Yerevan /Mediamax/. Head of the Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police, Colonel Norayr Muradkhanyan stated today that from January 1, 2014, biological passports or ID cards will be provided to citizens whose passports validity period expired.

He noted that from January 1, passports of the old models will be provided to only children and boys in pre-army age with 3 years of validity period, Mediamax reports. The passports which validity period is not over will be used till the expiry date.

According to Norayr Muradkhanyan, citizens who will have issues traveling abroad will need the biometric passport.

"There is no exit visa in the biometric passport. Thus, it's easier to pass the checkpoints and visa is provided in a facilitated way in embassies", he said.

The biometric passport contains the citizen's name, surname, date of birth, name of the hometown and fingerprints of the two index fingers. In contrast to the old passports, biometric passport consists of 40 pages instead of 32. The ID card contains the same data but the registration address of the citizen is mentioned there instead of the fingerprints. It also includes e-signature which allows making online tax payments.

The Colonel of Police noted that under the law, the ID card is a fully identification document in the territory of Republic of Armenia.

"The citizen may refuse to use the public service number in the ID card to make tax payments: in this case, his social card will be valid", he said.

Biometric passports and ID cards will be provided for 10 years. ID card official charge is AMD3000 and biometric passport costs AMD25 000. Members of families who get poverty allowances and 16-year-old people will be given the ID cards free of charge for the first time. The Police ought to grant it within 15 working days. In case a citizen opts for getting in a shorter period of time, additional charge should be paid.