Armenia is extending its temporary visa exemption policy for another year.
The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has updated the measure, which now applies from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027. It allows nationals of 111 countries (listed in full at the end of this article) to travel to Armenia without a visa, provided they hold a valid residence permit issued by certain countries or regional areas recognized by Armenian authorities.
The exemption had initially been announced for the period from January 1 to July 1, 2026. It has now been renewed, although with a slightly narrower list of eligible countries.
Who can benefit from Armenia’s temporary visa exemption?
The exemption does not automatically apply to all nationals of the 111 countries concerned.
To travel to Armenia without a visa under this measure, travelers must meet several conditions. They must be nationals of one of the countries listed by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and hold a valid residence permit issued by:
- the U.S.;
- an EU member state;
- a Schengen Area state;
- the United Arab Emirates;
- Bahrain;
- Qatar;
- Saudi Arabia;
- Kuwait;
- Oman.
The residence permit must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Armenia.
Eligible travelers may stay in Armenia without a visa for up to 180 days within a one-year period.
A list reduced from 113 to 111 countries
The main change in this extension concerns the number of countries covered by the policy.
During the first phase, the temporary visa exemption applied to nationals of 113 countries. The list published by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the period from July 1, 2026, to July 1, 2027, now mentions 111 countries.
By comparison, two countries no longer appear on the updated list: Sudan and Yemen.
Presenting the residence permit at the border
Armenian authorities specify that the residence permit must be presented in a verifiable format.
The document may be a physical card or a sticker affixed to the passport. Border authorities may recognize the residence permit when it includes, in Latin characters, the traveler’s main identifying information: the name of the document, first name, last name, nationality, date of birth and period of validity, indicated according to the Gregorian calendar.
In practice, travelers concerned by the measure should check before departure that their residence permit is clearly legible, valid for the required period and presented in an accepted format.
Non-eligible travelers should check Armenia’s visa rules
Travelers who do not meet the conditions of this temporary visa exemption remain subject to Armenia’s usual entry requirements.
The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides a tool to check visa requirements based on nationality and type of travel document. Travelers who cannot benefit from the exemption may, depending on their profile, need to apply for a visa or use Armenia’s official e-Visa system.
Still, this extension confirms Yerevan’s intention to maintain a targeted opening policy by facilitating entry for travelers who already hold residence status in several countries or regions with high levels of international mobility.
The 111 countries covered by Armenia’s temporary visa exemption
According to the updated list published by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the countries covered by this temporary visa exemption are:
- Algeria
- Angola
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Benin
- Bhutan
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Botswana
- Brunei Darussalam
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cabo Verde
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Chile
- Colombia
- Comoros
- Congo
- Costa Rica
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Cuba
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Eswatini
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- Morocco
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Palestine
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Rwanda
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- Somalia
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Suriname
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Togo
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
VisasNews Take
This extension is good news for the travelers concerned, but it requires careful reading. Armenia’s temporary visa exemption is not based on nationality alone. It also depends on the residence permit held by the traveler, the country that issued it and its validity at the time of entry.
The move from 113 to 111 countries also shows that a temporary measure can change from one period to the next. Before traveling to Armenia, it is therefore better not to rely solely on older information and to check the updated official list, especially when a trip is being planned around a visa exemption.
