant will only have the opportunity to register for an appointment to submit documents in person to the authorized body or to the relevant embassy or consulate operating in a foreign state.

There will also be an opportunity for all types of inquiries regarding individuals applying for citizenship or wishing to terminate their citizenship to be carried out in advance electronically to the relevant authorities, including the State Revenue Committee, the Ministry of Defense, the Police, the National Security Service, and others.

It is expected that handling cases through the electronic procedure will also expedite administrative processes, as all state bodies involved in the processes of granting and terminating citizenship will have access to the mentioned program. Inquiries will be received and answered online, and several procedural processes will be automated by the system.

Additionally, it is planned to provide a 15-day period for supplementing documents if completeness is not ensured during the preliminary review of the electronic application. If completeness is not ensured within this period, the processing of the application will be terminated following the procedure established by law, allowing the applicant to submit a new application.

During the session on December 3, presenting the legislative initiative, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan emphasized that currently the administration related to citizenship is carried out in a paper format, which adds additional complications for those applying for citizenship and for the administrative body.

It was previously reported that a duty of 50,000 AMD is foreseen for acquiring Armenian citizenship, and 150,000 AMD for renouncing it.