Armenia Residence Permit (2026): Temporary and Permanent Residency Guide for Indian and Other Foreign Nationals

Tabsi Travel consulting team Last reviewed against official sources: November 2, 2026

Free assessment of your residence route on WhatsApp

Or call +374 33 099171 or use the contact form. Tabsi Travel is a private consultancy in Yerevan, not a government body, and does not guarantee outcomes.

Armenia residence permit at a glance

In the first half of 2026 the Migration and Citizenship Service (MCS, the migration authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs) granted 10,561 residence statuses, 59% more than a year earlier: 8,181 temporary (6,085 employment-based) and 2,085 permanent. Indian citizens ranked second for temporary status, after Russians, and were among the top four nationalities for employment-based applications; only rankings are published.

What changed on 1 November 2026

Law HO-11-N of 20 January 2026 amended the Law on Foreigners with effect from 1 November 2026. The full list is in the new residence rules from 1 November 2026; below are the changes that alter what you do.

One electronic platform: mcs-permits.am

Applications go through the MCS platform mcs-permits.am; migration.e-gov.am and the Early One app no longer serve residence matters. The interface is Armenian only (there is no English version): a practical reason to file through your employer or an agent. MCS: 84-22, mcs@gov.am.

workpermit.am is closed

The old portal shows a closure notice pointing to mcs-permits.am. "Work permit" has left the law too: it is now a "permission to stay or reside for the purpose of employment", an electronic confirmation. See employment-based residence in Armenia.

No more extension

The amended law has no extension clause: when a card expires you file a new application and pay the duty again. See renewing Armenian residence (re-application).

Annual quota

The Government sets a yearly cap by status type, number and ground; an exhausted quota is a refusal ground. No figures were published as of 2 November 2026.

Special 10-year status abolished

No longer granted; those who received it before 1 November 2026 keep it until expiry.

183-day absence notice

Absence of 183 days or more must be notified through the platform within 10 days; permanent residents on the investment or exceptional-services ground are exempt.

Higher, non-refundable duties

AMD 150,000 (temporary) or AMD 250,000 (permanent) to review, plus AMD 5,950 for the card; the certificate of legality of residence costs AMD 30,000 plus 5,950. According to the MIA announcement, the duty is not refunded if the application is refused. Breakdown: cost of an Armenia residence permit.

What happens to my current card?

Applications filed before 1 November 2026 are decided under the old rules; existing documents stay valid until expiry. A transitional route for stays that lapsed between 15 July and 31 October 2026 is reported by law firms, not yet official: confirm with the MCS.

Types of residence status

Temporary residence is granted for up to one year on the grounds in Article 15(1): study or scientific activity, employment, family, entrepreneurial activity, ethnic Armenian origin. Permanent residence is a five-year card; on the family and entrepreneurial grounds it needs three years of temporary status within the last five, and the law also lists ethnic Armenian origin, investment (conditions unpublished) and exceptional services. Special residence is closed. The work entry visa (120 days) is in the law, but it and the employment permission take effect only after the new electronic entry-visa system launches; nothing had been announced as of 2 November 2026.

Who can apply: Indian and other foreign nationals

An eVisa or visa-free stay is not residence, and not work authorisation

An eVisa lets you visit; residence needs a ground that justifies staying one year or more. A visit visa does not let you work: employment needs the electronic employment permission or employment-based residence, filed by your employer. Entry rules: Armenia eVisa for Indian citizens.

Wrong entry channel is a refusal ground

Article 19 lists two grounds that catch foreign applicants: entering on a visitor, official, diplomatic or transit visa and applying for employment residence without changing visa type; and entering visa-free and applying without the employment permission. Because the visa and permission provisions are deferred, interim practice is unknown: ask before travelling on a visit visa to take a job.

Grounds (Articles 15 and 16)

Table 1 lists them: five temporary grounds; permanent after three years of temporary status (family or entrepreneurial), or by ethnic Armenian origin, investment (pending) or exceptional services.

Why applications are refused

• The annual quota for that status and ground is exhausted.
• Entrepreneurial status, after the grant: invalidated if no tax data appears within 180 days, or the capital falls below AMD 1,000,000.
• Employment status: no contract within 15 working days of the grant.
• Wrong entry channel, as above.
• A requested action not completed within 5 days: automatic suspension.
• Incomplete, untranslated or unlegalised documents.

Routes compared

Not sure which route fits you? Ask on WhatsApp or call +374 33 099171

Employment-based residence: the main route for Indian workers

Employment was the largest category in the first half of 2026 (6,085 of 8,181 temporary statuses). The employer's director or authorised person registers on mcs-permits.am, adds you (passport, e-mail, phone, photo), completes the working-conditions questionnaire and creates the application; the MCS reviews only after the duty is paid, by the employer or by you. You confirm identity by face recognition via an e-mail invitation. There is no labour-market test. A contract must be signed within 15 working days of the grant; if the job ends, you have 15 working days to sign a new one or the status ends. An employer who does not provide the promised job is liable for your living, relocation and return costs.

Company route: the AMD 2,000,000 rule

Investing at least AMD 2,000,000 in the charter capital of an Armenian company (LLC) qualifies for the entrepreneurial ground. Registration carries no state duty, is immediate with the model charter and otherwise takes one working day; the tax number (TIN) is assigned automatically; 100% foreign ownership is allowed; a founder abroad files through a representative with a power of attorney, as online self-filing needs Armenian e-identification. Company law sets no minimum capital; AMD 2,000,000 is only the residence ground. Two warnings: the status can be invalidated if no tax data appears within 180 days or the capital falls below AMD 1,000,000; and since 1 November 2026 the former exemption for founders and directors of majority-foreign companies is gone, so a foreign founder or director needs work authorisation unless they hold entrepreneurial-ground residence. Details: Armenia residence permit through company registration and company registration in Armenia.

Sole entrepreneur: freelancers and remote workers

A registered individual entrepreneur (IE) qualifies with at least AMD 1,000,000 in business accounts or, per the platform's service page, AMD 1,000,000 turnover in the previous reporting period. IE registration is immediate, free online and AMD 3,000 on paper; foreign IEs self-register on mcs-permits.am.

Study, family and ethnic Armenian origin

Study is a temporary ground; its new document list is unpublished, so confirm with the institution and the MCS. Family is a temporary ground, and permanent residence through family needs three years of temporary status; for minors the official pre-reform list asks for the birth certificate, parents' passports and marriage certificate. Foreigners of Armenian origin qualify for temporary or permanent status and may self-register.

Investment and property

Investment is a permanent-residence ground, but as of 2 November 2026 the Government had not published its conditions or amount. Property is not a listed ground. The platform lets investors of AMD 5,000,000 or more self-register; that governs who may open an account, not a residence threshold.

Documents for Indian and other foreign applicants

Note: official pre-reform checklist (identical for temporary and permanent). No post-reform list was published as of 2026-11-02; expect the same items uploaded to the platform, and confirm before filing.

Apostille or consular legalisation

Armenia has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 1994 and accepts a foreign public document with an apostille or consular legalisation, followed by Armenian translation. Which you need depends on whether your country is a Convention party: check the HCCH status table in the sources, or ask us. A police clearance certificate is not on the official pre-reform list.

Translation

The passport needs a notarised Armenian translation; for a company filing, the founders' and director's passports must be certified and translated into Armenian. Prices depend on page count.

Step by step on mcs-permits.am

1. Choose the ground (Table 3): employment for workers with an Armenian job offer, the company route for business owners.
2. Prepare, translate and legalise documents (Table 4).
3. Create the ground: secure the job offer (the contract itself is signed within 15 working days of the grant), or register the LLC or IE (immediate to one working day).
4. File on mcs-permits.am. Default: your employer files. Alternative: foreign IEs, ethnic Armenians and investors of AMD 5,000,000 or more self-register; a company applies for its foreign owners. We prepare and upload the file; you confirm identity by face recognition via the e-mail invitation.
5. Pay the state duty. Review starts after payment; not refunded on refusal (MIA announcement).
6. Preliminary review and one in-person appointment. A requested action not completed within 5 days suspends the proceeding automatically. Your stay remains lawful while the decision is pending.
7. Decision within 30 days of filing, taking the annual quota into account.
8. Collect the card and legality certificate in person, giving fingerprints and an electronic signature sample (under-16s with a parent), at the location the MCS designates in your case (before 1 November 2026: Unified Office for Public Services, 3 Vazgen Sargsyan St.).

Note: no post-reform end-to-end timelines exist yet; 30 days is the legal decision period, not a promise. We will publish dated case timelines once our first files under the new system close.

Fees and total cost

Note: we print no USD or INR equivalents because rates move; convert at the Central Bank of Armenia rate on the day you pay. "From 1 January 2027" in some reports refers to the work-visa duty, not residence duties. Full table: cost of an Armenia residence permit.

Keeping your status

180-day tax test (company and IE routes). If the State Revenue Committee's database shows no tax data on business activity within 180 days of the grant, or the capital drops below AMD 1,000,000, the status can be invalidated: the business must genuinely operate. Companies with turnover up to AMD 115 million may elect the turnover-tax regime (10% trade and services, 7% production, since 1 January 2025); otherwise VAT is 20% and profit tax 18%; salaries carry 20% income tax, dividends 5%.

15 working days after a job ends: sign a new contract through the digital system, or the status terminates.

183-day absence: notify the MCS within 10 days.

Annual re-application: a one-year card is not extended; you file a new application, and each application carries the review duty. See renewing Armenian residence (re-application).

From temporary to permanent residence

Permanent residence on the family or entrepreneurial ground requires at least three years of temporary status within the last five (Art. 16(1)); the permanent card is issued for five years (AMD 250,000 plus the card). Ethnic Armenian origin, investment (once the Government publishes the conditions) and exceptional services are the other grounds. Permanent residents work without the employment permission. Armenian citizenship is governed by a separate law and is outside this guide.

Advantages and limits for foreign residents

Nationals of jurisdictions on the FATF high-risk list face enhanced due diligence, or refusal, at Armenian banks; see opening a bank account in Armenia. If Germany is the longer-term goal, see the German work visa from Yerevan; Armenian residence is not a shortcut to it.

Common mistakes

• "My eVisa lets me work." No: work needs the employment permission or employment-based residence, filed by the employer.
• "I'll get a work permit." The term no longer exists; it is now a permission to stay or reside for the purpose of employment.
• "Founders don't need work authorisation." That exemption ended on 1 November 2026.
• "The card is renewable." It is not extended; you file a new application.
• "Investors get fast five-year permanent residence." Five years is the card's validity; investment conditions are unpublished; the company route needs three years of temporary status.
• "The fee is AMD 105,000." Since 1 November 2026: AMD 150,000 plus 5,950.
• "File on workpermit.am" or "permit.am". The platform is mcs-permits.am.
• "It takes 15–30 days." The law gives the MCS 30 days; no post-reform data exist.
• "Buy a flat and get residency." Property is not a listed ground.

Frequently asked questions

Get a free assessment of your residence case

Or call +374 33 099171 or send the contact form. Related: services · about Tabsi Travel · FAQ · cases and news · Armenia for Indian citizens.