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Armenia passed a bill amending the Law “On Foreigners”, establishing a new system for giving work permits to foreigners in Armenia starting from January 1, 2022. The main changes are as follows:

• A unified digital platform is being introduced through which information about foreign employees and employers is entered or uploaded;
• Employers can submit the work permit applications through a single digital platform;
• If a work permit is currently issued in a documented form, the work permit from now will be a digital form, allowing foreign employees to obtain a temporary residence and work permit in Armenia;
• The law says that during the term of the validity of the work contract (service agreement), the employer undertakes to cover the costs of transporting a foreigner’s corpse to his home country owing to the fulfillment of labor responsibilities;
• To protect personal data, the authorized state entity in charge of migration must limit the state bodies’ access to information about the foreigner or his employer after fulfilling its direct tasks in the process of resolving the employment of a foreign person;

The opportunity to work in Armenia without obtaining a work permit was also given to those, who received a temporary residence permit in Armenia:

• Based on the person’s nationality;
• Foreign students enrolled in the Armenia educational institutions for a period of one year after graduation, as well as students participating in an employment exchange program during the vacations on the basis of appropriate international agreements,
• If there are some other conditions stipulated by law.

The Government of Armenia must establish the technical description of the unified digital platform, the procedure for conducting, minimum requirements for applications, the procedure for filling out and submitting applications on the digital platform, and the procedure for attracting foreign employees to the digital platform. The decision outlining some defined method has now reached the end of public debate, and it is likely to take effect alongside the adjustments.