GRANTS’UM / HASHVAROOM + Public Services Number / Social Security Number : My Real Experience back in 2025…
Im keeping this blog alive and online because its an interesting reminder of the old school processes of Armenia, which I love 🙂
🇦🇲 REGISTERING YOUR ADDRESS IN ARMENIA
- What is Grants’um / Hashvaroom?
- Who needs it?
- What documents do you need?
- How to book
- Where do you go?
- What happens at the appointment?
- Police/address verification
- How long does it take?
- Cost
then…. 🪪 GETTING YOUR PSN / SOC
UPDATED : SEP26
The registration process has changed since I originally wrote this post in May 2025.
The information below includes my personal experience, but some locations, fees, appointment procedures and requirements may now be different
The current system is via the Migration and Citizenship Service & is officially known as “Acquiring a Certificate on the Public Services Number (PSN)”
WHAT IS A PSN?
The PSN is a unique 10-digit identifier assigned to Armenian citizens and certain foreign nationals, including foreigners legally present in Armenia
Another big (and probably a good) change, it is administered IMMEDIATELY in person, online or sent via email (for me it took me a couple of weeks as I was told I had to wait for a police officer to come to my place of residence to check)
NEW 2026 PROCESS for obtaining PSN :
- Foreigners legally present in Armenia can obtain a PSN.
- You can apply in person at a subdivision of the Migration and Citizenship Service.
- You can also apply through an authorised representative.
- Online application is possible if you have YesEm authentication.
- The certificate is free.
- The certificate is issued immediately in person; online, it is sent to your email.
Registering at a place of residence – Process registration
TAKE NOTE:
PSN (Public Services Number) is the official current terminology. You may also hear it called a Social Security Number, SOC number, or Social Security Card. They refer to the same underlying 10-digit public-services identification number in Armenia.
MY EXPERIENCE – HIGH LEVEL :
THIS IS WHAT I HAD TO GET MY SOC CARD (2025) :
- Your odar Passport
- Armenian passport / Residency
- Your address where you are currently living
- An appointment thats made online
- 1100 AMD cash (2025 – but states online now in 2026 that there is no charge)
NOTE :
- Choose your LOCAL police station
- Process = 1) Registration 2) social security number
- Choose an early appointment 9am is best as not many people – it gets very busy at 12
Here’s some information on the Public Services Number -> Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia
BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT
Start by booking online via this link on the Migration.e-gov.am website:
You have 2 options :
APPLY ONLINE takes you to YesEm portal and you need to log in
… you will be directed to National Identification portal YESEM
Easiest is to click on “BOOK AN APPOINTMENT” and fill out the application
Now, I dont know how much the process has changed in 2026
Choose an appointment time at your LOCAL police station (dont choose out of your area as they wont serve you, happened to me! They sent me away and told me to book locally)
Registration = Hashvaroon / Grants’um
Step 1: You need to have an address where you live and get registered before you apply for Social Security number / PSN
CONFIRMATION
An email confirmation is sent to your email
Via this email there is a link sent where you can change the appointment if needed
An email confirmation like this will be sent
TIME
You will need to be there 15mins before as they do not wait for you at all even 5mins, you will lose your appointment time (happened to me!)
LOCATION OF THE OFFICE
The place where you have to go is behind this main station at the back of the building
The local Yerevan police station is located on Vratsyan St 90 – only a 15-20min walk from the centre next to Vazgen Sargsyan Stadium
YOUR TICKET
When you walk into the waiting area, there is a ticket machine you WONT be able to miss – everyone gravitates around it like its a god! I.e. if the ticket machine goes down, everything stops (this happened to me as well and I was sent home only to be told to come back tomorrow at 9am when the machine will “probably” work then) no garantees! Ever…
Go up to the ticket machine and enter in your code that you recieved on the email to get your ticket to then be called up to the register
APPOINTMENT REQUIREMENTS
Once your number is called, hand in your residency/passport as well as your original passport and your address of where you are living
They will ask if you can fill in the form in Armenian, if not they will fill this in for you
PAYMENT
They will print you a ticket which you then need to go to the back of the room where there is a ticket machine and a lady who will get 1100dram from you and give you a reciept from the machine which you need to hand back to the lady at the counter for the next part of your appointment
SIGNING SUBMISSION PAPER
Go back to the teller; they will then show you the registration submission paper and ask you to sign in 3 different locations, only sign in BLUE ink pen which they provide (yes, I signed in black and confused the crap out of everyone and even got the supervisor looking at me in confusion stating “no one has ever done this before!” And they proceeded to refill the entire form grumpily) I was laughing inside though! They also ask for your phone number
A police officer is then tasked to call within 10-15 days to come and check on your home location and confirm back to the department
NEXT STEPS…
You will need to wait for them to call (could be business day or time) and then its automatically registered back to the office by the officer
NOTE : No police officer called me in the 10-15 business days – she just processed it for me when i went back without asking any questions
(After asking other peoples opinions, they have had a mix of : police officer trying to call them then hanging up / police officer calling and coming to their place and having to offer them coffee / no police office calling them… so you just dont know which option you will get!)
NEXT STEPS (AFTER POLICE OFFICER OR NO CONTACT)
Either book another appointment under Registration or walk in at 9am and get a ticket at the machine and ask for them to complete your registration
REGISTRATION COMPLETE
What to expect – they will place a stamp in your residency passport and have your address written on that
They didnt give me a seperate piece of paper which others have had so this was good
You then can go back to same office and apply for your Social Security number
BOOK APPOINTMENT
Go back online to the same link above and choose the below option
Step 2 : once you have your registration number you can then apply for social security
NOTE : I asked the lady if I need a new appointment for the soc card and she just provided me with my social security number on the spot took 5mins – so, it depends who you have if they make you apply online or at the machine for a ticket or process it for you on the spot (it wasnt busy so maybe thats why the lady helped me on the day)
Its an easy step and they will give you one A4 aize page stamped with a blue stamp – this was the easiest part of this whole process and took 5mins
The translated form that is required to fill out – they do this for you and ask you to sign the front and the back where they photocopy your registration stamp
GOOD LUCK! LOL 😛
DONT FORGET TO FILL OUT YOUR DOCUMENTS IN BLUE INK lol
ORIGINAL : MAY25
UPDATED : SEP26
