At a glance
- Since 1 November 2026, every temporary or permanent residence application, including a renewal, goes through the Migration and Citizenship Service’s electronic platform, mcs-permits.am, and nowhere else (Law on Foreigners, Article 14(3)).
- The Service decides within 30 days. If it asks you to fix something and you do not act within five days, the file is suspended automatically; a file left suspended for a month is closed (Article 17(4), (9) and (10)).
- An application filed before 1 November 2026 is processed under the old rules even if the decision comes later. A booking is not a filed application.
- State duties: AMD 150,000 to consider a temporary residence application and AMD 250,000 for permanent residence, plus AMD 5,950 to issue the card, so AMD 155,950 and AMD 255,950 in all (about USD 432 and USD 708 at the CBA rate of 361.36 on 19 October 2026).
- Work-based residence has moved too: workpermit.am has stopped accepting applications and sends applicants to the new platform.
- A resident who spends 183 days or more outside Armenia must notify the Service through the platform within 10 days; failing to do so is a ground for revoking the status.
Since 1 November 2026 a residence permit is renewed online, through the Migration and Citizenship Service’s electronic platform at mcs-permits.am. The Law on Foreigners, as amended by HO-11-N with effect from that date, says the procedure runs only through that platform. This page sets out what the changeover means for a file already lodged, the deadlines and duties that now apply, and the points the Service has not yet settled.
Temporary residence status is granted for up to one year, and permanent residence status for five years (Articles 15(2) and 16(2)). The Service decides an application within 30 days of submission. If it notifies you of something to correct and you do not do it within five days, the platform suspends the file automatically, and if nothing is done to resume a suspended file for a month, the platform closes it (Article 17(4), (9) and (10)). Watch the platform account closely once a file is in.
A renewal already filed keeps the old rules
A renewal lodged and accepted on or before 31 October 2026 continues under the pre-reform procedure, even where the Service decides it in November or later. The protected event is the date of submission, under Article 30(4) of the reforming law, HO-11-N. The date of the decision changes nothing.
A booked appointment sits outside that protection. The Service’s notice of 19 June 2026 states that migration.e-gov.am and the Early One appointment application stop serving residence matters on 1 November 2026, including for appointments already dated after that day, and that those users move to the new system. Holding a slot does not place a file inside Article 30(4).
Whether a file already lodged also keeps the old state duty and the old document set is unsettled. The firm’s own procedure note flags the question as open, and no source consulted for this article resolves it. We do not quote a figure on that point to a client with a pending file; the answer turns on how the Service applies the new fee trigger to cases already in its hands.
Renewing after your circumstances changed
Residence for work activity no longer has a channel of its own. The workpermit.am site now states that it has stopped working and that, from 1 November 2026, applications for residence status or for a certificate of lawful residence are filed through the new platform at mcs-permits.am. Employers file for their staff there, and the employee signs in through an invitation link. Under the rules in force since 1 November 2026 an employee has 15 working days after a contract ends to be covered by a new one, and from day 16 the stay counts as an overstay; mandatory digital employment contracts give the Service immediate sight of the gap.
Applications based on family, business activity or study, together with their supporting documents and any corrections the Service asks for, are filed through the same platform. Filing does not require a visit to the Service in Davtashen: documents are attached online, and deficiencies recorded in a submitted file are cured the same way. The grounds themselves are unchanged by the platform move and are set out on our residence permits page.
When to file. Apply at least 30 days before your current status expires. That is the rule in Government Decision 134-N, which ARLIS still shows in force, and no replacement deadline under the new procedure has been confirmed. The Government’s plan of 16 October 2026 (Prime Minister’s Decision 1024-A) schedules a new decision on residence procedures that would repeal 134-N; the draft, published on e-draft.am as project 10700, proposed that a renewal be filed no earlier than 60 days before expiry. We could not confirm that the decision has been adopted, so treat the 60-day window as a proposal and keep to the 30-day rule. We will update this page when the adopted text is published.
For a new passport, we could not source a published procedure for recording the new document against an existing permit under the new platform.
A lost or damaged card
A replacement card is issued on application to the Service. Since 1 November 2026 that application, like every other residence matter, goes through the electronic platform. Damage is handled in the same administrative way as loss.
The old AMD 12,000 duty for a replacement card ended when the reformed fee schedule took effect on 30 October 2026. The Service has not published the duty that now applies to a replacement residence card, and the Law on State Duty can be read more than one way on the point, so confirm the amount with the Service, or with us, before you pay.
Replacement covers a card lost or damaged while the permit itself is still valid. An expired permit cannot be restored by paying the replacement duty. Renewal is a separate application.
The new state duties
The new duties apply from 30 October 2026, when HO-215-N took effect. The Law on State Duty (Article 14(8), on a base duty of AMD 1,000) now charges two separate amounts: AMD 150,000 to consider a temporary residence application or AMD 250,000 for permanent residence, and AMD 5,950 to issue the card. In all that is AMD 155,950 for temporary and AMD 255,950 for permanent residence (about USD 432 and USD 708 at the CBA rate of 361.36 on 19 October 2026). The certificate confirming lawful residence, used for example by EAEU citizens, costs AMD 30,000 to consider plus AMD 5,950 to issue, AMD 35,950 in all (about USD 99).
If the application is refused. The Law on State Duty (Article 38) allows a full or partial refund where the authority refuses the action applied for, unless a law provides otherwise. No rule was found that answers how this applies once the Service has considered and refused a residence application, so do not count on getting the consideration duty back. The card duty pays for a card that a refusal never produces, so ask the Service whether it can be returned.
Citizens of the United States pay different amounts, set on a reciprocal basis by Government Decision 300-N of 29 March 2019: AMD 85,000 for temporary residence, AMD 1,000 for a repeat grant or extension within five years, and AMD 90,000 for permanent residence (about USD 235, USD 3 and USD 249). Decision 300-N is still in force and shows no amendment; a change was planned for late October 2026, but no adopted amendment has been found. Whether the AMD 5,950 card duty is added to those amounts since 1 November 2026 has not been confirmed, so check the figure for your nationality before you pay.
HO-215-N took effect on the tenth day after the Service’s announcement of the platform, which ARLIS records as 30 October 2026. There is no period in November or December 2026 in which the reformed procedure runs at the old prices: the reading that placed the fee change on 1 January 2027 fell away when HO-213-N repealed the provision it rested on. Current figures for each permit type sit on our residence permit cost page.
If your stay lapsed between 15 June and 31 October 2026
Overstaying is an administrative offence under Article 201 of the Code of Administrative Offences, carrying a fine of AMD 50,000 to AMD 100,000 (about USD 138 to USD 277 at the CBA rate of 361.36 on 19 October 2026) whatever its length. Our overstay page sets out how the fine is assessed and paid.
For this transition the Service has said it will not apply liability under Article 201(1) to foreigners whose lawful stay in Armenia expired between 15 June 2026 and 31 October 2026, where two conditions both hold:
- the ground for obtaining residence status arose before 1 November 2026; and
- the application to legalise residence is submitted through the new platform between 1 November 2026 and 1 January 2027.
The measure reaches only people who are in Armenia and who file within that window. Crossing the state border before filing puts the person back under ordinary administrative liability, assessed at departure.
This rests on the Service’s letter to this firm of 14 August 2026 (ref. 42/94/4/252505-26), not on any published law, decree or Service order: Article 201 was last amended in 2021 and carries no such window. Treat it as the Service’s stated approach to enforcement and take advice before relying on it for your own file.
The Service also confirmed that the period between the expiry of a permit and the filing of the new application is not lawful stay. Where that creates an obstacle to exercising a right, the Service will consider the case individually on a reasoned application supported by documents.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still submit in person after 1 November 2026?
My permit expired between 15 June and 31 October 2026. What now?
Does a booked appointment still count for anything?
What happens to an application I have already filed?
Do the new state duties apply to a renewal filed before the changeover?
Can I replace a lost card while the permit is still valid?
Does any of this affect a work-based permit?
How early should I file my renewal?
I am away from Armenia for months at a time. Do I need to tell the Service?
My renewal was refused. Does the changeover affect an appeal?
What to do now
Check the expiry date printed on the card and count back at least 30 days: that is when the renewal should be on the platform. Assemble the supporting documents in scannable form, register on mcs-permits.am, and keep an eye on the account after you file, because a correction left for more than five days suspends the file. If your stay lapsed between 15 June and 31 October 2026, the window that carries the Article 201 relief closes on 1 January 2027.
If a file is already lodged, keep the submission receipt. If the permit lapsed after 15 June 2026, stay in Armenia until the application goes in; leaving first forfeits the measure and puts the overstay back in the ordinary assessment at the border.
Last updated: 11 November 2026
