Stupidity at Zvartnots
Raffi at Cilicia.com details a first hand account of the mayhem that occurred at Zvartnots airport this week when scores of visitors to Armenia who had hoped to pay the customary penalty for overstaying their visas found that the service had been withdrawn without anyone telling them when they first arrived. One of those visitors was my landlord, a locally born Armenian who has been living in Holland for the past 10 years and who travels on a Dutch passport.
As a result of what I can only consider to be a stupid decision on the part of OVIR (Office of Visas and Registration) and Zvartnots, he couldn’t board his plane on Wednesday and is still in the country.
[…] passengers departing at the lovely hour of 4:50am were informed that, the previous evening at 10pm it had been decided that OVIR (Armenia’s visa department) would not be open at the airport anymore, and that extensions would have to be acquired in Yerevan, at the disgusting mess of a run-down office building, with lines like a herd of wilderbeasts, before departing (meaning they would miss their flights which departed in an hour and a half). Just what we want tourists who are kind enough to stay longer than 3 weeks to experience and waste their time on.
Raffi goes on to mention that countries that “actually want to encourage tourism, like say Cyprus, Israel, Australia, Turkey, automatically grant tourists 3 month multiple entry visas, even if they’re coming for the weekend.” However, I think we can even be a little bit more critical than that. As part of its campaign to attract tourism as well as to integrate globally, especially with Europe, visas are not required at all for entering the neighboring Republic of Georgia.
Given the existence of a large Armenian Diaspora, I would suggest that such a move should have first been taken by Armenia, but it seems as though making a quick buck and forcing visitors to contend with the notorious OVIR takes preference over the benefits of making entering Armenia as simple as just presenting a North American, European or many other types of passport at point of entry. I’ve traveled to Georgia without a visa on two occasions, and I’d travel there more as a result.
Tourists who have visited both countries — or choose Georgia over Armenia as a result of there being no visa requirement — agree, so a similar move here is obviously just too sensible for the authorities to consider. Go figure.
Well there’s not much competition for tourist dollars from azerbaijan. It’s $100 for Americans for a 30 day single entry visa.
Comment by carpetblogger — September 8, 2007 @ 3:27 pm
Then stupidity seems to be alive and well there as well. Anyway, I would have hoped that Georgia’s example might have pushed both Armenia and Azerbaijan to follow suit, but obviously not. Interestingly, though, for some reason I never seem to think about Azerbaijan as a tourist destination. Don’t know why. I’m sure it’s lovely. Maybe it’s because attracting foreign businessmen on expense accounts seems to take precedence there. Maybe I’m being unfair. Chigidem.
Comment by Onnik — September 8, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
A journalist with an Armenian name applying for a visa from Armenia might have a hard time getting a visa for Azerbaijan.
Comment by R. — September 8, 2007 @ 8:23 pm
When I read it I thought it was a joke. A monkey could have made a better decision. Oh, well. I have stopped wondering about the idiocy of some bureaucratic decisions.
Comment by nazarian — September 8, 2007 @ 9:40 pm
Nazarian, unfortunately not. I found that out when my landlord turned up to do some repairs a day after he should have left the country. His account pretty much backs up the original post.
Comment by Onnik — September 8, 2007 @ 10:05 pm
Crap! I already bought a ticket for my trip to armenia on the 22nd and I figured on getting the visa at the airport.
Comment by Narbey Derbekyan — September 8, 2007 @ 10:07 pm
Narbey, I don’t know whether this changes getting visas at the airport although it would be best to find out. I’d suggest ringing your nearest Armenian Embassy for clarification. If you find out please post a comment on this site as to what they say. Indeed, if anyone knows, please post a comment.
However, while taking away the possibility to pay a fine on exit for overstaying a visa without alerting anyone is stupid enough, I don’t think they can be so stupid as to stop issuing them as well. Hope that’s the case and visas can still be issued at the airport and indeed, any border crossing point into Armenia.
Anyway, I really don’t think they’d do that and would welcome anyone clarifying the matter for the sake of tourists. Meanwhile, I personally think the government should follow the example of Georgia and waive visas for specific countries, especially those with Diasporan communities in.
At the very least, they should put back the previous system rather than just throw this in without warning. I really can’t imagine what went through their minds. Really.
Comment by Onnik — September 8, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
There is no stupidity in this; it is very cunning and successful scheme to get bribes. It is better to find out that who was behind this ‘novel’ idea. I wonder if there were recent changes in the OVIR hierarchy or new orders to raise some money for the past, upcoming elections. Or even simpler, maybe some people couldn’t finish their construction project before the rainy season.
So the guys in OVIR revised some figures and figured out that they are loosing the possibility of getting a juicy cut from the penalties and they implemented this. Let’s say you are a tourist who will stay few days longer so in order not to loose your return ticket costing $400 you wouldn’t mind paying $100 extra to the OVIR officials. To impliment this it should be centralised.
One of the successfully ways for getting bribes or make some extra cash from the side is to target the desperate and unprotected. Who else is the best target than a tourist. It is practiced anywhere in the world. Create ambiguity, panic and artificial rush and 90% of the job is done now you will just need to introduce ‘ the alternative way’.
A similar tactic was used in Zvartnots during departures many years ago. The scenario was the following: an artificial, disorderly and slow moving queue was creating, and then somebody would announce or spread a rumor that the airplane is departing in 10 minutes. As a person in that chaos you would put any logical judgment aside on an advice from a very compassionate staff member put some money in your passport and hand it over to the next guy on your way through. After that you would be treated as a VIP.
After my last trip to Armenia in this spring I realized that it is The Sopranos world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sopranos).
Comment by Haik — September 9, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
By the way this was not the only change in OVIR. Armenian citizens who need to get their kid’s travel documents can pick them up only from the Yerevan OVIR office. Aravot reported this a week or two ago. Here comes, now you will have even bigger ( I dont use the word ‘longer’ intentionally) queue.
Comment by Haik — September 9, 2007 @ 2:05 pm
Apparently I was right there is a new boss in OVIR. Here what one of the comments in Cilicia.com revealed. I especially like the last phrase
”
The boss is Alvina Zakharyan who worked as teacher of armenian language at school. Due to her good contacts with Serj Sargsyna she has got this position.
Shat lirb kin e………andastirak
”
Comment by Haik — September 9, 2007 @ 2:15 pm
Is she a relative of the current mayor of Yerevan, another Zakharyan? It is not a common surname.
Comment by Haik — September 9, 2007 @ 2:20 pm
I had a look at the comment on Cilicia.com, but saw nothing to indicate that she is a new head at OVIR although to be honest, I don’t know if that’s not the case.
However, when such things happen, you’re right. It’s usually grounds to think that a new “cash-grab” is underway, especially with the election so close.
All the more reason, in my opinion, for the government to waive visas for certain countries as Georgia did. Let them introduce it not only to attract more tourists to Armenia, but also to reduce the possibility for corruption in OVIR.
BTW: Regarding my comment about stupidity, I meant for Armenia and not for the corruptniks that make up much of officialdom here.
Comment by Onnik — September 9, 2007 @ 3:03 pm
Was just speaking to a local journalist friend about all of this and he actually spoke in favor of the move given that most countries actually have severe penalties for overstaying visas which include bans on future travel to the country. So, in the interest of putting both sides to this story, I’m mentioning this now. However, I personally don’t think that there is the same problem of foreigners overstaying their visas to live and work illegally in Armenia as there are in say Europe or the U.S.
Moreover, given that this service has always been at OVIR and was considered to be actually a plus for tourism to Armenia, there should have been many large signs and perhaps even leaflets available at Zvartnots informing incoming visitors of the change. However, from what I understand, there were not. Indeed, my landlord informed that one woman on the same flight has him entered the country on a 21-day visa, but her return flight was actually dated after it had expired.
In such an example, immigration at Zvartnots should have raised questions about that asked her why. They should also have outlined the procedure for extending her visa, but didn’t. In any European or North American airport, and indeed most others, such a response would have occurred. So, maybe the removal of the visa penalty system at Zvartnots does bring Armenia more into line with common international practice, but it’s implementation was still incompetent and inefficient.
Moreover, I still contend that with a large Diaspora and especially to attract more tourists to Armenia, the old system was actually beneficial and probably the government should have followed the example of Georgia by waiving visa requirements for most countries long ago. Indeed, if any country should have introduced such a scheme, it would have been more logical for Armenia to have done so considering the large number of ethnic Armenians living outside the country and the stated aim to improve links between the Republic and the Diaspora.
Comment by Onnik — September 9, 2007 @ 5:49 pm
First of all in most countries they issue visas based on your flight dates. In the USA even if your visa is expired they let you go without any problems. I am not sure how it is in EU countries but I doubt they would keep you and start a criminal investigation. Actually they would even assist that you leave. In many other countries, mainly in ones with big tourism industry they give tourist visas for three months so that you can stay and spend more money.
Where in other places they encourage freedom of movement in Armenia it is becoming the opposite. It is becoming like Russia with ambiguous tourism rules and regulations. It is increasingly becoming a police state. What else you can expect when Serj doesn’t hide his belief that democracy is bad for the people (aka demos).
This looks a small issue but when you combine small issues like these it becomes a place big. I wouldn’t be surprised if they say that such a move was taken in order to fight corruption. I am disgusted.
Comment by Haik — September 10, 2007 @ 12:16 am
Points taken about the three-month tourist visa thing, and as I’ve said many times already, the Georgians allow tourists to stay for up to three months without any visa at all. However, I’ve always been led to believe that overstaying an American visa is really considered something bad. Indeed, it’s very difficult to extend them as I learned from experience in the early 1990s when my father had a stroke and was hospitalized half-paralyzed in Milwaukee. Basically, they wouldn’t let me extend it all.
I also don’t believe that you can dress this one up as part of the fight against corruption. Indeed, by having tourists able to deal with overstaying their visas at Zvartnots strikes me something that can contribute to that far more than putting the process back into the hands of the notoriously corrupt OVIR office in central Yerevan. Anyway, rightly or wrongly, the issue for me here is not so much that this service has been withdrawn from Zvartnots (although yes, I consider it a bad move), but rather than nobody was informed about it.
This strikes me not only as an oversight, but also as complete incompetence. Last point on democracy, however, I have to say that I don’t see there being any parties that truly believe in the concept of democracy. Personality-driven and most with experience in government where they did little better or not at all, it’s all about coming to power and, as many citizens suspect, the acquisition of wealth and the redistribution of property.
Comment by Onnik — September 10, 2007 @ 12:32 am
There go my plans for a visit next year.
Comment by nazarian — September 10, 2007 @ 8:34 am