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 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 established 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 call for accreditation is published at least one month before.

The period of annual accreditation ends on December 31 of current year.

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

• Brief CV (.pdf or .jpg formats either in Armenian, Russian, English or French),
• 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 (.jpg format),
• Official letter signed and sealed by the head of the media organisation or editor-in-chief (.pdf or .jpg formats either in Armenian, Russian, English or French).

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 enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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

 

Short-term accreditation

Correspondents of foreign media organisations who visit Armenia for a short period of time shall carry out their professional activities only after receiving an accreditation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For a short-term accreditation it is necessary to complete the following online application at least 10 working days before the date envisaged for the start of journalistic activities, attaching the following documents:

• Brief CV (.pdf or .jpg formats either in Armenian, Russian, English or French),
• 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 (.jpg format),
• Official letter signed and sealed by the head of the media organisation or editor-in-chief (.pdf or .jpg formats either in Armenian, Russian, English or French), where name of the journalist (in case of the group – names of all members of the group) and dates of start and end of activities should be clearly mentioned. Freelancers can present letters with the same content signed by themselves.
• Programme of the visit, in case of the filming – the schedule and places/spots, filming devices ((UAV-drone), camera, etc.), possibility of interviewing the government officials.

 

Technical specifications of the imported equipment should be sent to media@mfa.am e-mail address, using "accreditation_tech_pass" title.

The following information should be included:

• Name and model of the filming equipment,
• Copies of technical passports of photo and video cameras in order to import equipment without custom duties,
• Copy of the UAV technical passport (with the indication of the maximum flight height, capacity of the UAV camera, etc.),
• Copy of UAVs’ insurance with coverage in Armenia,
• An application for the permission for filming with UAV.

Short-term accreditation of foreign media representatives is provided in accordance with the duration of entry visa.

If the journalist is a citizen of a country which has a visa-free regime with the Republic of Armenia, the accreditation will be provided for a duration specified in the official letter submitted by the journalist, which, anyway, should not exceed 3 (three) months.

If necessary, in case of a valid entry visa, a possibility of extending the duration of accreditation may be considered, on the basis of a written application submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The procedure for processing and issuing a visa can be found here.

The information about approval or refusal of accreditation requests is provided within 5 working days after receipt of the application. If necessary, this period may be extended, about which the journalist will be duly notified.

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:

• failure to comply with the deadlines for submitting application
• provision of inaccurate personal data,
• incomplete and/or inaccurate submission of required documents, and failure to correct them even after the request of Ministry’s representative,
• 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 exemplary 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:

• he/she has been declared by the court decision incapable or partially capable,
• he/she has been convicted for a deliberate crime and the criminal record has not expired or conviction has not been repealed,
• he/she has disseminated false information about the activities of a state body, which has been confirmed by a court decision,
• termination of accreditation is requested by the media organisation, which applied for the accreditation
• media organisation, which applied for the accreditation, has ceased to exist and/or media organisation represented by the journalist ceased all its publications,
• 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,
• 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.