diff --git a/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter.go b/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter.go
index 19947a7..974259e 100644
--- a/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter.go
+++ b/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter.go
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ const (
 	zoneSeparator       = "__"
 	projectKey          = "project"
 	snapshotLocationKey = "snapshotLocation"
+	snapshotTypeKey     = "snapshotType"
 	volumeProjectKey    = "volumeProject"
 )
 
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ type VolumeSnapshotter struct {
 	snapshotLocation string
 	volumeProject    string
 	snapshotProject  string
+	snapshotType     string
 }
 
 func newVolumeSnapshotter(logger logrus.FieldLogger) *VolumeSnapshotter {
@@ -67,7 +69,7 @@ func newVolumeSnapshotter(logger logrus.FieldLogger) *VolumeSnapshotter {
 
 func (b *VolumeSnapshotter) Init(config map[string]string) error {
 	if err := veleroplugin.ValidateVolumeSnapshotterConfigKeys(config,
-		snapshotLocationKey, projectKey, credentialsFileConfigKey, volumeProjectKey); err != nil {
+		snapshotLocationKey, snapshotTypeKey, projectKey, credentialsFileConfigKey, volumeProjectKey); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -116,6 +118,18 @@ func (b *VolumeSnapshotter) Init(config map[string]string) error {
 		b.snapshotProject = b.volumeProject
 	}
 
+	// get snapshot type from 'snapshotType' config key if specified,
+	// otherwise default to "STANDARD"
+	snapshotType := strings.ToUpper(config[snapshotTypeKey])
+	switch snapshotType {
+	case "":
+		b.snapshotType = "STANDARD"
+	case "STANDARD", "ARCHIVE":
+		b.snapshotType = snapshotType
+	default:
+		return errors.Errorf("unsupported snapshot type: %q", snapshotType)
+	}
+
 	gce, err := compute.NewService(context.TODO(), clientOptions...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.WithStack(err)
@@ -300,9 +314,10 @@ func (b *VolumeSnapshotter) createSnapshot(snapshotName, volumeID, volumeAZ stri
 	}
 
 	gceSnap := compute.Snapshot{
-		Name:        snapshotName,
-		Description: getSnapshotTags(tags, disk.Description, b.log),
-		SourceDisk:  disk.SelfLink,
+		Name:         snapshotName,
+		Description:  getSnapshotTags(tags, disk.Description, b.log),
+		SourceDisk:   disk.SelfLink,
+		SnapshotType: b.snapshotType,
 	}
 
 	if b.snapshotLocation != "" {
@@ -324,9 +339,10 @@ func (b *VolumeSnapshotter) createRegionSnapshot(snapshotName, volumeID, volumeR
 	}
 
 	gceSnap := compute.Snapshot{
-		Name:        snapshotName,
-		Description: getSnapshotTags(tags, disk.Description, b.log),
-		SourceDisk:  disk.SelfLink,
+		Name:         snapshotName,
+		Description:  getSnapshotTags(tags, disk.Description, b.log),
+		SourceDisk:   disk.SelfLink,
+		SnapshotType: b.snapshotType,
 	}
 
 	if b.snapshotLocation != "" {
diff --git a/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter_test.go b/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter_test.go
index 6148454..2d4bcb5 100644
--- a/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter_test.go
+++ b/velero-plugin-for-gcp/volume_snapshotter_test.go
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
 				snapshotLocation: "default",
 				volumeProject:    "project-b",
 				snapshotProject:  "project-a",
+				snapshotType:     "STANDARD",
 			},
 		},
 		{
@@ -458,12 +459,29 @@ func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
 			config: map[string]string{
 				"project":          "project-a",
 				"snapshotLocation": "default",
+				"snapshotType":     "standard",
 				"volumeProject":    "project-b",
 			},
 			expectedVolumeSnapshotter: VolumeSnapshotter{
 				snapshotLocation: "default",
 				volumeProject:    "project-b",
 				snapshotProject:  "project-a",
+				snapshotType:     "STANDARD",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "Init with archive snapshot type.",
+			config: map[string]string{
+				"project":          "project-a",
+				"snapshotLocation": "default",
+				"snapshotType":     "archive",
+				"volumeProject":    "project-b",
+			},
+			expectedVolumeSnapshotter: VolumeSnapshotter{
+				snapshotLocation: "default",
+				volumeProject:    "project-b",
+				snapshotProject:  "project-a",
+				snapshotType:     "ARCHIVE",
 			},
 		},
 	}
@@ -476,6 +494,7 @@ func TestInit(t *testing.T) {
 			require.Equal(t, test.expectedVolumeSnapshotter.snapshotLocation, volumeSnapshotter.snapshotLocation)
 			require.Equal(t, test.expectedVolumeSnapshotter.volumeProject, volumeSnapshotter.volumeProject)
 			require.Equal(t, test.expectedVolumeSnapshotter.snapshotProject, volumeSnapshotter.snapshotProject)
+			require.Equal(t, test.expectedVolumeSnapshotter.snapshotType, volumeSnapshotter.snapshotType)
 		})
 	}