Migration Code passes second reading in Azerbaijan’s parliament
By Sabina Idayatova
The Migration Code was passed in the Azerbaijani parliament in its second reading on May 24 during the legislature'splenary session.
The updated bill was presented by the chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building Ali Huseynli.
"The Code sets standards for public policy in migration, regulation of the migration processes and relationships that arise in this field, as well as rules on the legal status of foreigners and persons without citizenship in Azerbaijan," he said.
Another MP, Ganira Pashayeva, said during the discussions that people of Azerbaijani descent living abroad are concerned that they are being treated as foreigners.
Pashayeva suggested treating differently the Azerbaijanis who are citizens of foreign countries, and further said that though Azerbaijan does not provide dual citizenship, it is important to grant benefits to the citizens of foreign countries whose parents are Azerbaijanis.
MP Tahir Rzayev said that in some cases, parents may face problems while traveling with children abroad because this requires the permission of both parents. It is necessary to create suitable conditions allowing parents to leave the country with the child with a certificate issued by local executive authorities and with the consent of one of the parents, he suggested.
Children with Azerbaijani parents should be granted all the conditions for stay in Azerbaijan until legal age, MP Chingiz Ganizade said.
A child who was born and lived abroad for a while and was brought to Azerbaijan has to make a visa run every three months until the age of 18, because foreigners can stay in the country only for three months, Ganizade said.
Deputy chief of the State Migration Service Parviz Musayev says that in recent years the number of foreign nationals who come to work in Azerbaijan significantly increased.
According to Musayev, the dynamic development of Azerbaijan's economy has made the country attractive for foreigners.
"Foreigners come to Azerbaijan in search of jobs. The number of foreigners in Azerbaijan grows every year, which has led to the establishment of a migration service.
"Currently, the Migration Service fully implements the tasks assigned by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev," Musayev said.
During its plenary session the Milli Majlis also ratified a number of intergovernmental documents.
The ratified documents include those signed between Azerbaijan and Montenegro -the Declaration on friendship and partnership relations, the Convention on lifting double taxation on income tax and the prevention of tax evasion between the two countries, as well as the agreement on international combined transportation.
The Zagreb Declaration on the relations of strategic partnership and friendship signed between Azerbaijan and Croatia was also approved.
"The said documents are the indicators of the development of Azerbaijan's relations with these countries," the chairman of the parliamentary committee on foreign and inter-parliamentary relations,Samad Seyidov, said.
Also, the Azerbaijani parliament proposed the enactment of a draft law on the status of National Hero.
Only 17 out of Azerbaijan's 211 National Heroes are alive, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on social policy, Musa Guliyev, said during the discussions of the issue.
Guliyev proposed to grant a special status to the National Heroes with regard to such issues as social security, benefits, housing and employment.