Everything about obtaining a visa to Armenia on your own in 2021

Rules for entry of Russians into Armenia

Immediately at the airport in Armenia, the traveler will have to undergo a medical examination.

Specialists:

10 very useful products for air travel

• measure his temperature remotely;
• will conduct an external inspection and additional inspection.

Additional examination is carried out only for patients with symptoms of a viral disease. Moreover, if a person has symptoms of the disease, then border guards will have to present a certificate with a negative PCR test.

Are there any entry restrictions today?

While on vacation, the traveler must follow the following simple rules.

He needs:

1. Observe personal protective measures. When moving around the country, the traveler must have a civil passport and a photocopy of it.
2. Wear a mask indoors. You will also need to wear it in transport. But it is not required for children under 5 years of age, persons traveling in a private car, or while smoking, drinking, or eating.
3. Wear a mask in public.

But you don't need to wear it:

• children from 0 to 5 years old;
• persons suffering from chronic respiratory diseases. Moreover, it is important that the tourist has all supporting documents;
• citizens involved in sports, riding a bicycle;
• persons located in places specially designated for outdoor recreation, the beach, mountains, forests, and other open areas. But when visiting a city, botanical park, zoo, historical, cultural site, place of pilgrimage, you will have to wear a mask. It will also have to be worn by persons participating in an individual or group excursion, hike, or other events;
• citizens with deafness, mental disorder, facial trauma, maxillofacial intervention in the oral cavity;
• citizens smoking cigarettes, eating and drinking.

What certificates and documents are needed to enter Armenia?

To enter this country, a traveler only needs a civil passport or visa.

The final list of documents depends on:

• purpose of the trip;
• type of transport used;
• the amount of time that the traveler will stay in a given country;
• whether the tourist is traveling alone or with children.

Remember: special requirements apply to a traveler's civil passport. It is important that it is valid for 3 months from the end date of the trip.

Moreover, only travelers arriving on vacation by plane are allowed into this country with a civil passport. Travelers arriving in this country by land will need to take a passport.

Do you need a foreign passport to travel to Armenia?

According to the agreement, Russian travelers have the opportunity to arrive in Armenia with only a civil passport, subject to crossing the border by air. In this case, customs inspection is not required.

Do you need a foreign passport when traveling to Armenia by personal vehicle? Without this document, it is impossible for tourists to cross the borders of the Armenian Republic. This is due to the fact that border checkpoints only allow tourists from Georgia and Iran. Russia does not have entry agreements with these states. Therefore, when entering their territory in transit, Russian tourists must present their foreign passport.

When traveling by car to Armenia, in addition to a foreign passport, drivers will also need:

• Driver's license;
• Certificate of vehicle registration;
• Payment of entry tax on vehicles with registration numbers registered in Russia. The amount depends on the period of stay of the transport on the territory of Armenia.

Armenia is not a participant in the Green Card international auto insurance. An MTPL policy issued in the Russian Federation is not valid in the Transcaucasus. Drivers have the opportunity to take out a local car insurance policy when going through customs at the border. Its cost varies from 2000 to 4000 drams, the machine’s engine power and residence time are taken into account.

How to buy a visa

A traveler traveling to this country does not need to obtain a visa in advance. But without a visa, a traveler can stay here for no more than 6 months.

Remember: citizens vacationing in a given country for more than 30 days must register. It is formalized by the local competent authorities.

But if a citizen stays in a given country for more than 180 days, then he will have to apply for a visa.

Moreover, a traveler can apply for any visa here.

He can apply for a visa:

• Guest room. It is issued by citizens arriving in a given country for tourism purposes, to stay with relatives, or for treatment. It is valid for 1 year. Moreover, you can get a single or multiple entry visa.
• Official. It is issued to citizens who have an official, special passport.
• Diplomatic. This visa is issued to persons with diplomatic status.
• Transit. This visa is intended for tourists arriving in this country for 3 days. It is valid for 1 year. Russians usually do not apply for such a visa.

In addition, the traveler can apply for an electronic visa. You can apply for it using this link: https://evisa.mfa.am/.

Remember: the cost of a visa depends on how long the traveler plans to stay in a foreign country and how many times he plans to enter it.

For example, if he buys an annual multiple-entry visitor visa, he will have to pay $83 for it. An official, diplomatic visa is issued completely free of charge.

To obtain a visa, a traveler needs to collect the following package of documents.

It includes:

• Questionnaire. It needs to be downloaded, filled out, signed.

• International passport.
• Photo.
• Receipt for payment of state duty.

The photograph must be a standard size, taken against a light background, the face must be clearly visible, and there should not be a smile on the face.

Obtaining a visa to Armenia

As mentioned above, citizens of countries that do not have visa-free agreements with Armenia need to obtain a visa. The same awaits Russians whose proposed trip will last longer than the permitted one hundred and eighty days. Features of paperwork, cost and validity period of the visa will depend on what category of visa you require. Armenian visas are:

• guest;
• diplomatic;
• official.

Guestbook

A visitor visa can be single or multiple. Its validity period is one year, and the number of allowed days of stay depends on the purpose. The visa can be extended. It provides for the entry of foreigners into the country for the following purposes:

• visits to relatives who have the status of permanent resident or citizen of Armenia;
• undergoing treatment in local clinics;
• entrepreneurship;
• tourism and recreation.

If your trip is not limited to the specified period for good reasons, you can obtain a residence permit in Armenia. This does not take much time and effort - after arrival, it is enough to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia in the manner established by the government of the Republic. To apply, you will need documents confirming the need to reside in the state for a longer period than the visa-free agreement implies. These could be documents from the place of study or an employment contract with a local employer.

Not all foreigners need a visa to enter Armenia

Official

The official category of visa document is only open to people who have an official or special passport. These are employees of diplomatic missions, officials traveling abroad on official business, sailors on international ships, etc.

There are three types of visas:

• multiple with a validity period of up to three years;
• valid for one year (can be either single or multiple);
• one-time valid for up to one year.

Diplomatic

A diplomatic visa, as the name suggests, is issued to holders of a diplomatic identity card. It happens:

• multiple with a validity period of up to three years;
• one-time with a validity period of up to one hundred and twenty days (Russians do not receive);
• valid for one year (can be either single or multiple).

Required documents

To obtain a visa, a large package of documents is usually not required. For a visit visa, foreigners must submit:

• completed visa application form,
• civil and foreign passports,
• two photographs measuring 3.5x4.5 cm,
• invitation.

Applicants for diplomatic and official visas confirm their status and the need to stay in Armenia with documents from their service.

Embassies reserve the right to require additional documents. Their list can be clarified directly with the authority where you plan to apply for a visa.

Visa photographs must meet international requirements

Algorithm of actions

If you are a citizen of a country for whose citizens the possibility of visa-free entry is not provided, or you have to stay in Armenia longer than the required one hundred and eighty days, you must open a visa document for a trip to the Republic. This can be done either independently or with the help of intermediaries.

The independent route involves a personal visit to the Armenian representation in your country. These are embassies and consulates, information about which can be found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. If there is no such authority in your home country, you will have to visit the embassy in neighboring countries. Unfortunately, online document processing is not possible. Next, we will consider the algorithm of actions when submitting documents through the embassy:

1. We collect the necessary package of documents.
2. We present a package of documents to the embassy. It is worth finding out in advance how you can get an appointment with its employees. In some cases, pre-registration will be required. The consular fee is also paid there (depending on the category of the document). Official and diplomatic visas are issued free of charge. Also, no fee is required when issuing visa documents for minor foreigners.
3. We are waiting for the specified time. Depending on the visa category chosen, the waiting period may vary. In most cases it is from 7 to 10 days.
4. We receive a completed visa at the embassy. If there are inconsistencies in your documents or insufficient grounds for issuing the requested visa category, you will receive a refusal indicating the reason, although this happens quite rarely.

Armenian dram is the country's monetary unit

Many people use the services of specialized agencies. Indeed, with the assistance of qualified intermediary firms, your chances of getting the desired visa to Armenia without problems increase significantly, because specialists can help both in preparing documents and in submitting them. However, be prepared for the fact that specialists will have to pay a considerable additional amount. The cost of intermediary services can vary greatly. In addition, usually the procedure for opening a visa to Armenia is not particularly difficult even for a person who is preparing such documents for the first time, so there is often no need to contact intermediaries.

Table: Costs of different visa categories

Video: travel to Armenia, Yerevan and the surrounding area

Why they can refuse and what to do if they refuse

It is unlikely that the Armenian mission will deliberately look for inconsistencies in documentation or questionable moments in travelers’ pasts in order to refuse to issue a visa. However, there are some nuances that should be taken into account before applying for a visa to this state, as they may cause a refusal to issue the desired entry permit. These include:

• during your previous visit to this country you had problems with local legislation or had tax debts;
• you have violated visa requirements while traveling abroad in the past;
• your documents do not meet the requirements (for example, the passport expires earlier than a month after the upcoming trip) or the package of documents is incomplete (for example, there is no permission for the child to leave the country. In this case, he will be denied entry).

Visas are rarely denied, but such cases do occur.

How to travel with children

Difficulties during travel most often arise among families traveling with children. Children can enter Armenia using a foreign passport or a civil passport. But only tourists arriving by plane need to present a civil passport.

Children arriving in this country accompanied by a third party are required to have permission certified by a notary. Moreover, if a child is traveling with one of the parents, then at the border they will have to present an exit permit from the other parent.

When do you need a visa?

If a resident of the Russian Federation plans to spend more than 180 days in Armenia, he will need a visa.

This is what a visa to Armenia looks like

Package of papers

To obtain an entry permit you must present:

• A completed copy of the application form. .
• 2 photographs measuring 3x4 cm.
• An invitation issued by the receiving party.

Sample visa application form
If a foreigner has been in an infected area in the past 5 days, he attaches a certificate (international) to the package of papers. The certificate states that he has been vaccinated against yellow fever.

What happens if you go on a trip in your own car?

To enter Armenia with your own car, a traveler must have:

• international law;
• documents with official registration of the car;
• power of attorney for the right to use, certified by a notary. But it is required to register when it is not the owner who is driving the car.

Remember: a Russian can enter Armenia by car only through Georgia. But you cannot enter through Azerbaijan or Turkey. That is why the traveler will also need an international passport.

Do not forget that a tourist arriving in a foreign country by car will have to pay a fee.

For example, the road tax for registering the entry of a car with Russian license plates into a foreign country for 15 days is 14,000 drams. And if such a permit is issued for 30 days, then you will have to pay 20,000 drams for it.

Right at the checkpoint, the Russian will also have to take out local MTPL insurance. Its cost depends on the engine power and the length of stay of the citizen in a foreign country. In general, the cost of such insurance varies from 4 to 6000 drams.

Documents required to cross the border

In 2021, Russia and Armenia made changes to the agreement on the abolition of the visa regime. According to it, citizens of these states can enter with any type of passport: domestic and foreign.

If foreign currency, jewelry and other valuables are carried, they must be included in the declaration, which is also presented when crossing the Armenian borders.

Documents for the child

Minors at border control must provide:

• a foreign or Russian citizen passport, which is issued to children over 14 years of age;
• international passport or birth certificate for children under 14 years of age.

If the child is accompanied only by the mother or father (or an authorized representative), the second parent (both) must have a notarized permission for his entry into Armenia.

Is it possible to visit Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh is an independent state. The whole world now does not recognize its independence. But in Transnistria, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia they think a little differently.

A traveler arriving in Armenia can easily visit the attractions located in this country. Moreover, a traveler can enter here only with a foreign passport; he does not even need to apply for a visa.

Remember: Russians arriving in Nagorno-Karabakh are not given any stamp by border guards. In the future, such a tourist can easily visit Azerbaijan.

But after entering the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, you will have to register with the consular service of the Republic.

What do Russians returning home need to do?

Russians returning home from Armenia must:

• Take a PCR test. Moreover, it must be submitted within 72 hours after returning home.
• Upload the finished test results into the form located on the State Services portal.

To summarize: now we know everything about how a Russian tourist can visit such a wonderful country as Armenia. The rules here are simple and implementable. The main thing is to read them carefully and strictly follow them. Then the traveler will not have any problems with the local police.

What to bring as a gift from Armenia?

First of all, everyone brings the famous cognac “Ararat”, “Noy” (there are other brands) and wine. Armenian craftsmen are famous for their products made of silver, precious stones, and ceramics. If your budget allows, you can purchase a real handmade carpet. A good souvenir would be Armenian sweets: homemade halva, boiled fruit juice - doshab, sujukh (analogous to churchkhela), dried fruits. You can also take cheese and dried herbs and spices from the products.

Read more about what to bring from Armenia . The most popular souvenirs