Guidance

Armenia: Knowledge Base profile

Updated 23 March 2026

Version 4.0

About: Armenia

This document contains useful information about Armenia which will assist His Majesty’s Passport Office staff process passport applications.

Restrictions

HM Passport Office’s Guidance team has checked this document for restrictions. There are no restrictions in this document.

Contacts

If you have any questions about the document and your line manager or senior caseworker cannot help you or you think that the document has factual errors then email Guidance team.

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Publication

Below is information on when this version of the document was published:

• version 4.0
• published for Home Office staff on 16 March 2026

Changes from last version of this document

This document has been updated in Armenia: names to confirm:

• the naming convention used in Armenia
• when HM Passport Office will not ask the customer to align their Armenia passport

Armenia: names

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about names in Armenia.

Names in Armenia consist of:

• personal name
• patronymic name
• a surname

Name alignment

Amenia passports contain the holder’s personal details on 2 pages:

• the page containing the photo will show the holder’s forename and surname in English
• the opposite page (containing their signature) will show the holder’s forename, patronymic name and surname in Armenian text

HM Passport Office will not ask the customer to align their Armenia passport to add the patronymic name in English.

HM Passport Office will add an observation to the British passport referencing the name shown in the foreign passport if:

• the customer is unable to align their Armenia passport; and,
• no exceptions apply, as shown in the guidance, Names: aligning names on foreign documents

Armenia: nationality

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about nationality in Armenia.

Dual nationality is allowed in Armenia.

Armenia: legitimacy and parental responsibility

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about legitimacy and parental responsibility in Armenia.

Legitimacy

Armenia does not recognise a difference between legitimate and illegitimate births. This means all births are considered legitimate whether a child’s parents are married or not.

Parental responsibility

Both parents hold parental responsibility for their child.

The parents of the child are:

• the mother who gave birth to the child
• the father:
  • if married to mother at the time of the birth and the marriage has been registered unless evidence shows he is not
  • if the child was born within 300 days of their parents’ divorce
  • if married at the time of the birth or within 300 days of the parents’ marriage being recognised as invalid by the courts
  • if the parents are unmarried, the father named on the paternity recognition certificate, issued on the basis of a joint application, or a court order legally entered into force

Armenia: adoption

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about adoption in Armenia.

Adoption is legal in Armenia.

Armenia: surrogacy

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about surrogacy in Armenia.

Surrogacy is legal in Armenia.

Armenia: gender recognition

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about gender recognition in Armenia.

Transgender citizens are recognised in Armenia.

A citizen can change their gender on the Civil Status Act records with documents confirming a gender change, issued by a medical institution.

Armenia: civil partnership and marriage

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about civil partnership and marriage in Armenia.

Civil partnerships and same sex relationships are not recognised in Armenia.

There are both religious and civil marriages in Armenia, but only marriages officially registered in Civil Status Acts Registration Agency offices are legally recognised by the state and reflected in the official statistics.

Armenia: documents

This section gives HM Passport Office operational staff information about documents in Armenia.

Birth certificates

Births must be registered in Armenia, there is no time limit for this to happen.. The Civil Status Acts Registration Agency will:

• issue a birth certificate
• re-issue a birth certificate if an error is found

Statements issued by medical institutions only show the name of the mother who gave birth to the child, and are given to the mother or the father.

Marriage certificates

There are both religious and civil marriage certificates in Armenia, but only marriages officially registered in Civil Status Acts Registration Agency offices are legally recognised by the state.

Marriages are officially registered by a joint application of the people who are getting married, on the day indicated in the application. The Civil Status Acts Registration Agency will issue a marriage certificate.

Death certificates

There is no time limit to register a death in Armenia. Death certificates are issued by the Civil Status Acts Registration Agency.

Identity documents

Identity cards were introduced in June 2012 for Armenia nationals, and these are issued by individual states.

Foreign nationals who work and live in Armenia can apply for Temporary Residency Status.