Armenia has extended the protection status for Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, without which they would not be able to leave the country.

On Thursday, the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that the status of protection granted to Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians was extended until 31 December 2025, with the possibility of further extension.

This status was given to over 100,000 Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians who did not apply for Armenian citizenship following the mass displacement in 2023.  

At the time, the Armenian government provided a controversial explanation for this decision, insisting that the Armenian passports provided to the region’s population were only a ‘travel document’. 

The ministry noted on Thursday that the documentation process had been simplified, urging refugees planning to cross the border ‘to immediately’ update their documents. They also warned of potential backlogs and noted that the number of applications may increase towards the end of the year.

While the certificate will no longer be required to enter Armenia, a valid certificate will be mandatory along with a valid passport to leave the country.

They also noted that amendments related to the validity of the certificate had been made so that the process to renew the certificate the next time would be carried out automatically. 

‘Now, if, as a result of today’s decision, tens of thousands of people will have to go through the passport office queues again next year to extend their certificates or obtain new ones, it can certainly be argued that we are dealing with irresponsible and incompetent individuals who have accidentally found themselves in decision-making positions’, Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst originally from Nagorno-Karabakh, wrote on Facebook. 

Last year, many refugees found themselves in long queues at the passport service across the country. The queues in some cases lasted for weeks, causing discontent among both refugees and Armenian citizens. 

According to the authorities, the backlogs were conditioned by the reforms of the passport services on top of the increased amount of work conditioned by the refugees.