Armenia to revise citizenship policies

ArmInfo. Armenia is set to reform its approach to granting citizenship, with officials  signaling that a new legislative package will be introduced in the  near future, as stated by Armen Ghazaryan, Acting Deputy Minister of  Internal Affairs, during a press conference on August 14, 2026. He  noted that the current framework must be re-evaluated because, for  years, citizenship has been perceived primarily as a "transactional  tool" rather than a status carrying deeper civic significance.

"If you examine migration flows and citizenship applications, it  becomes clear that citizenship has been utilized primarily to secure  a travel document," Ghazaryan clarified. He highlighted the Armenian  diaspora in the Russian Federation as a notable example. Due to  international travel restrictions stemming from the war in Ukraine, a  significant number of individuals sought Armenian passports to regain  mobility.  Ghazaryan pointed out that the vast majority of Russian  citizens applying to Armenia's migration service were of Armenian  descent.

According to the Acting Deputy Minister, Armenia reached a historic  high in citizenship applications in 2025- m ore than 32,000  applications were filed, the highest volume in the country's history.  Over 20,000 applications were registered in each of the two preceding  years. He added that before this recent trend, the annual average was  typically between 7,000 and 8,000 applications. 

Ghazaryan said that current Armenian legislation imposes minimal  requirements on ethnic Armenians seeking citizenship. "Allow me the  immodesty of expressing my expert opinion: I consider this a problem  that needs to be solved," he stated. While he provided few details on  the specific mechanisms of the upcoming bill, he confirmed that the  government is actively working on legislation to redefine these  standards.