Im Kayl (My Step) MP Sisak Gabrielyan, in a Facebook post, writes that the Voskerichian family will be able to receive their household goods, now stored in a Yerevan customs warehouse, without paying the $16,000 fee demanded by customs officials.

On March 11 Hetq wrote about the problem facing the family that has moved to Armenia from Lebanon.

Gabrielyan writes that the National Assembly will first have to pass legislation doing away with a clause in the law stating that those permanently resettling in Armenia can ship used personal items duty free, but only if they reside in Armenia for more than six months in a one-year period.

Ishkhan Voskerichian told Hetq that he wasn’t aware of the time limit when he first arrived in Armenia in the spring of 2016. He then returned to Lebanon that August, to bring his wife and two boys, thus making him ineligible for the customs waiver.

The new bill has already been drafted and will soon be presented to the National Assembly for review.

This reporter informed the Voskerichians about this latest development and they say they are ready to wait a bit longer.

The family, according to MP Gabrielyan, also has the option to pay the AMD 8 million ($16, 400) customs fee and receive the goods before the new legislation is approved. The money would be returned to them afterwards.

“Each citizen who repatriates is dear to us,” Gabrielyan writes.