Armenia's Law on Foreigners and EAEU Membership

Europe has no single work visa that you can use in each of its states, and the rules here, as in the rest, turn on the line of work you are in. The official EU Immigration Portal is the place to look up the rules in EU states, but this country is not one of them. Here, the Law on Foreigners and the Labour Code say who may work and on what terms.

The country is in the EAEU with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, so people from those four states can take a job here with no permit. All the rest need a yes from the state, as a Schengen visa, a card from an EU state or a work permit from Georgia next door gives you no right to work in Yerevan.

To weigh the country up against the rest, start with our guide to work visas across Europe, which puts the main routes side by side.

The land border with Azerbaijan is shut, and the UK Foreign Office says not to go within 5 km of it, so check the latest travel advice first.

Who Is Exempt and Who Needs a Work Permit in Armenia

Treaties and the kind of status you hold count as much as the job, so find your row in the table first.

This page is for people who move to the country to work, so if you hold an Armenian passport and hope to work in the EU, look at work permits in Poland instead. There, you may be able to use a quick route based on a short form that the firm files.

Conditions Behind an Armenian Work Permit

The state checks three things, the firm, the job and you, and a file that is ready should show each point below.

• The firm must be on the state's list of firms, and it must give you a contract that follows the local Labour Code.
• Your pay must be at least the lowest legal wage, which the state sets in drams and can raise from time to time.
• The labour ministry must first agree that no local job seeker can fill the post before the hire can go ahead.
• You need a degree, a trade paper or proof of past work that fits the tasks you will do in the job.
• You must have no ban on entry, no grave crime on your record and no link to a risk to the safety of the state.

Some jobs, such as those in health care and law, also need a check of your degree or a local licence. Start on that early, since it can take more time than the permit.

Armenia's Three Residence Statuses and the Work Permit

Here, your right to work and your right to live in the country are linked, yet they are not the same, and the table shows the papers that people from abroad come across most.

Keep your card with your passport at all times when you are out and about, as firms, banks and the police may all ask to see it.

EAEU Citizens and Armenia's Open Labour Market

The EAEU treaty lets people from its member states take a job here with no work permit and no check of the local job market. Their degrees count with no extra steps, save for jobs in teaching, law, health care and pharmacy, where the normal checks still apply.

They and their family must still go online soon after they sign the contract to show that their stay is legal. The family can stay as long as the job lasts, and social cover works just as it does for local staff, while pensions come under a deal of their own.

Applying Under Armenia's Reformed Work Permit Rules

For a standard job, a work visa for Armenia runs through the six steps that you see below. The firm does most of the work at the start, and you take the lead once your card is ready.

1. Agree a job: a local firm agrees to hire you on a contract that follows the Labour Code and pays at least the lowest legal wage.
2. Firm puts the job online: the firm enters the job on the online work permit system, and the labour ministry checks if a local job seeker could fill it first.
3. Firm adds your details: once the labour ministry says yes, the firm has 15 working days to add your own details and papers to that same online file.
4. Wait for the answer: the Migration and Citizenship Service checks the whole file, and your card should be ready within 30 days of the day the firm sent it in.
5. Make the trip: if you need a visa, get it, or an e-visa, before you fly, and keep in mind that a trip on its own never lets you work.
6. Collect your card: you pick up the card in person at the Unified Office of Public Services in Yerevan, and you must renew it before it runs out.

A new law has been passed that will move all these forms to one online site, add a work entry visa of up to 120 days and drop the old way to extend a stay. It is due to take effect on 1 November, so we check which rules apply on the day your file goes in.

Translated Papers for the Armenian Authorities

State offices here work in Armenian, so each paper from abroad needs a sworn translation into Armenian. Most also need an apostille, which the state will take as it has signed the Hague Apostille Convention.

What You Prepare as the Worker

• A passport that is still good for at least as long as you plan to live and work in the country.
• Fresh photos, sized and styled the way the migration office wants them for your card.
• The job contract signed by you and the firm, or the firm's offer of the job to you.
• Proof of your skills, from degrees and trade papers to letters from the firms you worked for in the past.
• A police check from your home country, if the state asks you to send one in with the file.
• A sworn translation of each paper that was made in another country, plus an apostille where needed.

Employer Records for the Work Permit Request

• The firm's state sign-up details and its tax number, which link the job to a real local business.
• Proof that the state has agreed to the hire after its check for local job seekers.
• The work contract, which must show a wage that is no lower than the lowest legal rate.

State Duties in Drams and Other Costs

The state charges a fee, called a state duty, for each kind of status, and the law sets these sums in drams. The latest figure from the migration service is AMD 105,000 for a card on work grounds, but fees can change, so check the sum before you pay.

Your pay is set in the contract and paid in drams, and we list the state fees at the start, so a missing receipt does not hold up your file.

How Long Armenian Permit and Status Decisions Take

How fast your work visa for Armenia comes through turns on the job check, on your passport and on how soon the firm acts. The firm has 15 working days to add your details once the labour ministry says yes, and your card should then be ready within 30 days of the day the firm sends the file.

Most hold-ups come from a missing translation, a slow reply from the firm or a status that is close to its end date. We plan each step with you in the right order, so your trip, the permit and your card do not clash.

Jobs for Foreigners From Yerevan to the Ararat Valley

We could not find a state list of jobs in short supply, so the table is based on the main trades in the country. IT firms and building sites in Yerevan hire all year round, while hotels and farms take on most of their staff for the high season.

Pay, Timing and Relocation Guides for Armenia

Our guides look at pay, time frames and day to day life in more depth, so you know what to expect.

• Armenia work permit processing times, which sets out each stage, from the job check to the day you hold your card.
• Armenian jobs in demand and what they pay, with a close look at IT, building work and the hotel trade.
• The perks of a job in Armenia, from the cost of food and rent to weekends in the hills and by the lake.
• Moving to Armenia, with tips on how to rent a flat, open a bank account and deal with forms once you land.

Missteps That Hold Up Armenian Applications

• You start work while you are on a visit, before the firm's permit and your own card are in place.
• You hand in papers from abroad that lack a sworn translation, or that lack an apostille.
• The firm signs you up for work before the state has agreed to the hire after its local check.
• You let your card run out before you start to renew it, which can leave you with no right to stay.
• You think any passport from the region brings EAEU rights, when only people from the member states have them.
• You move to a new firm and do not check first if that firm must ask for a new permit for you.

How EU Helpers Supports Armenian Hires

• We check the rules once more before each file goes in, since a new law will change them soon.
• We make sure that your firm is set up on the online system and is ready to put the job in.
• We get sworn translations of your papers made, and we check that each apostille is in place.
• We tell you at the start if EAEU rules, or a status you hold, change what you need to do.
• We send you a note well before your permit and your card are due to run out.

No one outside the state can overrule the authorities, as they decide each case, and we make that plain from the first day. To see how we work, look through our recent visa approvals, read what workers we placed say about us or find out who we are.

Get Started With EU Helpers

Each path below fits a different need, so pick yours, and someone on our team will talk you through the permit and card steps. You can also book a time to speak with us before you choose.

Register as a Worker (Find Jobs in Armenia)

Make a profile, and EU Helpers can put you in touch with firms we have checked, then help you get the papers ready for your permit and your card.

1. Jobs with local firms that have passed our checks, in Yerevan and in other towns.
2. A checklist of papers built around your passport and the rules in force when you file.
3. Help to get sworn translations and an apostille for each paper that needs one.
4. Advice on how to get into the country, whether your passport needs a visa or not.
5. A note from us long before your card or your permit is due to run out.

Register as a Worker

Register as a Recruiter / Agency

If you place workers here, you gain a partner that keeps a close watch on the work permit rules and on the new law.

1. Open jobs in Yerevan and the regions, with a note of the papers that each one needs.
2. Clear notes on the job check and on the firm's online request for each permit.
3. Each worker's file checked against the rules on translations before it goes in.
4. Regular news on each case, from the permit request to the day the card is ready.
5. Help to sort out EAEU workers, who need no permit, from all the rest.

Register as a Recruitment Partner

Register as an Employer (Hire Foreign Workers in Armenia)

If your firm cannot find enough local staff, EU Helpers can find workers abroad for you and help you follow the Law on Foreigners at each step.

1. Screened workers for jobs in IT, on building sites, in hotels and out on the farms.
2. Help with the job details that the state looks at before it agrees to a hire.
3. Work permit requests drawn up hand in hand with your HR staff, so no part is left out.
4. Plans for each new hire's visa and trip, so that staff can start on time.
5. A note for each foreign worker when it is time to renew a card.

Register as an Employer

Why Registration Is Important

Your sign-up lets us check who you are, and who each firm and partner is, before we start on a file. Your translations, dates and notes then sit in one place, which helps a lot while the rules are in flux.

Author

EU Helpers Team. We keep a close eye on how the migration service runs the work permit system here, and this page will change when the new law comes into force.

Official Sources

Armenia's work permit rules have changed recently, so confirm every point with these official bodies:

• Armenia, Law on Foreigners and other laws in force, Armenian Legal Information System: arlis.am
• Armenia, residence status and work permits, Migration and Citizenship Service: migration.am
• Armenia, visas and the e-visa service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs: mfa.am
• Armenia, employment and labour policy, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs: mlsa.am
• Eurasian Economic Union, treaty rules on labour migration, Eurasian Economic Commission: eec.eaeunion.org
• United Kingdom, travel advice for Armenia, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: gov.uk
• European Commission, EU Immigration Portal for EU member states: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu