Armenia individual entrepreneur registration for non-residents

Yes, a foreigner can register as an individual entrepreneur (IE, ԱՁ in Armenian) without a residence permit, and online the registration itself is immediate. That is the easy half of Armenia individual entrepreneur registration for non-residents. The half that costs people money comes straight after: you have 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. days to elect a tax regime, and if they pass, the general system applies for the whole year DL-01: Regime election after registration. Sources agree, not verified DL-03: Missing the election deadline. Sources agree, not verified.

Below: what the State Register asks for, what we could and could not confirm, and the first month after registration (regime, bank account, first report, invoices). The last section covers what an IE does and does not do for your right to stay.

Can a foreigner register an IE without residence or a social card?

Residence first. We found no source, official or commercial, that makes a residence permit a condition for registering an IE. The government services portal hartak.am describes online registration as open to Armenian and foreign citizens. The residence rules point the same way: the business ground for a permit asks for money in the IE's accounts or turnover through it, so the IE has to exist before you apply.

The social card is murkier. "Social card" is what people call the public service number (PSN, ՀԾՀ in Armenian), a 10-digit number that many Armenian systems use to identify a person. Whether an IE registration needs one is genuinely disputed:

• The register law, in the consolidated text we could read, records the PSN "if available" (ARLIS). That wording does not make it a requirement.
• One relocation agency says a social number has been mandatory for registering a company since January 2026. That claim is about companies, and we found no official source for it.
• A law firm and a payroll provider both say an IE needs neither a residence permit nor a social card.

We have not seen the State Register's own answer, and the current version of the register law was not available to us. Ask the registry through e-register.moj.am before you rely on either reading.

In practice you can make the question go away. A PSN certificate costs AMD 0, you can get it online with an e-ID or at any Migration and Citizenship Service office by appointment, and foreigners lawfully present in Armenia are on the list of people who can get one (hartak.am). Banks record the number too, or ask for an official statement that you do not have one. Get it before you go to the registry and one possible refusal is off the table. One caveat: migration services move to a new platform on November 1, 2026, and nobody has said whether PSN appointments change with them.

How individual entrepreneur registration works for non-residents

There are two routes into the same register, kept by the State Register at the Ministry of Justice: online, or at a registry office.

Online

The online route is free and fast, but it assumes Armenian identity tools. If you landed at Zvartnots last week on a Russian or Iranian passport, you most likely have neither an ID card nor an e-ID, which leaves the registry counter or someone acting for you.

In person

Agency and law-firm guides agree on the core documents: your passport and a notarised Armenian translation of it, plus an address. What they do not settle is which address counts and what proof of it the registry accepts. We could not confirm the registry's own document list for foreigners, so check it on e-register.moj.am before you pay a translator.

On the fee: many English and Russian guides still give a state duty as the universal price of registering. hartak.am lists both the online and the in-person routes as free. Treat the in-person fee as unsettled and ask at the counter. The amount quoted in those guides is small either way.

Can you register remotely by power of attorney?

Agencies in Yerevan advertise exactly this: you sign a power of attorney at home, and a representative files the registration for you. Russian-language search results are full of these offers. What we have not found is the State Register's own rule on what form that power of attorney must take.

Before you sign anything at a notary abroad, ask the agency in writing what the registry will accept: whether the document needs an apostille or consular legalisation, and whether it has to be translated and notarised again in Armenia. A power of attorney the registry refuses means a second notary visit and a second courier.

Remote registration also solves only half the problem. A first bank account normally needs you in person for identification. Remote opening exists only in narrow cases, such as video identification at some banks or a power of attorney, and practice differs from bank to bank. An IE with no account is hard to use for anything, so plan the trip around the bank, not the registry. More on that in our guide to opening a bank account in Armenia as a foreigner.

What is the TIN (ՀՎՀՀ) and when do you get it?

ՀՎՀՀ is the taxpayer identification number (TIN) that the State Revenue Committee (SRC) uses for you as a taxpayer. It is not the PSN. The PSN identifies you as a person; the TIN identifies you to the tax office, and you will be asked for each in different places.

Registration guides describe the TIN as assigned with the registration itself, with no separate application. The registry or the SRC can tell you exactly which document shows it. Once you have it, your bank will ask for it when you open the IE's account, your clients will want it on invoices, and every SRC filing uses it.

Which tax regime to elect, and by when

This is the deadline that matters most. A new IE has 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. days from registration to elect microbusiness, turnover tax or the high-tech rate DL-01: Regime election after registration. Sources agree, not verified. Miss it and the general system applies for the whole year DL-03: Missing the election deadline. Sources agree, not verified. After that, the next chance to elect is the annual window that closes on February 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. DL-02: Annual regime election. Sources agree, not verified.

The general system taxes profit, not turnover, at 23%≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. by our current rule. Some sources say 20%≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet., so the rate itself is in dispute GS-01: General system: tax on IE profit. Sources disagree. It also brings VAT questions that an accountant should look at before you invoice anyone.

The three regimes you can elect differ in who may use them:

• Microbusiness is for turnover up to AMD 24,000,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. a year MB-01: Microbusiness turnover cap. Sources agree, not verified, but many professional activities are excluded MB-02: Activities excluded from microbusiness. Sources agree, not verified, and sources disagree about which ones MB-03: Disputed microbusiness exclusions. Sources disagree.
• Turnover tax charges a share of turnover: 10%≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. for most services and 10%≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. for trade, for turnover up to AMD 115,000,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. TT-01: Turnover tax cap. Sources agree, not verified.
• The high-tech rate is 1%≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. for qualifying IT activities. Sources disagree on whether you need a separate registry entry to use it IT-02: IT rate: High-Tech Registry. Sources disagree.

We do not tell anyone which one to pick. Which regimes you can use depends on your activity; which one costs least depends on your income and your fixed charges. Before the window closes, compare the estimated cost of each regime you appear eligible for.

If you write code, one more open point. It is not settled whether the SRC looks at the activity you describe when you register or at the work you actually do when it decides on the high-tech rate. Describe your activity accurately at registration, and if you are counting on the high-tech rate, check the activity code with an accountant first. Our comparison of the IE regimes covers the eligibility rules in more depth.

Do not assume the registry passes your choice to the tax office. Ask the SRC or your accountant how to file the election, and keep proof that you filed it in time.

The first month after registration

Open a bank account

Bring your passport, the registration documents with your TIN, proof of address and, if you have one, the PSN. Expect anything from a few days to a week or more: compliance review takes longer for some clients, Russian and Iranian citizens in particular. Since late 2025 some banks have refused accounts to Russians or closed them, citing internal compliance rather than any formal ban. Ask whether the bank opens a separate account for the IE or uses a personal one, because at least one bank has published separate fees for non-resident IEs.

Know when your first report is due

Turnover tax is calculated and paid quarterly, by day 20≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. of the month after each quarter ends DL-04: Quarterly turnover tax. Sources agree, not verified. Register in October and your first quarter ends in December, with the payment due in January. Whether a report is still expected for a quarter with no income is a question for the SRC or your accountant; do not assume silence is fine.

Fixed charges that start without any invoice

A turnover-tax IE also owes a fixed monthly payment. Our sources disagree on whether it is AMD 5,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. or AMD 10,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. FX-01: Fixed monthly payment. Sources disagree, and on when it is due DL-05: Fixed monthly payment date. Sources disagree. Health insurance is charged on the previous year's turnover above AMD 2,400,000≈Estimate: Uses at least one rule that an accountant has not verified yet. FX-04: Health insurance for IEs. Sources agree, not verified, so it does not apply in the year you register. Stamp duty is an annual charge whose deadline is not confirmed FX-03: Stamp duty for IEs. Sources agree, not verified DL-07: Stamp duty payment date. Sources disagree. The full list with dates is in our IE fixed costs and tax calendar.

Invoices and foreign currency

Take a designer billing a German agency in euros. Her first invoice should carry the IE's registered name, its TIN and the details of the account the money goes to. Turnover is counted in AMD, and which exchange rate and which date the SRC uses for the conversion is still an open question FXR-01: Currency conversion. Not confirmed. Keep the contract, the invoice and the bank's credit advice for every payment. Whether you also have to issue anything in the SRC's own systems for a foreign client is something to settle with an accountant before the first invoice goes out.

Does an IE give you residence in Armenia?

Not by itself. An IE registration is not a residence status, and it does not change how long you may stay. What it can do is serve as the ground for a residence application, and the rules for that change on November 1, 2026.

Applications submitted before that date are decided under the old rules (ARLIS). The old law lists entrepreneurial activity as a ground and sets no amount, but agencies report refusals for businesses that show no activity. Only a filed application counts here. A booked appointment does not.

Under the new rules, an IE qualifies with either AMD 1,000,000 across its accounts or AMD 1,000,000 of turnover in the 60 days before applying, and you apply personally through the new platform. The status loses force if, within 180 days of the grant, the SRC's database shows no tax calculated from the business. Nobody has said how that test treats an IE on the microbusiness regime, which may have no tax calculated at all, so treat that as an open risk. Several secondary sources also say the status is cancelled if the IE's balance drops below the threshold; the law text does not say so, and the implementing decisions are not published yet.

The details, including what to file before the deadline, are in our checklist for the new Law on Foreigners.

Questions people ask

Is an IE the same as a sole proprietorship?

Yes. English guides often say "sole proprietorship"; the Armenian legal form is the individual entrepreneur, ԱՁ. It is you, registered to do business, not a separate company. An LLC is a different registration with different taxes, and this guide does not cover it.

Does registering an IE extend my visa-free stay?

No. Your right to stay still comes from your visa-free days or your visa. The law gives most visa-free nationals 180 days "within one year" and does not define how that year is counted, so do not plan around any particular reading of it.

Can I register with a Russian internal passport?

We found no source that answers this. Registration guides are written around an international passport. If the internal passport is all you have, ask the registry before you pay for a translation.

Will I get an Armenian tax residency certificate?

Since December 1, 2025≈Estimate: Not yet confirmed by an official source. Last checked October 5, 2026., the SRC issues residency certificates online through e-services.src.am, and according to its announcement an IE registered in Armenia gets one automatically. That is not the same as being a tax resident. Whether registration supports residency at all is disputed, and the claims that it does come from marketing pages RES-04: IE registration and residency. Sources disagree.

What if I register and do not earn anything for a while?

Elect a regime anyway, because the window does not wait for your first client. Ask an accountant whether nil reports are expected and whether the fixed monthly payment runs from the month you register. If the IE is meant to carry a residence application, remember the test above: a status with no tax recorded can lapse. To see what each regime would cost once income starts, put an expected figure into the calculator.