Armenians with Russian Citizenship Renew Their Armenian Passports

In the aftermath of the war in Ukraine, Armenians holding Russian citizenship are increasingly applying for Armenian citizenship. A sharp rise in applications has been noted among ethnic Armenians possessing Russian citizenship. This was announced during a press conference by Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan.

According to him, the number of applications for Armenian citizenship exceeded 32,000 in 2022, marking the highest figure during the entire period of Armenia's independence. In the previous two years, the number of applications surpassed 20,000, while earlier the average annual figure was around 7-8,000.

Ghazaryan linked the increase in applications to travel restrictions imposed on Russian citizens following the onset of military operations in Ukraine. “We see that an event occurred, specifically military actions in the territory of Ukraine, followed by travel restrictions affecting Russian citizens, and then we see this increase in applications in the field of our citizenship,” he stated.

He noted that the majority of Russian citizens applying for Armenian citizenship are ethnic Armenians, and thus this trend is primarily related to the Armenian diaspora. Ghazaryan also pointed out that in some cases, Armenian citizenship is used as a means to obtain travel documents.