Before you start

A sponsoring employer, family tie, qualifying investment or enrolment — you cannot self-sponsor
Passport, medical certificates including HIV testing, criminal-record certificate
Apostilled and Azerbaijani-translated qualifications and civil documents
A registered address in Azerbaijan

Step-by-step

1
Enter on an ASAN Visa e-visa or a visa-free arrangement
Most short-stay visitors apply through the official ASAN Visa portal — a straightforward online e-visa with a standard processing window of a few working days and an urgent option. Some nationalities enter visa-free under bilateral arrangements, with Turkish citizens on notably longer terms. Check your nationality on the official portal rather than an intermediary site; there are many paid look-alike services charging several times the state fee.
OnlineWho: Short-stay visitorsTypically three working days; urgent options existState fee via the official portal; avoid intermediaries
2
Register your place of stay within 15 days — before anything else
If you will be in Azerbaijan more than 15 days you must register your place of stay, and the application must be made within 15 days of arrival. The obligation legally sits with the host party — hotel, landlord or inviting organisation — but the consequences land on you. Register through the State Migration Service's electronic services, by the registration email address the Service publishes, or in person at an ASAN centre or regional migration department. If you move, re-register at the new address within five working days.
OnlineWho: Every foreigner staying more than 15 daysWithin 15 days of arrivalFree
3
The employer obtains the work permit — this comes before your residence permit
Your employer registers the vacancy with the State Employment Agency and waits out the labour-market test, then applies to the State Migration Service for a work permit naming you and the position. Permits sit inside a national quota set by the Cabinet of Ministers, with exemptions for company founders and directors and certain highly-qualified categories. Only once the work permit exists can you apply for the temporary residence permit on that basis.
Via employerWho: EmployeesWeeks, driven by the labour-market testState duties, generally employer-borne
4
Apply for the temporary residence permit at ASAN
Applications go through ASAN service centres, which front almost all migration services. The permit is issued for up to one year initially and can then be extended for periods of up to two years; highly-skilled specialists can be issued up to three years at a time. Bring the work permit (or your qualifying ground), passport, medical certificates including HIV testing, criminal-record certificate, and proof of registered address. Apply at least 30 days before an existing permit expires.
In personWho: Employees, family members, investors, studentsAround 20-30 daysState duty

Documents you’ll need

Passport
Work permit (or investment, family or study documentation)
Medical certificates including HIV testing
Criminal-record certificate, apostilled and translated
Proof of registration at place of stay

Things most newcomers don’t know

Azerbaijan has no digital nomad visa in force. It exists only in the Action Plan for 2026-2028 on accelerating digital development, as something to be implemented.

Several aggregator sites list an 'Azerbaijan digital nomad visa' or 'freelance visa'. What they are describing is the ordinary ASAN Visa tourist e-visa with a marketing name. A proposal in an action plan is not law, and planning a relocation around one is how people end up on the wrong side of a status they thought they had. This is a live regional pattern: check the immigration schedule, not the listicle.

Source: Azerbaijani government action plan, 2026-2028

The 15-day registration deadline legally binds your HOST, which is exactly why you get caught by it.

Hotels register you automatically and invisibly, so your first fortnight passes with no sign the rule exists. The moment you move into a private flat, the obligation transfers to a landlord who may neither know nor care. Since the fine and the exit-control consequences land on you rather than on them, file it yourself through the Migration Service e-services and keep the confirmation.

Source: State Migration Service

The permanent-residence investment thresholds are DOUBLE the temporary ones — buying to the temporary line is a trap.

The Migration Service's published grounds set AZN 100,000 in property or bank deposits for a temporary permit but AZN 200,000 for the permanent one, alongside an AZN 500,000 investment figure. People buy at the AZN 100,000 level intending to renew into permanence and discover after two years that they need to double the position. If permanence is the goal, buy at the AZN 200,000 level from the outset.

Source: State Migration Service

The work permit belongs to the employer and to the specific position, so changing jobs is a fresh application, not a transfer.

Because the residence permit rests on the work permit, an employment change or termination puts your right to remain in question rather than merely your income. Negotiate notice, permit timing and repatriation into the contract before you move — this is materially riskier than the equivalent move in Georgia or Armenia, where you can hold a residence basis independent of an employer.

Common mistakes to avoid

Missing the 15-day registration because the hotel did the first one silently and the landlord did not do the second
Believing an aggregator site that lists an Azerbaijani digital nomad or freelance visa — none is in force
Buying property at AZN 100,000 for a temporary permit and expecting it to carry you to permanent residence at AZN 200,000
Applying for the residence permit before the employer has the work permit — the order is fixed
Arriving without apostilled and Azerbaijani-translated civil and qualification documents

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.