Why the Birthplace of Artsakh Residents is Listed as Azerbaijan in Their Passports: Clarification

In passports of Artsakh residents applying for Armenian citizenship, their birthplace is indicated as Azerbaijan, despite the fact that they are considered Armenian citizens, which is explicitly stated in the passports. This was reported by Tert.am.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has informed the news outlet: “The recording of data in identification documents is conducted in accordance with international standards. The issuance of machine-readable identification/travel documents is regulated by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) standard 9,303, which specifies that the field for indicating place of birth is governed by the ISO 3166 standard. This standard, according to countries, records the geographical entities that may be accepted in a passport.

Consequently, any notation made by the authorized body in the field of migration and citizenship services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that is not validated within the framework of international regulations is problematic at border crossing points. Numerous alerts have been received by the migration and citizenship services of the Ministry from border control authorities of various countries regarding such issues.

During the daily operations of the service, these mentioned problems are resolved through cooperative means as much as possible. In order to legally regulate the matter, during the issuance of new identification documents, the service is guided exclusively by international standards,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated.