Relocating to Armenia for permanent residence – information about the country for immigrants (part 2)

Armenia, a magnificent mountainous country in the South Caucasus is famous for its hospitality and generosity of the local population. This is one of the most important factors due to which the majority of foreign emigrants prefer Armenia as their next destination for relocating for a permanent residence. Moreover, majority of Armenians speak Russian well, and young generation has a good command of English and other EU languages, which eliminates practically all language barriers.

Relocating to permanent residence in Armenia is also a good idea, because all 4 seasons are observed here for those who appreciate beautiful, frosty winters followed by hot, sultry summers. With a low standard of living in the country, a relatively high salary allows you to have a comfortable living in Armenia. The country is also characterized by a sufficiently high level of medicine and education, which creates ideal conditions for emigrants to live permanently in this vibrant and amazing Caucasian country.

In the first part of our article, we explored the capital of the Republic of Armenia in terms of nightlife, entertainment and unique traditions. In this article we will talk about Armenian sports, culture and medical facilities where you can get high-quality services at a European level.

Relocating to Armenia for permanent residence – Armenian sport

According to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, the development of education, sports and science is of conceptual importance for the state, which directly affects social relations. As the politician points out, the image of an Armenian in the eyes of the world community should be perceived exclusively as a nation which is developed in all spheres.

When deciding to move to permanent residence in Armenia, foreigners should get to know this amazing country better, with its high potential in many social, cultural, and economic fields. 

By the way, the sports achievements of Armenian football players have already been marked by the attention of Armenian diaspora businesspeople – they are actively buying football clubs in Armenia and, in general, provide incentives for the development of sports in Armenia.

Armenian athletes have recorded remarkable achievements in particular in the following areas:

• Greco-Roman wrestling (Arthur Aleksanyan and Gevorg Gharibyan – European champions of Greco-Roman style);
• freestyle wrestling (Gadzhimurad Gatsalov will represent Armenia in freestyle wrestling);
• football (Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Sarkis Adamyan, Yura Movsisyan and others play in famous foreign teams);
• chess (Levon Aronian, famous grandmaster, Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and Maria Gevorgyan became champions of Armenia);
• figure skating (12-year-old Adelia Petrosyan – a rising star of figure skating);
• trampolining (it is planned to allocate 2 million USD for the development of this Olympic sport).

In September 2019, an remarkable competition –  “The Best Sports Family”  was held in Armenia, the winners of which competed for cash prizes from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.

If your relocation to permanent residence in Armenia is associated with investment activity, you may be interested to learn why do the Armenian sport and athletes cause increased interest of Russian investors looking to invest in sports sector. 

Relocating to Armenia for permanent residence – why do Russian businessmen develop Armenian football?    

Let’s face the facts – at this stage, this sport in Armenia is rather poorly developed. Why are Russian businessmen of Armenian origin actively involved in football as their particular cause of investor attention? Let’s consider the example of the Pyunik, Noah, and Ararat-Armenia clubs.

If your move to permanent residence in Armenia is related to business interests, it is worth learning more about the motivation and objectives pursued by  such prominent businesspeople of Armenian origin as Samvel Karapetyan (owner of FC “Ararat-Armenia”), Karen Abrahamyan (owner of FC “Noy”), Arthur Soghomonyan (owner of FC “Pyunik”).

According to these successful people, Armenian football has every chance of becoming an excellent business project. However, at the initial stage, the priority remains the popularization of Armenian FCs at the international level, as well as improvement of qualified training level. Here it is important to take into account a key fact: sport can generate profit, but return on investment requires a long time.  

Nevertheless, the acquisition of local football clubs allows you to create jobs, organize youth training, tournaments for all age categories of players. Plus, with the minimum threshold of competition (which is quite high in other countries), businessmen who bought Armenian football clubs have good chances to create a strong football academy in the territory of Armenia. In addition, the promotion of this sport in the Caucasian republic requires much less investment than in Russia.

By the way, the bookmakers of Armenia were included in the list of nominees for the international award BR Awards 2020.

Relocating to Armenia for permanent residence – acquaintance with Armenian cuisine

In addition to the active development of education, sports and culture, Armenia boasts incredibly delicious cuisine, which invariably involves extensive use of different spices, flavours and herbs. Literally every tourist, traveler or businessman visiting the country with a view to relaxing or on a business visit, will definitely remember for a long time the incredible bouquet of tastes inherent in every Armenian dish. 

Moving to permanent residence in Armenia implies the obligatory close acquaintance with the following traditional dishes:

• barbeque (khorovats) – represents large pieces of pork, lamb or beef meat for barbecue (when cooking in a pan – Kazan);
• tolma – meat with rice and herbs, wrapped in grape leaves;
• kololak – large meatballs in meat broth;
• harisa – a dish of wheat with chicken;
• basturma – beef jerky;
• putuk – soup with lamb and spices;
• Ishkhan – Sevan trout, which is cooked in red wine (the dish is popular not only in Armenia, but also worldwide).

The national Armenian cuisine is more than just spicy and aromatic dishes, it is an invariable part of the traditions and culture of the local people, which are fully supported and promoted.

By the way, at the beginning of this year, for the first time in the country an interesting and vibrant restaurant sport tournament was organized, where experienced, well-known chefs, sommeliers, bartenders and waiters demonstrated their skills and abilities. And this is the first step towards the worldwide recognition of local culinary talents (the winners will take part in the world championship of restaurants in Bulgaria, which will be held in May 2020).

If you plan to move to permanent residence in Armenia, please note that this is a very hospitable and generous country, with a very distinct culture of eating. Here you will rarely meet someone having lunch alone: traditionally relatives and friends gather around intimate conversations at the table. Very often at a cafe or restaurant, the restaurant owner can offer a foreign guest a “compliment” from the chef and, if they wish, they can have a lengthy discussion of various topics.

Relocating to Armenia for permanent residence – medical sector  

You probably ask: why should I choose Armenia as a venue to organize my medical treatment? And the first answer is that Armenia has something to offer. Few countries have such a rich and sustainable culture as Armenia. This is a unique place where a foreigner will be intrigued by history, the amazing landscapes and moreover – level of the local hospitals will be a pleasant surprise. This South Caucasian country has always remained a leader among countries with development in the medical industry (including in Soviet times).         

In private clinics of Armenia, a comprehensive list of procedures is carried out, which is performed only by qualified specialists studying in advanced institutes and medical institutions. 

If you plan to move to permanent residence in Armenia, you will definitely need medical services, and here you will find an exclusively European level of service. Namely:

• modern medical equipment;
• a full range of medical examinations;
• guaranteed the selection of the right treatment, which is custom-tailored for each patient;
• discussion of all procedures with the patient at all stages of treatment and rehabilitation;
• the availability of qualified medical specialists in all areas, including aesthetic medicine, dentistry, plastic surgery.

Moving to permanent residence in Armenia implies acquaintance with the oldest medical history in the world. With generational shift among regional experts, today the service is provided at an international level by specialists with a fairly low average age. The small Caucasian nation is especially proud of its achievements in this area, and the subject itself is taught at the Yerevan State Medical University named after Mkhitar Heratsi, as well as at the medieval Yerevan University Gladzor (founded in 1282).

Doctor XII th century Mkhitar Heratsi, known as the “father of Armenian Medicine”, has made a great contribution to the field of surgery, therapy, dietetics. Armenians have always been distinguished by special achievements in the medical field, for example, Raymond Damadyan invented MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), and Michel Ter-Pogasyan is the inventor of PET scan (positron emission tomography).  

Dr. Varaztad Ghazanjyan can be rightfully called the parent of modern plastic surgery in Armenia, who helped put Armenia on the map of medical innovation. Since Soviet times, Armenia has become a center of research and development in the medical industry, where a huge number of medical personnel are always involved.

Other advantages of Armenian medicine for those who are preparing to move to permanent residence in Armenia: 

• access to modern equipment and constant training of specialists allow to provide high-quality medical services at low cost;
• Armenia is an affordable country with direct connections with European countries: a traveler can easily get here from Dubai, Moscow, Doha, Athens, Vienna, Berlin, Moscow, Kiev;
• a large number of health centers for rehabilitation after treatment (Dilijan, Arzni, Jermuk and others);
• highest level of security – here you can freely walk around the night city without fear for your own life or property;
• if you estimate the cost of flights, accommodation, treatment and rest in Armenia, the cost will still be lower than treatment only in European countries;
• the achievements of plastic surgery allow not only to undergo the necessary medical treatment, but also improve your looks – Armenia is considered the eastern center of plastic surgery.

Another important point for foreigners who are preparing to move to permanent residence in Armenia is that it is not customary to pay bribes at any levels of medical care. Dentistry is another subject worth attention: while using modern and innovative materials at equal level with Europe, Armenia is characterized by more loyal prices for dental services, including complex procedures.

 Moving to permanent residence in Armenia – start with a visa and residence permit

When planning to emigrate to the Armenian Republic, do not forget to check whether a visa is required to visit Armenia or you can be issued a visa upon arrival. Some countries have the necessary agreements for visa-free entry, allowing you to stay in the country for 60 days. Next, take care of obtaining a residence permit that allows your legal stay in the country for a period of 1 year or more. 

If immigrants planning to move to permanent residence in Armenia need help in selecting residential real estate (for rent or for acquiring property), our specialists will select an object based on your wishes. We recommend that you pay attention to the Vahakni residential community in the Yerevan suburub, which successfully formed its own lifestyle and brought together rich, successful people (businessmen, investors, diplomats, ambassadors, etc.). 

Feel free to contact our lawyers by e-mail [email protected], if you need to buy a house in Armenia, apply for a residence permit or citizenship, open bank accounts for personal use or managing business assets. We also encourage our readers to help make our portal better – we will be glad to hear from you regarding your preferences in terms of topics which you would like to read more in our portal.