Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan posted a video on Facebook, with the participation of Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan, and talked about the new biometric passports of the Republic of Armenia (RA).

“The new RA biometric passport reflects our identity, historical and cultural heritage and statehood,” the premier wrote alongside the video.

He noted that biometric passports and biometric identification cards with a new design will be issued, and they will be in circulation starting from fall.

Touching on the reasons for this decision, interior minister Arpine Sargsyan said: “The infrastructure that was available in Armenia in 2022 has absolutely no relation to the international standard. Our goal is to provide RA citizens with new [travel] documents in accordance with the 9303 standard of the International Civil Aviation Organization—ICAO. This means that the documents are in accordance with the latest technologies, are mutually recognizable at the borders, so that our citizens can travel more respectfully.”

In turn, Pashinyan added that this is important for completing Armenia’s visa liberalization process with the EU, so that Armenian citizens can travel to EU countries practically without a visa.

Also, they presented the appearance of the new biometric passport, which will be red instead of the current dark blue. Pashinyan noted that red is one of the most common colors in international practice.