YEREVAN. – Close to 5,000 Syrian Armenians have come to Armenia in the past ten months, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan stated at the National Assembly (NA). 

At the NA, the Minster was introducing the bill on making amendments in Armenia’s Law on State Duty, whereby it is proposed that Syrian Armenians be exempt from payment of visa fees.

By and large, the Syrian Armenians had entered Armenia for a short-term stay and their visas were issued accordingly. But due to the ongoing developments in Syria, the majority of the Syrian Armenians are not planning on returning just yet, and therefore their visas need to be extended. This also refers to the extension of the residency status document.     

In this connection, the aforesaid bill proposes to fully exempt those people of Armenian origin from payment of visa and other similar document extension fees, if the lives and health of those Armenians are under jeopardy in the country of their permanent residence.