Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan informed in an interview to "CivilNet" that the launch of the new biometric system is planned for the fall of 2026.
"Our citizens will very soon use the new system of biometric documents for personal identification. We have talked about this program many times in recent years, and today I can already say that the moment of its launch is really close.
The work of the biometric system will start in the fall of this year. In the first phase, 14 service offices will be opened, and by March next year their number will reach 23. Here, citizens will not only receive biometric documents of a new model, but will also benefit from a completely new and modern service culture," said Arpine Sargsyan.
According to the minister, after the introduction of the new system, all passports and documents issued by the Republic of Armenia will be biometric, and the production of old sample documents will be stopped.
However, citizens with valid passports will not be obliged to change them immediately, as the old documents will be valid until their validity expires, although citizens can change them earlier if they wish.
If the passport is damaged, lost, its visa pages run out or there is a need to exchange it for some other reason before the expiration date, the citizen will be issued a new biometric document.
"Passports that do not meet ICAO standards will be phased out. We have not chosen harsh or inconvenient solutions for citizens. At the moment, the deadline has not been set, but it is natural that from some point on, only passports that meet ICAO standards should remain in circulation in the Republic of Armenia. This is an internationally accepted standard, and we are consistently moving in that direction," the Minister of Internal Affairs emphasized.
