NEW REGULATIONS IN THE LAW “ON FOREIGNERS”
At the session of the National Assembly held on December 4, 2025, the draft law proposing amendments to the RA Law “On Foreigners” was adopted at the first reading.
The draft introduces significant changes to the regulations governing employment and residence permits for foreign nationals in Armenia. In particular, the state will establish maximum allowable quotas for residence statuses and work permits. If adopted, all exemptions from the requirement to obtain a work permit will be completely abolished, meaning that foreign directors of companies, as well as founders (if they carry out employment activities within the company), will be required to obtain a work permit regardless of the size of their shareholding, and must also hold a residence status. In case the draft is adopted, then the amendments will enter into force on August 1, 2026.
We will address the amendments in greater detail in a client note.
NEW REGULATIONS IN THE LAW "ON THE MANAGEMENT OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS"
As of January 1, 2026, the Law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Law on the Management of Apartment Buildings” has entered into force. This law introduces new provisions regarding the rights and responsibilities of developers in the field of managing newly constructed or already completed apartment buildings.
In particular, among other changes, the law grants developers the right to independently select a management body for the apartment building prior to the election of a management body by the residents.
At the same time, the law imposes several obligations on the developer. Specifically, within 5 working days following the election of the management body, the developer is required to transfer the complete package of design documentation of the building to the newly elected management body. This transfer must be formalized with a handover-acceptance act, and one copy of this act must be submitted to the head of the respective community within 3 working days.
To ensure clarity regarding the developer’s obligations, corresponding amendments and additions have also been made to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Armenia.
Specifically, failure to submit the design documentation package and the handover-acceptance act to the building’s management body and the community head within the timeframe and manner prescribed by law will result in an administrative fine of 200,000 AMD.
If the violation is not rectified within six months from the date the fine is imposed, an additional fine of AMD 400,000 AMD is stipulated.
For more details, see the link.
A NEW STAGE OF DIGITALIZATION OF STATE NOTIFICATIONS IN ARMENIA
The Government of Armenia, based on the Law “On Public and Individual Notification via the Internet,” has initiated the implementation of the centralized “eNotify” system, which forms part of the 2022–2026 Judicial and Legal Reforms Strategy.
According to the new procedure:
1. Notifications to legal entities will be delivered via their personal page in the tax authority’s reporting system, and
2. Notifications to individuals will be sent to their official email address.
The exact time of reading the notification, as well as of viewing or downloading any attached documents, along with the notifications themselves, will be stored in the system for at least 5 years. As for state bodies that do not have their own notification systems, they will be granted access to the EKENG e-Governance system for the purpose of sending notifications.”
In cases where individual notification methods are exhausted, an automated public notification will be published on azdarar.am. Notifications posted on the site will be publicly available for three years, after which they will be transferred to the archive.
NEW REGULATIONS ON ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS
As of January 1, 2026, the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Enforcement Proceedings” (hereinafter, the “Law”) has entered into force, replacing the previously effective Law of the Republic of Armenia “On Compulsory Enforcement of Judicial Acts”, thereby fundamentally revising the legal framework governing the field of enforcement proceedings.
According to the Law:
Enforcement proceedings will be fully digitized, with new mechanisms introduced for electronic inquiries and data exchange. A system for submitting enforcement applications electronically is scheduled to be implemented by September 1, 2026.
The methodology for calculating enforcement costs has been revised, which will now depend not only on the amount subject to enforcement but also on the scope and specific characteristics of enforcement actions performed within the proceedings.
The Law establishes mechanisms for conducting inquiries and applying enforcement measures over various types of a debtor’s assets and monetary funds, including, in particular, unaccounted transfers, accepted but unregistered inherited property, intestate property, assets held in safe deposit boxes, funds in payment and settlement institutions, funds in online gaming and similar platforms, as well as digital assets.
For more details, see the previously submitted client note.
MANDATORY HEALTH INSURANCE FROM 2026
As of 1 January 2026, the universal health insurance system for citizens of the Republic of Armenia has been launched, under which the first allocations of insurance premiums subject to withholding from their salaries are to be made by 20 January 2026.
The monthly insurance premium is set at 10,800 AMD.
For those earning between 200,001 and 500,000 AMD only 300 AMD will actually be withheld from the citizen's salary, as 6,000 AMD of the remaining 10,500 AMD will be subsidized by the state for non-social package beneficiaries, social package beneficiaries will be given the opportunity to direct the 6,000 AMD due within the framework of their social package to health insurance, and the remaining 4,500 AMD will constitute the saving of the funds directed to the Zinapah Foundation.
For citizens earning between 500,000 and 1,000,000 AMD per month, 3,300 AMD will be deducted from the salary, and the remaining 7,500 AMD will be paid as a result of savings from the amount paid to the Zinapah Foundation.
It is also important to note that insurance premiums paid by a corporate income tax (profit tax) paying employer at its own expense for employees’ health insurance are henceforth considered deductible expenses for the purposes of determining the taxable base, up to 10,000 AMD per employee per month (calculated for each month in which the employee earns income).
However, the introduction of universal health insurance does not preclude employers from providing their employees with additional insurance packages at their own discretion.
We will address the changes in more detail in a client note.