The Armenian National Assembly unanimously voted today to ratify the EU-Armenian Visa Facilitation Agreement and the EU-Armenia Agreement on the Readmission of Persons Residing Without Authorization.
The agreement aims to facilitate the issue of short-stay visas for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days.
The new rules will make the procedures quicker (the decision will have to be taken within 10 days, in urgent cases two days or less), cheaper (the visa fee for processing applications of Armenian citizens shall amount to 35 €) and less bureaucratic (the documents to be presented regarding the purpose of the journey have been simplified for some categories of persons, in particular for close relatives, members of official delegations, students, business people, journalists, scientists, etc).
There are also simplified criteria for issuing multiple-entry visas. Armenian citizens who are holders of diplomatic passports are exempted from the visa requirement for short stays.
Armenia already exempts all EU citizens from the visa obligation since 10 January 2013.
Readmission agreements go usually hand-in-hand with visa facilitation agreements. The objective of this agreement is to establish, on the basis of reciprocity, rapid and effective procedures for the identification and safe and orderly return of persons residing without authorization.
