YEREVAN, December 11. /ARKA/. The parliament of Armenia has approved today in the second and final reading a set of amendments to the law on the passport, which extend the validity of old-sample passports. The amendments were backed by 87 lawmakers.
According to the current legislation, ID-cards are to gradually replace passports within the country. For traveling outside the country, citizens are encouraged to obtain biometric passports.
Deputy Chief of Police Ara Fidanyan, presenting the changes, proposed extending the deadline for providing old-sample passports from January 1, 2021 to January 1, 2022, in order to guarantee the citizens’ right to receive identity documents.
“These changes will help carry out the process of providing documents to citizens until Armenia concludes an agreement with a new company for the production of biometric passports and identification cards,” Fidanyan said.
The previous contract with the Polish company PWPW expired in 2017. Due to the coronavirus crisis, it was not possible to complete the tender to select a new company, he said.
Earlier Fidanyan said that a new tender was announced for the printing of biometric passports and identification cards. In his words, six European companies submitted applications. He also noted that the production and printing of passports can be carried out in the country itself.