Karabakh refugees will be exempt from state duty required for acquiring citizenship

YEREVAN, August 22. /ARKA/. Effective September 1, 2025, individuals who have been forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh and have been granted temporary protection will not be required to pay state duty, when requesting Armenian citizenship, the Migration and Citizenship Service (MCS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

It further indicated that applications for citizenship from individuals forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh can be submitted at over 40 locations, which include all regional divisions of the MCS, as well as the head office of the Service and the mobile service offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The Migration and Citizenship Service clarified to the ARKA news agency that the term "temporary protection" solely refers to the issuance of refugee cards, and starting September 1, residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will be exempt from state fees when applying for Armenian citizenship.

On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan initiated a large-scale military aggression against Karabakh utilizing artillery, UAVs, and combat aircraft. Following negotiations with the Azerbaijani authorities on September 28, Karabakh President Samvel Shahramanyan issued a decree dissolving all state institutions of the Nagorno-Karabakh, and effective January 1, 2024, Nagorno-Karabakh ceased to exist.

The residents of Artsakh were compelled to abandon their homeland and relocate to Armenia.-0-