Accreditation

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA FOR CORRESPONDENTS OF ARMENIAN AND FOREIGN MEDIA ORGANISATIONS

Hereby, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs defines the procedure of annual media accreditation for the correspondents of Armenian and foreign media organisations and short-term accreditation procedure for foreign journalists visiting Armenia.

Annual Accreditation

According to article 6, part 8 of the Law on Mass Media of the Republic of Armenia and on the basis of the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No. 333-N, dated March 3, 2004, which sets the "Exemplary Procedure for Accrediting Journalists to the bodies of the Government of the Republic of Armenia", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, for the coverage of activities, each year in December carries out an annual accreditation of correspondents of the Armenian and foreign mass media organisations. The announcement for accreditation is published at least one month before.

The annual accreditation term expires on December 31 of the current year.

The application for accreditation below should be completed online and the following documents should be attached:

• CV (either in Armenian, Russian or English, .pdf or .jpg formats),
• Valid identity document (ID card or Passport). If validity of the passport is extended, please submit the copy of the page verifying the validity of the document (in .pdf or .jpg formats);
• Official photo for accreditation card (3x4 size, .jpg format),
• Official letter signed and sealed by the head of the media organisation or editor-in-chief (.pdf or .jpg formats), which includes:
  • a brief description of the media outlet (name of the media, audience size, location address, contact details of the director or editor-in-chief of the media outlet).

Immediately after completing the annual accreditation application, the media representative of the Republic of Armenia should send to the email address media@mfa.am a document certifying the registration in the state register of legal entities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, which includes the full name of the legal entity carrying out media activity, organizational-legal form, location, state registration certificate number, date of issue.

Application for accreditation will be considered within 7 working days after receipt, and the applicant will be informed of the decisions through provided contact information of the media. If necessary, the deadline for the review of the application may be extended, about which the journalist or the media organisation will be duly notified. After confirmation of the application, a media representative will be provided with an accreditation card, which will be the official document of the media representative to have access to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Only the holders of the annual accreditation cards will be invited to cover the events organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In order to accommodate the accredited journalists, in case of the limited capacity of the state body's building, the state body, based on considerations of ensuring transparency of its activities and providing the public with more and complete information about this activity, may establish clear, reasonable and fair quotas for the accreditation of journalists according to the media type, distribution area, and circulation of the press, priority content direction and other characteristics of the media. In this case, the accreditation of journalists is carried out by giving priority to journalists representing the media that best meet the required qualities in accordance with these quotas.

The grounds for rejection and termination of accreditation

Applications submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia may be rejected on the following grounds:

1. failure to comply with the deadlines for submitting application,
2. provision of inaccurate personal data,
3. incomplete and/or inaccurate submission of required documents, and failure to correct them even after the request of Ministry’s representative,
4. failure to apply for an entry visa to Armenia (if necessary) or if provision of entry visa to Armenia is denied.

In accordance with the sample procedure of accreditation of journalists to the state governing bodies of the Republic of Armenia, the accreditation of a correspondent could be terminated by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if:

1. he/she has been declared by the court decision incapable or partially capable,
2. he/she has been convicted for a deliberate crime and the criminal record has not expired or conviction has not been repealed,
3. he/she has disseminated false information about the activities of a state body, which has been confirmed by a court decision,
4. termination of accreditation is requested by the media organisation, which applied for the accreditation
5. media organisation, which applied for the accreditation, has ceased to exist and/or media organisation represented by the journalist ceased all its publications,
6. journalist has violated the provisions of internal regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any other state body, of which he/she has been informed in advance,
7. Violated the existing legal limitations for filming in Armenia.

The media representatives, bloggers, and freelancers may be denied the request of the accreditation if they have previously violated the accreditation rules of the MFA of Armenia.

Short-term accreditation

According to article 6, part 8 of the Law on Mass Media of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the provisions of order 1943-N of the  Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia adopted on July 27, 2023 "On Establishing the Procedure for Accreditation in the Republic of Armenia of a journalist carrying out journalistic activities acting on the basis of the legislation of a foreign state",  the activity of a journalist acting on the basis of the legislation of a foreign state visiting the Republic of Armenia is carried out in the Republic of Armenia only if he/she obtains a relevant accreditation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

For short-term accreditation, a journalist, at least 10 working days before his\her journalist activity, submits an online application on the official website of the Ministry, attaching:

• CV (.pdf or .jpg formats either in Armenian, Russian, or English),
• Valid identity document (ID card or Passport). If validity of the passport is extended, please submit the copy of the page verifying the validity of the document (in .pdf or .jpg formats),
• Official photo for accreditation card (3x4 size, .jpg format),
• Official letter signed and sealed by the head of the media organisation or editor-in-chief (.pdf or .jpg formats), which includes:
• a brief description of the media (the name of the media, the size of the audience, the address of the location, contact details of the director or editor-in-chief of the media),
• the name and surname of the journalist (in the case of a journalistic group-all members of the group),
• the shooting period.

Immediately after completing the accreditation application, the program of the visit, in case of filming, the locations of the filming according to the planned days, scheduling of interviews with government officials, the means of filming (unmanned aerial system: drone, camera, etc.) and the technical specifications of the imported equipment must be sent to media@mfa.am email address.

Short-term accreditation of a journalist is provided for the period indicated in the application submitted by the latter, which cannot exceed 3 months, unless another period is specified on the official website of the Ministry.

Within 5 working days after receiving the application, a letter about the decision on accreditation is sent to the journalist's email address. In case of submission of incomplete or inaccurate data, the Ministry notifies about it within one day by sending a letter to the journalist's email address. Within one day after sending the letter, the journalist is obliged to submit complete and accurate data to the Ministry. If necessary, the deadline for the consideration of the application can be extended, about which the journalist is additionally informed.

On the basis of a written application of a journalist addressed to the Ministry, the accreditation period may be extended for up to 3 months if the journalist has not completed his/her journalistic activities within the period specified in the application and provides information on the work carried out during the period specified in the application (filming, interviews, publications).

The grounds for rejection and termination of accreditation

Applications submitted to the Ministry may be rejected on the following grounds:

1. failure to comply with the deadlines for submitting application
2. provision of inaccurate personal data,
3. incomplete or inaccurate submission of required documents
4. failure to correct them within one day even after the request of Ministry’s representative
5. failure to apply for an entry visa to Armenia or if provision of entry visa to Armenia is denied.
6. if the journalist has violated the provisions of internal regulations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or any other state body, of which he/she has been informed in advance,
7. if the journalist has violated the existing legal limitations for filming in Armenia,
8. if the journalist's application was previously rejected on the grounds provided for in subpoints 6 and 7 of this point, or terminated on one of the grounds provided for in subpoints 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of point 10 of the order 1943-N, approved by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia.

The Minister may terminate the accreditation of a journalist if:

1. he/she recognized as missing or declared by the court decision incapable or partially capable,
2. he/she has been convicted for a deliberate crime and the criminal record has not expired or conviction has not been repealed,
3. he/she has disseminated false information about the activities of a state body, which has been confirmed by a court decision,
4. termination of accreditation is requested by the media organisation, which applied for the accreditation
5. media organisation, which applied for the accreditation, has ceased to exist and/or media organisation represented by the journalist ceased all its publications,
6. journalist has violated the provisions of internal regulations of the Ministry or any other state body, of which he/she has been informed in advance,
7. Violated the existing legal limitations for filming in Armenia.

The Ministry within one day notifies the person carrying out journalist activities by letter of termination of accreditation.

For the information of representatives of foreign mass media who apply for permission to enter the borderline of the state border of the Republic of Armenia, we inform that in addition to obtaining accreditation from the MFA of Armenia, in accordance with Appendix No. 1 to the Decree of the RA Government No. 735-N dated May 12, 2011, it is also necessary to apply for permission from the NSS of Armenia. An application submitted for the purpose of entry (exit) into the borderline is considered and a response is given within 30 days.

Regulation of the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia