In Azerbaijan, citizens who have been removed from their registered address by court order – or who lack permanent residence registration for other reasons – often face difficulties when trying to obtain or replace their national ID card.
However, under Azerbaijani law, an ID card can be issued even if a person has no permanent registration.
Legal expert Fuad Khalilov explains that national legislation guarantees every citizen the right to receive an identity document, regardless of their place of residence.
“Decisions of the Constitutional Court and the Cabinet of Ministers protect this principle. Therefore, refusing to issue an ID card to a citizen without registration is unlawful. Such refusals violate Articles 12, 24, 26 and 71 of the Constitution, the Law on Registration at Place of Residence, the Constitutional Court’s interpretation, and a relevant Cabinet of Ministers decree,” Khalilov said.
He added that the Constitutional Court’s 2003 interpretation explicitly states that the “place of residence” field in the ID card cannot be grounds for denying a document to a citizen who does not have one.
Following this interpretation, the Cabinet of Ministers issued Decree No. 55, which requires that citizens without a place of residence be temporarily registered at the address of the Ministry of Internal Affairs office responsible for issuing ID cards. This address is then conditionally indicated in the “place of residence” field.
“In practice, this means that every citizen must be provided with an ID card – even if they do not have permanent registration,” Khalilov concluded.
