By Harut Sassounian
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Armenia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is proposing to increase fivefold the fee for obtaining Armenian citizenship and tenfold the fee for renouncing it. As of January 1, 2028, the fee to acquire citizenship would increase from $138 to $689, while the fee to terminate it would increase from $413 to $4,132. The proposal also imposes a stricter residency requirement. These changes will go into effect if approved by Parliament.
According to this proposal, applicants seeking citizenship would be required to have held legal residency in Armenia during the previous five years and to have been physically present in the country for at least 915 days during that period. They would also be required to demonstrate proficiency in the Armenian language and knowledge of the Constitution. The oath-taking ceremony would be held in Armenia.
Those who have been legally married to an Armenian citizen for at least two years, as well as applicants who have an Armenian citizen child or parent and refugees, would be required to have three years of legal residency and at least 549 days of physical presence in Armenia.
Ethnic Armenians would be eligible for citizenship after establishing legal residence in Armenia during the previous two years and being physically present in the country for at least 366 days. Armenian ethnicity would be verified by a special commission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs based on documents, archival records, and certificates issued by churches or community organizations.
Individuals who previously renounced Armenian citizenship would be permitted to reapply for it only after five years, provided they had resided in Armenia for at least 366 days during the previous two years.
A citizenship application may be rejected if the individual’s activities harm, or there is reasonable suspicion that they could cause harm to, state and public security, public order, public health and morals, or the rights and freedoms of others. Under the new proposal, a presidential decision rejecting an application on national security or public-order grounds would not be subject to administrative or judicial review.
These costly and stricter requirements to obtain citizenship contradict the Armenian government’s announced desire to boost the country’s population. One would think that the government would make it easier and less costly to become a citizen.
In my opinion, there are two unjustified reasons for making these changes. The increased fees would:
1) Generate more revenue for the country’s budget.
This, however, is completely unnecessary. Instead, the government should stop wasting budget funds on large, undeserved bonuses to all police officers and government employees and on festivals and concerts. The authorities should also stop increasing the national debt by borrowing billions of dollars from international financial institutions. From 1991 to 2018, Armenia’s national debt was $7 billion. It has doubled to $14 billion in the last eight years since Pashinyan came to power.
2) Limit the number of foreigners — Armenians and non-Armenians alike — who may want to immigrate to Armenia.
One would have expected the Armenian government to adopt the opposite policy, encouraging Diaspora Armenians to immigrate to the homeland by reducing the citizenship fee or making it completely free of charge.
The latter point is very concerning because the Armenian government wants to keep Diaspora Armenians out of the country, since many of them disagree with Pashinyan’s anti-Armenian policies.
Given that a lot of people today are highly mobile either for business or personal reasons, it makes little sense to require them to reside in Armenia for several years before applying for citizenship. Already, on the eve of the June 7, 2026, parliamentary elections, the Armenian government tried to restrict the voting rights of Armenian citizens who live overseas. The obvious intent was to prevent those who were flying to Armenia from participating in the elections, because officials suspected they would vote for opposition parties.
The most nonsensical part of the proposed new citizenship rules is charging Armenian citizens roughly $4,000 if they want to renounce their citizenship. Why would anyone pay $4,000 to terminate their citizenship if they no longer wish to be a citizen? While it is highly regrettable that some Armenian citizens, who reside in foreign countries, want to sever their ties with the homeland, all they have to do is not use their Armenian passports, instead of paying $4,000 to renounce their citizenship.
The only exception would be if the foreign country in which they reside requires that they officially renounce their second citizenship. In that case, those dual citizens have no choice but to pay $4,000 each and officially terminate their Armenian citizenship to avoid getting into legal trouble with the United States or some other country in which they reside.My suggestion to the Armenian government is to abandon the proposed revised citizenship rules and eliminate the fee along with the residency requirement. Instead, the Armenian government through its embassies and consulates should initiate a worldwide campaign to encourage Diaspora Armenians to become dual citizens which in some cases may lead to their permanent immigration to Armenia. Having an Armenian passport creates a highly emotional link to the homeland for Diaspora Armenians, encouraging them to visit Armenia more often, possibly invest in the country, and eventually consider moving there. This would be a much more sensible option than charging higher fees for citizenship and mandating a residency requirement.
