Armenia to Issue Biometric Passports From 1 November Through HayPass Partnership

Armenia will start issuing biometric passports and identification cards on 1 November through a private partner, HayPass, with 14 offices operating across the country from November, under decisions the government adopted on 29 October and a report on the fulfilment of investment obligations signed on 30 October, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The ministry's 29 October statement says the government adopted a decision on the procedure for issuing and refusing to issue passports and identification cards, the timeframes and additional fee for faster issuance, and "the involvement of a private partner in the process of issuing passports or identification cards to citizens of the Republic of Armenia". Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan said 29 and 30 October were the final two days of operation of the outdated infrastructure, and that documents in the new format would be issued from 1 November.

How the new process works

Sargsyan said the work with the private partner was meant to introduce a document that meets European Union standards. For the first time, citizens will pre-register on a digital platform before visiting an office. The ministry will then check each applicant through the State Population Register, and only after that clearance can the applicant visit the private office, using a QR code sent by email.

Payment is made in full, without cash, on the digital platform before the visit. At the partner's office, citizens only give their fingerprints and have their photographs taken, the minister said, and self-service kiosks will let applicants take their own photographs and fingerprints without dealing with staff. Citizens whose passports or identification cards are still valid may keep using them until they expire, but anyone who wants a biometric document must surrender all the documents they currently hold.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said 14 offices would operate across Armenia from November, two of them in Yerevan, located in shopping malls. The government's account of the Cabinet meeting records him saying that holders of biometric passports would be able to cross Armenia's border without contact with a border guard, that work was under way to enable this at Zvartnots airport and other crossing points, and that arrangements abroad would depend on bilateral agreements, for example data exchange with France or the European Union. He called this important for the visa liberalisation process with the EU. The same meeting approved the health insurance bills CBJ reported on, which bring workers earning up to AMD 200,000 into the system from 2027.

The partnership enters its operating phase

On 30 October Sargsyan received the management of IN Groupe and HayPass, led by Dounia El Hasnaoui, Chief Financial Officer of IN Groupe. The ministry's statement on the meeting describes the project as Armenia's first public-private partnership. Sargsyan and HayPass Director General Régis Bauchiere signed a report, prepared by an independent expert company, on the fulfilment of investment obligations under the partnership. The ministry says the document certifies that the parties have duly fulfilled their investment obligations and are ready for the project to enter its operational phase.

The two sides also agreed to introduce e-gates, automated border-crossing systems, at Armenia's crossing points "within a short timeframe". According to Armenpress, which carried the ministry's statement, the meeting discussed a data centre to be set up within the project to keep the biometric system running securely and without interruption, and noted that most of HayPass's employees are Armenian specialists. Nerses Yeritsyan, Chairman of the Information Systems Regulatory Commission, attended the meeting.

What it means for business

For companies, the change is practical before it is strategic. Employers that send staff abroad, and travel and relocation firms, will deal with a process that is booked and paid online and completed at one of 14 offices, with expedited issuance available for an additional fee. Banks, telecom operators and other firms that check customers' identity documents will see old and new formats side by side, because valid documents remain in use until they expire.

The partnership is also a test case. As Armenia's first public-private partnership, it shows how the state can contract out a public service while keeping the verification step through the State Population Register in its own hands. Its record on service times and the e-gates will shape how investors view later partnership tenders, and the border arrangements the prime minister described tie the project to Armenia's agenda with the European Union, set out at this year's Yerevan Dialogue.