Hi Aram - "The Special Residency Status (10 year visa)is granted by the President of Armenia to the foreign citizens of Armenian ancestry...who have provided significant services to the Armenian state and/or are engaged in economic and cultural activities in Armenia." My point is that elderly diasporan Armenians should have a right to return their homeland by virtue of the fact that they are Armenian - not because they are engaged in any economic or cultural activities as presently required by the regulations. Special Residency Permits (lasting for 10 years) have been granted to businessmen but are not available for Armenians who simply want to repatriate or obtain dual citizenship. There ought not to be any obligation to engage in "activities" simply in order to return to one's homeland. The law allows any Tom, Dick or Harry of any nationality to buy Armenian land for house building etc but does not allow Armenians to return simply because they want to live there!

John, it's actually quite easy to get a 10-year visa. All you need is to have an Armenian name and pay 150,000 drams. I think that's affordable, if you consider it's for 10-years (comes out to $40 per year). So I don't see where you see "hoops". Anyone with a 10-year visa knows this already.

If the National Assembly of Armenia wants to encourage repatriation of elderly Armenians then it needs to make it easy for them to do so. Why should an 80 year old diasporan Armenian be expected to live in Armenia for three years before granting "Special Residency" status? The doors to Armenia should be open to Armenians but at the moment they are more tightly closed than the border. Armenians in the diapora have a right to repatriate by taking up dual or sole citizenship, but they have to jump though "hoops" to prove that they are Armenian! How can anyone "prove" that they belong to any particular race?