Proud New Citizens of Armenia

(English-language video. For the Armenian version, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLEhO8faMc).

In 2016, Manush Kojayan and her husband, Ramzi, became citizens of the Republic of Armenia. Manush, who was born in Dubai, and Ramzi had been living there prior to moving to Armenia.

“We fell in love with Armenia and want to live here,” Manush says. “Now that I have the passport of my homeland in my hand, it’s an amazing feeling… I can’t quite describe it. It’s just such a wonderful feeling to have a passport printed in Armenian.”

According to Mnatsakan Bichakhchyan, the chief of Armenia’s Passport and Visa Department, in recent years the number of Armenian-citizenship applicants has jumped from a mere dozen or so to between 13,000 and 20,000 annually.

“The first passport of the Republic of Armenia was issued in 1994,” Bichakhchyan recalls. “Initially, there were great difficulties involved in the design, printing, print run, and distribution of that first blue passport. But everything was resolved thanks to the invaluable support of our diaspora compatriots. Specifically, it was the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund that provided all the needed technical as well as financial assistance — for which every citizen of Armenia is deeply grateful.”

Видео Proud New Citizens of Armenia канала ArmeniaFundUS