Nikol Pashinyan’s government is preparing legislative changes that would make it harder for ethnic Armenians abroad to obtain Armenian citizenship.
Acting Deputy Interior Minister Armen Ghazaryan described the current system, which does not impose additional requirements on ethnic Armenians, as a “problem” that must be resolved.
“The Republic of Armenia does not impose any requirements on ethnic Armenians for obtaining citizenship. In my opinion, this is a problem, and it must be resolved,” Ghazaryan said.
Citizenship applications have risen sharply in recent years, exceeding 32,000 in 2025 and 20,000 annually in both 2023 and 2024, compared with roughly 7,000 to 8,000 in earlier years.
Those figures may also include Armenians forcibly displaced from Artsakh who were required to go through citizenship procedures in Armenia, meaning the increase cannot simply be presented as a surge of diaspora Armenians seeking a more convenient passport.
The planned restrictions come shortly after amendments adopted in July limited participation in parliamentary elections and referendums to citizens who were physically present in Armenia for at least 366 of the previous 730 days.
The direction is especially significant for Armenia, a country whose diaspora has long been central to its national life. Armenians abroad have played an outsized role in supporting Armenia through investment, philanthropy, humanitarian assistance, advocacy, education, cultural preservation and professional networks.
Rather than making those ties easier to maintain and deepen, Pashinyan’s government is moving in the opposite direction, placing new barriers around both citizenship and political participation.
For a country with a global Armenian population extending far beyond its borders, weakening those connections is not a minor administrative change. It directly affects one of Armenia’s most important national resources: its relationship with the diaspora.
