On 23 July the Russian Duma discussed the prospects of simplifying citizenship in order to mitigate the migration rules to enable a broader circle of foreigners to obtain temporary residency in the country. The recently elaborated bill proposed measures to reduce the period of reviewing applications from six to four months. Under the measure, drafted by the Russian government, the privilege to obtain the right to permanent residency is envisaged for individuals who were born in Russia, or resettled in the country as part of an international agreement regulating resettlement procedures and offering protection to refugees' rights under which the Armenian citizens fall as a party to the document. The right to residency is intended for several categories of foreign citizens, including individuals born in Soviet Russia or formerly holding USSR citizenship, children born on the territory of Russia to parents who are Russian citizens, and foreigners working in the country as qualified specialists for no less than six months. The bill is a major part of the executive order signed by the Russian President Vladmir Putin in 2018 which created a migration action plan for the period 2019-2025 and adding migration to the remit of his constitutional rights office. And which foresees granting citizenship for 5 to 10 million migrants.

A day earlier, the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia Zareh Sinanyan went to a working visit in Russia. He met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Grigory Karasin where he presented the main goals and functions of the office of the High Commissioner and the main directions for activities with Armenian communities of the diaspora, including the Armenian community of Russia. He stated that the Armenian community of Russia has great potential, and Armenia will be glad, if the Armenians of Russia, who are already fully integrated in Russian society, are able to participate in the development of Russia and preserve their national identity at the same time.

He also met with the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishin with the Armenian ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan also attending the meeting. The parties discussed the activities of the Armenian community and non-governmental organizations of Russia and opportunities for cooperation between the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs and the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs were discussed. The talks covered the prospects for intensification of contacts and cooperation between young Armenians of Armenia and Russia as well as foreigners. The organization of youth forums and youth participation in those forums as well as the prospect of teaching the Armenian language in Russia were also discussed.

The proposed bill and the visit of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia come at the time where the Gaidar Institute of Economic Policy, a leading Russian think-tank, published their report on the migration trends in Russia in 2019. The report stated that during the first four months of 2019, the increase in net migration to the Russian Federation was 98,000 which is the highest number of migrants to Russia in the last decade. The biggest growing migrant community to Russia came from Armenia and Ukraine. The number of new migrants from Armenia (12 800 people) in Russia increased by more than 2.5 times in comparison to the same period last year (4 900).  The report also noted that as of 1 June 2019, there were around 490 000 Armenian citizens in Russia. Only Ukraine (16 100 people), Kazakhstan (16 100) and Tajikistan (14 200) had more immigrants to Russia than Armenia.

The experts are divided on the correctness of the displayed data. Nikita Mkrtchyan, a leading researcher at the Institute of Demography at the Higher School of Economics believes that the system for recording migration or processing migration information has undergone some changes and that the “unhealthy growth” in numbers of the Armenian population in Russia is due to some methodological errors that were made during the survey. The chairman of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan believes that traditional seasonal migration could play a role, as well as some disappointment with the pace of changes expected in the country of origin.