The National Assembly of Armenia today approved the amendments made to the Law on Customs Regulations in the second and final reading.

The Law will particularly expand the scope of customs privileges for repatriates and simplify the existing procedures.

Based on the amendments, repatriates having returned to Armenia for permanent residency may benefit from the customs privileges, if they have resided in the territory of Armenia for the last five years. This provision applies to citizens who haven’t been in Armenia and haven’t held Armenian citizenship or been record-registered in the territory of Armenia over the past five years.

The Law states that if the relevant competent body (Passport and Visas Department) actually finds out that the person hasn’t been in Armenia for 915 days over the past five years, the person will be issued a certificate stating that he or she doesn’t have a permanent place of residence in the territory of Armenia. Based on this certificate, the citizen can apply to the customs service and may import his or her personal items and a car (registered in the name of each member of his or her family) within 18 months and without paying any taxes. However, the person can only import the car from the country from where he or she intends to move to Armenia for permanent residency.