One in ten of arrivals to the airport in Yerevan come on so-called e-Visas and the number of users is increasing, a spokesperson for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AMFA) said.

American Sophie Mazmanian is of Armenian descent and holder of e-Visa number 1000. She found the conventional application process too troublesome to use.

"My family have wanted to go on holiday to Armenia for a long time, but we kept pushing it aside because of problems with aquiring visas. There is no Armenian consulate in the state we live in so we would have to go to another state to get them", she said.

Application is via the AMFA website with submit passport and credit card information. The visa is then returned electronically. The process is paperless, but visas are still checked on arrival at Yerevan airport.

Armenia is the second country in the world after Australia to adopt this method of visa.

The offer is currently only available to passengers arriving to the Yerevan airport, but the system will be established on the boarders to Georgia and Iran once the trial period ends.