28.11.2002 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Travel documents and visa issues ("8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Vienna, 28 - 29 June 2002: Final Report - Armenia - co-funded by the EU Odysseus Programme") [#9877],  [ID 3382]

"Nagorno Karabakh maintains a liaison office in Yerevan that issues visa to those
foreigners who wish to travel there from Armenia. These travel documents are usually
examined at a checkpoint before crossing near Goris into the territory of the Republic of
Karabakh. Armenian citizens do not need a visa in order to travel in and out of Nagorno
Karabakh. The same is true for Nagorno Karabakh residents who intend to travel to the
territory of Armenia proper. Diaspora Armenians, however, have to obtain a visa in
order to get into Nagorno Karabakh. Like regular Armenian citizens, people from Nagorno Karabakh are issued Armenian
passports for the purpose of traveling abroad, yet with a registration number containing
a code that indicates that the bearer is from Nagorno Karabakh. In other words, only
the civil servants responsible for issuing passports know that the bearer is actually from
Nagorno Karabakh, because no one else knows the code or would be able to recognise
the Nagorno Karabakh origin of the bearer by just taking a look at the passport. The
fact that those in the enclave hold special passports is not a matter of discrimination. As
Nagorno Karabakh is a separate political and administrative entity the passports simply
serve to identify who is a genuine citizen of the Republic of Armenia and who is a citizen
of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, even if the latter has not been officially
recognised."

Document(s): Arm-cois2002-rep.pdf

28.11.2002 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Karabakh accepts dual citizenship ("8th European Country of Origin Information Seminar Vienna, 28 - 29 June 2002: Final Report - Armenia - co-funded by the EU Odysseus Programme") [#9877],  [ID 3383]

"Of the 200,000 people living on the territory of the present Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh (comprising the former autonomous republic of Nagorno Karabakh as well as
the occupied/liberated areas) before the conflict today only about 120,000 people have
remained and 300,000 to 500,000 former Karabakh residents live in the Diaspora. In
contrast to Armenia, Karabakh accepts dual citizenship, which allows people to return
while retaining their foreign citizenship. Typically, anyone who returns to Karabakh goes
directly to Karabakh and not to the occupied/liberated areas."

Document(s): Arm-cois2002-rep.pdf