Still no date for Armenian biometric passport introduction
The government of Armenia is still unclear when it will be possible for citizens to obtain biometric passports without long queues and obstacles.
The country is in the process of procuring a new system for issuing biometric passports and ID cards which is due to be completed through a public-private partnership (PPP). Right now, however, it is still unclear which company will be chosen and how long it will take to technically implement the system, Armen Ghazaryan, head of the Migration Service, said on Monday at the National Assembly of Armenia.
Ghazaryan added that the country’s passport system has been lacking investment for years.
“The fact that this system has survived so far with a minimal investment was thanks to the enthusiasm of the employees,” he said, according to a machine translation from the Armenian news website Tert.am.
Armenia first rolled out its biometric passports in 2021. The following year, however, the government suspended their issuing till early 2024, citing a need for improvements. In April, the country announced it would implement a new system for issuing passports and ID cards, replacing outdated IT systems and standards.
A public statement from the National Assembly issued on Monday promises that the new system will be introduced in “the near future.” The country has been working on introducing legal amendments to support the system in the Law on Citizen’s Passport and Law on Identification Cards.
The government is also pursuing more comprehensive reforms of its biometric document system which will include digital services to citizens and has selected international consultants to conduct studies, the government stated.
Armenia’s previous biometric passport and ID card system supplier was Polish Security Printing Works/ Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciowych (PWPW). Its contract expired on January 1, 2017.
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