Artsakh passports are issued to Artsakh citizens to travel outside the partially recognized

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...

. They are also used as proof of identity within the country. Passports of the Republic of Artsakh are issued based on amendments to the Constitution of Artsakh of 2006.

Physical appearance

An ordinary Artsakh passport is dark red, with the Republic of Artsakh's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

emblazoned in gold in the center of the front cover. It is almost identical to the Armenian Passport. The words ( hy, Արցախի Հանրապետություն) "Republic of Artsakh" and ( hy, Անձնագիր) "Passport" in the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

languages also appear on the front cover. The passport is valid for 10 years from the time of issue, the contents of the passport are in the Armenian and English languages.

Travel and recognition

Due to the status of the state, the passport is not legally recognized by the international community and it is used only within the borders of Artsakh and three other

post-Soviet The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

disputed states;

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

, and

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

as all members of the

Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations The Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations (russian: Сообщество за демократию и права народов), also commonly and colloquially known as the Commonwealth of Unrecognized States, rarely as CIS-2 (), is a ...

have agreed to abolish visa requirements for their citizens. In addition, citizens of Artsakh may travel visa-free to neighboring

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

. Artsakh permits dual citizenship, and as a result a number of Syrian Armenian refugees were granted Artsakh passports when they immigrated in 2012.

References

Republic of Artsakh Passports by country {{passport-stub

Physical appearance

Travel and recognition

See also

References