Citizenship Under New Rules - Not Only Online, But Also More Expensive

From January 1, 2026, a new procedure for applying for the acquisition and extension of citizenship came into force in the Republic of Armenia. Now all stages — from applying to verifying it, storing data, and registering for the submission of original documents — are carried out exclusively through the electronic system mcs-citizenship.am. This was announced by the Travel and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia. The paper format has effectively been removed from the process.

Through the platform, applicants can apply for citizenship or its extension, track the status of consideration, select a date to visit for providing original documents, and pay the state fee. Individuals over 18 years of age are entitled to apply if there are legal grounds, including Armenian nationality, long-term residence in the country, marriage to an Armenian citizen, family ties, refugee or stateless person status, as well as restoration of lost citizenship.

The processing time for applications is up to 90 working days from the date of their receipt by the Migration and Citizenship Service. The amount of the state fee is set at 50,000 drams for the acquisition of citizenship and 150,000 drams for its restoration. After online submission, the applicant is obliged to personally provide the original documents to the selected department or consulate. Persons without Armenian origin additionally take a test of 33 questions on knowledge of the Constitution and the Armenian language. If there are errors in the questionnaire, the data is re-entered, and the fee is paid again.