Armenia plans to digitalize the process of issuing residence status to foreigners

YEREVAN, November 24. /ARКА/. The Armenian government is putting forward a proposal to digitize the administrative procedures for granting residence status to foreign nationals.

At a meeting on Monday, the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security expressed a favorable opinion on a draft law that amends the Law "On Foreigners" along with several associated laws.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan stated that, at present, only the process for granting work status has been digitized.

"Should this law be enacted, all categories of residence status—temporary, permanent, and special—will need to be managed digitally," he remarked, further indicating that the types of residence status are intended to be aligned with standards, resulting in two categories—temporary and permanent.

Ghazaryan also highlighted a second significant issue regarding the regulation of labor migration flows; a quota system for foreign nationals is being proposed. Additionally, the deputy minister mentioned that there is a proposal to adjust state fees: for temporary residence status, it is suggested to increase the fee to 150,000 drams from the current 105,000 drams, and for permanent status, to 250,000 drams, up from 140,000 drams.

"Our state fees have not been updated for decades. In practical terms, moving these processes into the digital realm will greatly streamline the administration of foreign nationals," Ghazaryan stated. ($1 - 381.61 drams).-0-