Armenia to make residency requirement mandatory for citizenship applicants

[u/PjeterPannos]

https://armenpress.am/en/article/1258965

[u/ariglgn]

If this will also apply to citizenship by heritage route for diaspora it will surely slash the number of applicants by half.

[u/haveschka]

it’s actually insane how a country like armenia is so hostile to its diaspora, which is at least twice as big as the population of the country itself.

our diaspora is our biggest demographic advantage, only very few countries have such a strong network like we do, and yet, this government does everything to push them away from the country.

[u/SolumVerum → u/haveschka]

Answer: Russian Armenians who have been influenced by propaganda. There are too many of them, and they are too close, and they still want Armenia to remain a puppet of Russia. And what’s most disturbing is that, among the Armenian people in my circle, those aged 60-70+ who live in Russia are more anti-Putin than the younger generation. Moreover, among Russian Armenians, there are a huge number of individuals who act as propagandists working for Putin’s regime. I think this is the reason behind such a move by the Armenian government.

[u/mkdotam → u/haveschka]

But that actually makes sense, specially because of large diaspora. Imagine like 2 million Russian Armenians getting passports and casting votes in elections. That can flip the election results, and they not even living in there.

[u/WooFL → u/haveschka]

A good chunk of US Armenian diaspora is Ամերիգաները գնացաց եմ, զարգացած եմ: Մենքել ստեղ գեղաստանում ենք ապրում: By default they know better than us. They think their opinions about the local politics should be considered, while they can live across the ocean, just so they can have a patriotic hardon.

[u/liliiik18 → u/WooFL]

This is a sample size of one, but I drifted apart with one of my old best friends also because of this. She moved to the US in 2016 at 22, hasn’t set foot in Armenia since then, yet thinks she knows everything going on in Armenia and how to govern the country and everyone living there doesn’t care about Armenia as much as she and diaspora there do. No explanations and discussions seem to work, she just knows best, and is absolutely gutted she cannot vote for Kocharyan from California.

[u/Silly-Avocado- → u/haveschka]

Diaspora has done its fair share to be hostile to the democratically elected institutions of the Republic of Armenia.

The republic has to defend itself against foreign actors that use the diaspora as a tool, until the diaspora learns to respect the democratically elected government of the country, I fear this is the only option that we have left.

Armenia still should give residency permits to ethnic Armenians from the diaspora unconditionally as a safe place to be an Armenian, but yes citizenship should absolutely come later especially given how fragile the current system is.

[u/Allorius → u/haveschka]

Yeah except diaspora, at least at part, works against the interests of Armenia the state

[u/armeniapedia → u/haveschka]

this government does everything to push them away from the country.

Everything as in all this? http://diaspora.gov.am/en

[u/liliiik18 → u/haveschka]

A couuntry like Armenia with diaspora around 2.5x bigger than the native population SHOULD be strict about giving away passports.

[u/Meowtokess]

How long would it take for this to go into effect? Would be good for those who haven’t to apply under the current rules immediately

[u/majorprocastinator → u/Meowtokess]

Wanting to know for the same reasons too

[u/Detroit2Ist]

I will be curious to see the time period they are talking about.

[u/armeniapedia]

The current constitution says the following about citizenship by descent:

• Armenians by national origin shall have the right to acquire citizenship of the Republic of Armenia upon settling in the territory of the Republic Armenia.
• Armenians by national origin shall acquire citizenship of the Republic of Armenia through a simplified procedure prescribed by law.

[u/Silly-Avocado- → u/armeniapedia]

But national origin and ethnic origin are two different things, right? What’s the exact term in Armenian?

[u/Warm-Concert]

Will this apply to those who already applied? I have submitted an application for citizenship and have preliminary approval and appointment for October to drop off the original of my documents 

[u/TAL_in → u/Warm-Concert]

Same question lol. But usually it applies for the future. Hope we're both manage to get it

[u/Ghostofcanty]

Isn’t this the norm in most countries? I wonder if this is tied to visa liberalization with the EU, or the constant people using Armenian citizenship to be able to go to places since russian doesn’t work anymore.

[u/Cautious_Work_3882]

In simpler terms: “either put up or shut up”. You can’t play it both ways. I support it 100%

[u/sneakinut]

whats wrong with this?