The terms of application of biometric passports and old-style ID  cards in Armenia will be extended by one year - until January 1, 2022

ArmInfo.Terms of application in Armenia of biometric passports and identification  cards of the old samples will be extended for one year - until  January 1, 2022. The RA National Assembly at its plenary session on  December 8 in the first During the reading, they discussed the draft  amendments to the laws "On the passport of a citizen" and "On  identification cards".

According to the Deputy Chief of the RA Police Ara Fidanyan, the  introduction of biometric passports and identification cards began in  Armenia on the basis of the government's decision of December 25,  1998 from 2008 of the year. On January 1, 2017, the contract with the  Polish company PWPW, which printed biometric passports and ID cards,  expired. No new contract has been concluded with the new service  provider yet. On September 25, 2019, a tender commission was formed,  which presented the terms of reference. Applications for  participation in the competition were received from 6 companies from  Germany, Poland, France. Despite the efforts made, there are no  domestic firms in this list. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,  the competition was not held. One of the main problematic issues is  outdated equipment, which does not allow printing high-quality  photographs. These and other issues, as the Deputy Chief of Police  assured, will be resolved on the basis of an agreement with the  winner of the tender. Thus, as Ara Fidanyan emphasized, the  government proposes to postpone the deadline for the introduction of  new passports and ID cards until January 1, 2022 instead of January  1, 2021.  The package is expected to be adopted in the second and  final reading within 24 hours from the moment of its adoption in the  first reading.

It should be noted that since January 1, 2014, citizens of Armenia do  not receive old passports, since identification cards and biometric  passports have come into force. The fee for an identification card  was 3 thousand AMD, for a biometric passport - 25 thousand AMD. ID  cards and biometric passports are issued for a period of 10 years.  The identification card is intended for internal use, and the  passport is for travel outside the state. An identification card  looks like an ordinary plastic card, and a passport looks like a  current passport of an Armenian citizen. In addition to personal  data, digital photographs, electronic signatures, the passport  contains prints of two index fingers of the owner.