Press conference dedicated to the results of 2021 held at State Migration Service

A press-conference dedicated to the results of the year has been held in the headquarters of the State Migration Service with the participation of representatives of mass-media.

Welcoming the participants of the conference, chief of the State Migration Service, II rank state migration service counselor Vusal Huseynov spoke about the successful steps taken in the field of migration in 2021, social projects, amendments in legislation, work done to further develop international cooperation and brought to the attention of participants general statistical data.

He underlined that transparent, quality implementation of services provided to citizens at the State Migration Service, ensuring citizen satisfaction and comfort, building its activities in accordance with the requirements of the pandemic, was a priority last year, as well as minimization of administrative procedures, widespread promotion of electronic, optimization of document reception from foreigners and stateless persons, simplification of the procedure of issuance of permits has been carried out last year.

As a result of the work done by the State Migration Service to improve the level of service during the reporting year, according to the report on the results of the assessment of the "ASAN Service index" for 2020-2021, the State Migration Service showed the highest result (92.78%) among the central executive authorities for the 4th time in a row.

Then the chief of the Service announced statistical numbers on the activities of the State Migration Service.

He noted that last year the number of foreigners entering the country was 791,983, which is a 0.5% decrease compared to the same period in 2020. In 2021, compared to 2020, there was an increase of 14.6 % in registration upon place of stay, 19.8 % in issuance of temporary residence, 43.6 % in issuance of permanent residence, as well as 43.2 % in the number of persons issued a work permit. Noting that 420 persons were readmitted last year, chief of the Service said that the number of foreigners currently staying and residing in Azerbaijan is 129,590.

Vusal Huseynov stated that over the past period, the State Migration Service has updated all e-services in order to expand the use of e-services, increase their number and quality, as well as increase citizen satisfaction with services. In addition, 2 new e-services have been created - "Providing information by a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan who acquired the citizenship of a foreign state" and "To determine citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan ".  

Going over the results achieved by the State Migration Service in the field of international cooperation this year, the chief of the Service said that the “Support to the Implementation of the Mobility Partnership with Azerbaijan (MOBILAZE 2)” Project was launched in cooperation with the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).

The chief of the Service noted that the Republic of Azerbaijan is the first country to join the "Champion Countries" initiative in Southeast Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia by the invitation of the United Nations (UN) Migration Network. This initiative was established by the UN Migration Network in September, 2020.

Vusal Huseynov also underlined that trainings in various fields related to migration were organized at the national and international levels within the "Support to the Establishment of the Regional Training Center on Migration in Azerbaijan" Project, which was launched on November 1, 2020 with the financial support of the IOM Development Fund. Within the framework of the project, the Regional Training Center on Migration organized 4 trainings on various areas of migration with the participation of representatives from 10 countries.

This year, the State Migration Service continued close cooperation with the Public Council and the Advisory Board under the Service. The next elections to the Public Council were organized in 2021, and based on the results of the voting, the Public Council under the State Migration Service was formed of 9 people (7 people in previous years) for the next two years.

In a total of 29 awareness-raising events and 170 mobile services were organized in the districts and cities covered by the regional migration departments of the State Migration Service in connection with the migration legislation. The number of calls to the 919 Call Center of the State Migration Service, which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, was 112,805.

The chief of the Service noted that the State Migration Service also paid attention to the organization of social projects last year. Touching upon projects targeting he families of martyrs and veterans, the activities of the “Migration Volunteer” Public Union, the “Migration School-4” Project, activities aimed at low-income foreigners and families living with a refugee status and other social projects, Vusal Huseynov underlined that the activities were highlighted on all social network accounts of the Service.

At the end of the event he answered the questions of media representatives.