Entering Armenia with your own vehicle (coming from Georgia)
Status: 06.2022
Border crossing: Sadakhlo – Bagratashen
Summary in a nutshell:
- Vehicle interior is inspected in two places
- Pillion passengers have to cross the border separately on foot, including passport control
- no import tax for motorbikes
- Step 1 Import vehicle: pay tax at the counter of Ararat Bank. Payment optimal in AMD (9850) alternatively in EUR (22) or GEL (75) – as of 05/22
- Step 2 Import of vehicle: Closing at the “Customs Inspector” counter
- Vehicle (panel van) may remain in the country for 1 year
- Visa-free period for persons: 6 months
- Transport liability insurance can be taken out online at: aswa.am
For those who would like to read more, here is a detailed description of the procedure:
After leaving Georgia, follow the road. The first border guard waved us through, at the next official we already had a look inside the vehicle. Here, other passengers have to leave the vehicle and from here on they have to go through the passport control in the adjacent building on foot. Only the driver is allowed to stay in the vehicle. Queueing up for cars. So far, with our VW Crafter 3.2to panel van, no problem at any border.
It took some consultation between the officials, because one or the other thought that we had to join the queue of trucks because of our vehicle. Despite the obvious camping equipment inside the vehicle, which had already been inspected. At the last moment, the officers gave in and the queue of cars was fine after all.
The next border post checks the driver’s passport and driving licence as well as the vehicle documents. The check is completed with the entry stamp in the passport.
Directly behind them are other officials in different uniforms who want to take another look at the vehicle. Here you are also told to drive to the car park and then carry out the “car declaration” in the building.
To do this, go to the place where the passengers left the passport control. Yes, you really have to go in the opposite direction through the door on which “EXIT” is written in large letters.
You will now find a counter for the Ararat Bank and the Customs Inspector on the right-hand side.
Motorcyclists can go directly to the Customs Inspector’s counter, as there is no tax here! For all other travellers with their own vehicles, there is the following step 1:
Ararat Bank counter, present the driver’s passport and vehicle documents.
Deposit the import fee for the vehicle. This is possible in Armenian Dram (AMD), Georgian Lari (GEL), Euro or Ruble. Euro only in notes!
For our vehicle (VW Crafter with camper registration) a fee of 9850 AMD was charged. If you can already pay in the local currency, this is a great advantage, as the fee is the smallest when converted. If it would have been the equivalent of 20.50€, we had to pay 22.00€ in euros and even 25.00€ (75 GEL) in Georgian Lari.
In the end, we had a mixture of euros (20 euro note) and Georgian lari, as we did not have any more euros in notes and the remaining 2€ were not accepted as coins, which was no problem with Georgian lari.
With the deposit slips we received, we now went to the counter of the “Customs Inspector”. We were asked about our address, the value of the vehicle and whether it was a “home car” 😉 – is involved. After the registration is completed, the deposit slip and the registration document for the vehicle are returned. This must be signed. On it you will also find the date for how long the vehicle may remain in the country. In our case, this was a whole year, while we ourselves as persons are allowed to stay in the country without a visa for a maximum of 6 months.
(Be sure to keep the receipts for the vehicle, as they have to be presented / handed in again when leaving the country)
Now it is as good as done, when leaving the area there is still a barrier at which the passport and the customs clearance document are checked.
In our case, the process up to the Ararat Bank counter went very quickly, about 30 minutes. Due to waiting times, it took almost another 60 minutes to complete the transaction for the vehicle.
After leaving the border area, several salesmen were already waiting for the necessary car insurance. We preferred to take this out online at our leisure (and probably cheaper) at: www.aswa.am
All information given here is based on our own experience at the above-mentioned border crossing. Unfortunately, no guarantee can be given for the correctness and further validity, especially at other border crossings.
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Have fun in fantastic Armenia!