Spanish Residency from Armenia

Armenia at a glance

• Diplomatic representation: no Spanish embassy in Yerevan. The Embassy of Spain in Moscow is accredited to Armenia.
• Consular and visa jurisdiction: the Consulate General of Spain in Moscow, whose district includes Armenia, Belarus, Russia (with exceptions), Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
• Honorary consulate: Yerevan, Mashtots 52/2.
• Visa centre: BLS International, Vardanants Street 14/1, Yerevan.
• Non-Lucrative visa: lodged at the BLS visa centres, according to the Consulate General's page.
• Digital Nomad visa: lodging arrangements to be confirmed with the mission (see below).
• Armenian documents: Apostille, issued by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Armenia has applied the Convention since 14 August 1994), then sworn translation.
• 2026 thresholds: Non-Lucrative €28,800 a year plus €7,200 per family member; Digital Nomad €2,849 a month plus €1,068 for the first family member and €356 for each additional one.

Thresholds are tied to official Spanish indicators and are confirmed on the filing date.

Who covers Armenia: the Consulate General in Moscow

Spain has no embassy in Yerevan. Diplomatic relations are handled by the Embassy of Spain in Moscow, and consular and visa matters by the Consulate General of Spain in Moscow, whose district expressly includes the Republic of Armenia. There is an honorary consulate in Yerevan.

For residence visas, the two routes are treated differently in the Consulate General's published pages:

• Non-Lucrative visa. The page states that residents of the consular district must lodge their applications at the BLS visa application centres. BLS Yerevan lists a "Residence Visa (without work rights)" among its services. For residents of Armenia, this points to lodging in Yerevan.
• Digital Nomad visa. The page states that residents of the district may lodge their applications at the Consulate General, by prior appointment, and does not mention the BLS centres. It does not address residents of Armenia specifically.

Do not build a plan on assumptions either way. Confirm the lodging arrangements for your visa type with the mission before you commit to dates; we check this for every file from Armenia. For some remote workers, applying from inside Spain to the UGE-CE, which grants a three-year authorisation, may also be worth considering. Whether that route is open depends on your circumstances, and we assess it case by case.

Documents issued in Armenia: the Apostille

Armenia has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 1994, and the Consulate General in Moscow states that certificates issued in Armenia must carry the Apostille. According to the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Apostille is provided only by the Ministry itself. After the Apostille, documents are translated into Spanish by a sworn translator. No consular legalisation chain is involved.

The criminal record certificate is also issued by the consular department of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Applications can be made online through the government's consular e-services portal, in person in Yerevan, or through Armenian missions abroad.

Check the period your records must cover. For the Non-Lucrative visa, criminal records are required from every country you have lived in over the last five years. For anyone who moved to Armenia recently, the Armenian certificate will only be part of the answer.

Armenian nationals: at home and abroad

For Armenian nationals living in Armenia, the document side is as simple as it gets: one Apostille chain for every document, handled through a single ministry, and a Non-Lucrative lodging point in Yerevan.

Armenian nationals living elsewhere, for example in the UAE or Russia, apply to the Spanish mission for their country of residence, because Spanish missions only accept residence visa applications from people resident in their district. Their Armenian documents still take the Armenian Apostille, and the Armenian criminal record can be requested through Armenian missions abroad. The country of residence adds its own documents and rules; our guide for UAE residents covers the most common case.

Iranian residents of Yerevan: two chains at two speeds

Many foreign residents of Armenia are Iranian nationals who have built a life or a business in Yerevan and now want a position inside the European Union. For them, the Armenian documents are the fast part of the file.

Iranian documents cannot be apostilled, because Iran is not a party to the Convention. They follow Spain's general legalisation rule: the issuing country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then the Spanish mission with jurisdiction there. The Embassy of Spain in Tehran legalises only documents translated into Spanish by a sworn translator on its list and previously legalised by Iran's Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Start the Iranian chain first. A file with every Armenian Apostille in place and no Tehran legalisation is not ready to lodge.
• Check the Tehran section's status. Visa processing there was reported as interrupted in June 2025; a July 2026 notice shows legalisations being handled by appointment. Confirm the current position before fixing dates.
• Two criminal records, often. If you lived in Iran within the last five years, you need the Iranian certificate, legalised through the Tehran chain, as well as a certificate from Armenia. Foreign residents should confirm early how the Armenian certificate can be obtained in their situation; we check this for every file.
• Proof of residence. Your Armenian residence permit is the evidence that you reside in the consular district.

Our guide for applicants in Iran covers the Iranian documents in more detail.

Lebanese and Iraqi residents of Armenia

The rule is the same for every nationality: Armenian documents take the Apostille, and home-country documents follow the home country's route.

Lebanese nationals legalise Lebanese documents through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants and then the Embassy of Spain in Beirut. The criminal record from the Internal Security Forces can be obtained from abroad through relatives or Lebanese embassies.

Iraqi nationals legalise Iraqi documents through the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then, by appointment, the Embassy of Spain in Baghdad. For documents issued in the Kurdistan Region, the authentication route needs to be confirmed before anything is sent.

Non-Lucrative or Digital Nomad from Armenia

The Non-Lucrative Residency suits applicants with savings, investment or rental income, or a pension. It requires 400% of IPREM, which has remained at €600 a month since 2023: €2,400 a month (€28,800 a year) for the main applicant and €7,200 a year per family member. It does not allow work or professional activity in Spain. It is granted for one year and renewed for two years at a time, with more than 183 days of actual residence in Spain per calendar year. From Armenia, it also has the clearer lodging route.

The Digital Nomad visa suits applicants in Yerevan who work remotely for companies outside Spain, including Armenian companies. The 2026 threshold is €2,849 a month (€34,188 a year) for the main applicant, €1,068 a month for the first family member and €356 for each additional one, based on the minimum wage of €1,221 a month in 14 payments. The relationship must have lasted at least three months, the company must have been active for at least a year, and you need a degree or three years' professional experience. Self-employed applicants may take up to 20% of their work from Spanish clients. Social Security compliance is required too, through a certificate under an international agreement or the employer's registration in Spain.

Our position on health cover: for a visa sought at a consulate, private health insurance with an insurer authorised in Spain is required; applying from inside Spain to the UGE-CE, Social Security registration gives public cover and private insurance is not required. Iranian remote workers will find more in our Digital Nomad guide for Iranians.

Funds: from Armenian accounts to a Spanish file

Applicants in Armenia often hold funds in dram and foreign-currency accounts with Armenian banks, sometimes alongside accounts elsewhere. Spain assesses the euro equivalent, so we present a margin above the threshold rather than the bare minimum. A couple with two children needs €50,400 for the Non-Lucrative year.

Where money has moved from Iran or another country into Armenia, the chain matters as much as the balance. We document:

• ownership in the applicant's own name;
• a stable balance over several months;
• the origin of the funds and each transfer between countries, currencies and banks.

The Spanish bank will need the same story. Under Ley 10/2010 banks must understand the purpose of the relationship, and the Banco de España confirms that they may ask for documents showing the origin of funds. Our service includes opening your Spanish bank account on the basis of the same file.

Residence permit, timeline and renewals

No official Spanish page we have found sets a minimum remaining validity for an Armenian residence permit. Plan so that it stays valid throughout the application.

1. Map documents for every family member and start any non-Apostille chain immediately.
2. Confirm the lodging arrangements with the mission and book the appointment.
3. Obtain Armenian Apostilles and sworn translations, bank evidence, insurance and proof of accommodation in Spain.
4. Lodge the application. For the Non-Lucrative visa, the official information sheet sets a one-month decision period.
5. Collect the visa in person within one month of notification, enter Spain within its validity (at most three months) and apply for the TIE within one month of entry.

Renewals are filed in the two months before expiry (they can still be filed up to three months after, with a possible penalty), and five years of continuous legal residence opens long-term residence. Our renewal and TIE service handles both.

How Parastoo Legal Group works on files from Armenia

We are a Madrid-based immigration and global mobility firm, founded in 2022, with more than 400 approved residencies and a 95% approval rate. Our team of 15 works in Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Spanish and English, so Iranian residents of Yerevan can work with us in Persian from the first call. The first consultation is free, by video call or phone.

Your case manager confirms the lodging arrangements for your visa type with the mission, maps every document to its Apostille or legalisation route, builds the funds chain before documents are gathered, and adds a short cover memo for the case officer summarising the file.

Our Non-Lucrative and Digital Nomad service covers preparation and filing, the TIE appointment in Spain, a Spanish bank account, family members' applications and the recurso de reposición if an application is refused, which must be filed within one month. Sworn translations, Apostilles and legalisations, government fees and any contentious-administrative appeal are outside the service.