Armenia’s new biometric passport and ID card system received 7,700 applications in its first days of operation, with 2,700 applicants having submitted biometric data as of November 3, private operator HayPass said at a press conference at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Biometric data collection began on November 1 at HayPass offices in two Yerevan shopping centers, and 12 regional offices opened the next day. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was the first visitor to the Yerevan Mall branch when it opened on October 31, going through the application himself. The network is due to reach 23 offices nationwide by the first quarter of 2027.
Applicants now start online, providing their information, booking an appointment and paying before they visit a center to give biometric data. Those rules were approved by the Cabinet days before the launch. A biometric passport costs AMD 28,650 and an identity card AMD 5,950, with documents issued within 14 working days.
Nelli Davtyan, head of the Migration and Citizenship Service, said accepting an application for a minor’s documents previously took 25 minutes, while registration under the new system takes three to five. Citizens who booked in advance were being served the following day as of November 3, she said. She did not rule out brief technical problems. “A change on this scale inevitably creates new situations. Moving a paper-based process entirely into a digital environment is full of challenges,” she said.
HayPass provides the services under what the interior minister has called Armenia’s first public-private partnership project. On October 30, Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan and HayPass chief executive Régis Bauchiere signed a report by an independent expert company certifying that the parties had fulfilled their investment commitments and were ready to start operations. Sargsyan met with senior management of IN Groupe and HayPass that day, and they agreed to install e-gates at border checkpoints and discussed a new data center for the system.
Sargsyan said at the launch that the task had been challenging “because we did not have the knowledge and skills needed to introduce this new system in Armenia independently,” and that the partnership had compressed “seven to eight years of work into around one year.” Bauchiere said a color photograph laser-engraved into polycarbonate is among the new passport’s security features. Armenia completed the passport design earlier this year.
Officials have tied the documents to Armenia’s visa liberalization process with the European Union, and Sargsyan has said they will comply with EU standards. Davtyan said work is under way to ensure the State Population Register holds complete and accurate information on everyone required to submit biometric data.
Sources: Armenpress, Armenpress (launch), Armenpress (partnership report)
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
