Armenia · Europe
Moving to Yerevan
Yerevan quick facts
Armenia at a glance
Europe & Central Asia
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationArmenia Census 2011
Cost of living in Yerevan
Can you move to Armenia?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Armenia — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Armenia
Visas & Residency
Nationals of a long list of countries stay up to 180 days within any one-year period with no visa — but the days accumulate across the year rather than resetting on exit, and it is entry rather than residence. Beyond that Armenia runs a genuinely simple one-year temporary residence permit on employment, business, study or family grounds. There is no digital nomad visa and never has been. A rewrite of the Law on Foreigners commences on 1 November 2026, having been deferred from 1 August.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting Around & Driving
Armenia drives on the RIGHT. Yerevan's centre is genuinely walkable end to end, the single metro line and the renewed bus network both cost AMD 100 a ride, and Yandex Go and GG dominate ride-hailing at very low fares. Foreign licences are usable as a visitor; once you hold a residence permit you are expected to exchange within about 60 days — and Armenia does not make you sit a driving exam to do it.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a Bank Account
You can open an Armenian account without residency or citizenship — passport plus a Public Services Number is the core of it — and Ameriabank, Inecobank, Evocabank and ACBA all handle non-residents. The catch is compliance: since 2022 banks want a clear reason why Armenia, and a documented source of funds. Idram and Telcell wallets handle the day-to-day QR payments alongside the card.
Read the full step-by-step guideHealthcare & Insurance
Armenia has a state-guaranteed basic package that covers emergency care and defined categories, but most care in practice is paid privately, and foreigners without an employer plan buy private insurance. Costs are low: a private GP consultation is typically AMD 8,000-20,000. Yerevan holds essentially all of the country's serious hospital capacity, and it has become a regional destination for dentistry and elective work.
Read the full step-by-step guideMobile & Internet (SIM)
Three operators — Team Telecom Armenia, Viva Armenia and Ucom — sell SIMs cheaply with passport registration. Data is inexpensive and coverage in Yerevan is good. Home fibre is fast and widely installed, and most furnished flats already have it. The one Yerevan-specific issue is not the network but the cafés: the city's remote-work culture runs on café Wi-Fi, and its quality varies wildly.
Read the full step-by-step guideTaxes & the Company Regimes
Armenia taxes residents on WORLDWIDE income at a flat 20% — there is no territorial exemption. Residency is 183 days in a calendar year or having your centre of vital interests here. The low rates people come for are company regimes: 1% turnover for registered high-tech companies under AMD 115 million, general turnover tax under the same ceiling at rates from 1.5% to 12% by activity, and a 0% micro-business band up to AMD 24 million that has excluded IT and consulting since July 2025.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential Armenian phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
The 180 visa-free days are counted across the year, not reset by leaving
CriticalArmenia lets nationals of a long list of countries stay up to 180 days within any one-year period. That is generous, but it is NOT Georgia's 365-day-per-entry rule, and border-running does not reset it — the days accumulate. Chinese and Iranian nationals sit on a different footing again at 90 days in any 180. Armenia has never had a digital nomad visa and none is pending; if you intend to stay past the 180 days you convert to a temporary residence permit, which is genuinely straightforward.
The immigration overhaul was pushed from 1 August to 1 November 2026 — most guides say otherwise
CriticalA wholesale rewrite of the Law on Foreigners introduces online filing, biometric residence cards, a dedicated work visa, and a five-year permanent residence permit replacing the ten-year 'special status' for ethnic Armenians. State fees rise to AMD 150,000 for a one-year permit and AMD 250,000 for the five-year permanent one, and become non-refundable on refusal. Commencement was moved from 1 August to 1 November 2026. Almost every write-up published earlier in 2026 describes it as already in force. Until November, the old framework applies — check which set of rules your adviser is quoting.
Armenia taxes residents on WORLDWIDE income at a flat 20%
CriticalThe 183-day test — or, earlier, having your centre of vital interests in Armenia — makes you a tax resident, and residents pay a flat 20% personal income tax on worldwide income. There is no territorial exemption of the kind people assume from the region's reputation. The low-rate company regimes sit on top of this; they do not replace it. If someone tells you Armenia is a 0% jurisdiction for foreign income, they are describing a country that is not this one.
The 0% micro-business regime excludes IT and consulting — since July 2025
CriticalArmenia's micro-business regime taxes turnover up to AMD 24 million at 0%, which sounds ideal for a relocated freelancer. Since July 2025 it excludes consulting, legal, accounting, advertising, translation, medical services and — the one that matters here — IT and data processing. The separate 1% high-tech turnover regime (Laws HO-498-N and HO-499-N, in force from 1 January 2025 and legislated through 31 December 2031) requires enrolment in the state High-Tech Registry, at least 90% of sales from listed high-tech activities and turnover under AMD 115 million. Get an Armenian accountant to confirm your activity codes before choosing a structure.
The rental market is volatile and driven by arrivals from Russia — including right now
ImportantRoughly 110,000 Russians relocated to Armenia in 2022 and rents in central Yerevan roughly doubled within months. Prices eased, then a fresh wave in mid-2026 pushed Yerevan rents up sharply again over a single quarter. Practical consequences: quote your budget in dollars because many landlords do, expect to view and decide the same day in a hot spell, and be sceptical of any rent guide more than six months old. Signing a longer lease at a fixed rent is worth more here than in a stable market.
The Azerbaijani border is closed, and so is the Turkish one — plan travel through Georgia
ImportantArmenia and Azerbaijan have no diplomatic relations and no open land border; the Turkish border has been closed since 1993. Every overland route in or out of Armenia runs through Georgia or Iran. Zvartnots airport is well connected, but the practical effect is that a Caucasus road trip taking in both Yerevan and Baku is not possible in one loop, and an Armenian stamp has historically complicated Azerbaijani entry. State this to yourself before booking anything regional.
Top industries & employers
IT & Software
Picsart, Krisp, ServiceTitan, Synopsys Armenia, EPAM, plus a large freelance layer
Armenia's flagship sector and the reason for the 1% high-tech turnover regime. Picsart and Krisp are Yerevan-founded global products; the 2022 relocation wave added thousands of engineers.
Precision Engineering & Electronics
Synopsys, Instigate, Unicomp, semiconductor design houses
A Soviet-era specialism that survived: Yerevan has an unusually deep chip-design and EDA talent pool for a city its size.
Banking & Fintech
Ameriabank, Inecobank, Evocabank, ACBA, Idram, Telcell
A competitive, digitally advanced banking sector that absorbed a large influx of new customers after 2022 and tightened its compliance accordingly.
Wine, Brandy & Food
Yerevan Brandy Company (ArArAt), Areni-region wineries, Zorah
Armenian brandy is the national export; the Areni wine region south of Yerevan holds the world's oldest known winery and is now a serious natural-wine scene.
Mining & Metals
Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine, Lydian-successor operations
Copper and molybdenum are Armenia's largest goods exports. Head offices and technical services are in Yerevan; the operations are in Syunik.
Tourism & Hospitality
Boutique hotels in Kentron, tour operators, the Areni and Dilijan circuits
Growing fast on the back of the diaspora, regional visitors and an increasingly good restaurant scene — a common entry point for foreign residents.
Where to go in Yerevan
The Cascade & Cafesjian Center
Landmark · Kentron
A vast limestone stairway climbing the hillside above the centre, doubling as a sculpture museum, with the city and Ararat laid out below.
Local tip: There are escalators inside the structure if the 570-odd steps are not the plan. Go on a clear morning — Ararat is usually hazed out by afternoon in summer.
GUM Market
Hidden gemFood · Kentron / Movses Khorenatsi
The covered produce market — walls of dried fruit, sujukh, spices, cheeses and pickled everything, with vendors who insist you taste before buying.
Local tip: The tasting is genuine hospitality, not a sales trap, but you will leave with more dried apricot than you planned. Cash or Idram; bargaining is expected.
Republic Square
Landmark · Kentron
The ceremonial heart of the city — pink and cream tuff facades, the History Museum, and musical fountains through the warm months.
Local tip: The fountain shows run on summer evenings and are a genuine local ritual rather than a tourist set-piece. The National Gallery upstairs in the same building is badly underrated.
Vernissage
Culture · Beside Republic Square
The weekend open-air market — carpets, Soviet cameras, khachkar carvings, silver, chess sets and a great deal of amiable haggling.
Local tip: Saturday and Sunday only, and best before noon. The carpet sellers at the far end are where the serious pieces are; ask about the region and the knot count.
Matenadaran
Culture · Top of Mashtots Avenue
The repository of Armenian manuscripts — thousands of illuminated codices, some over a thousand years old, in a monumental building at the head of the main avenue.
Local tip: Take the guided tour rather than wandering. It is the single best hour for understanding why Armenians are so attached to their alphabet.
Garni, Geghard & the Azat gorge
Hidden gemNature · ~35 km east
A Hellenistic temple on a gorge edge, a monastery carved into the rock, and the basalt 'Symphony of Stones' columns below.
Local tip: Do the gorge walk down to the basalt columns — most tour groups skip it entirely and it is the best part. A driver for the half-day is inexpensive split between three or four.
Emergency numbers in Yerevan
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