Turkmenistan transit visa refused in Dushanbe

[Juan and Dani]

According to other reports, Dushanbe is the smoothest place to apply for the Turkmen transit visa. In our experience (Italian passport holders), we were refused without clear reasons. We provided all the paperwork asked, which was checked by the staff at the embassy. They said everything was correct and that we could pick it up after one week.
When we showed up for collection, they gave us the bad news. When we asked for an explanation, they said they didn't know, and that we should try in Tashkent (we are going to UZB after Tajikistan). So frustrating as we don't have a clue what we should change for next time in order to get our visa approved.

Two possible explanations are: 1- We applied more than one month in advance.
2- We are transiting to Afghanistan.
To the above, they said "maybe" were the reasons. We hope is number 1 and we can get it in Tashkent.

We don't want to alarm anyone, this was only our experience, but we have also met other travelers who got a transit visa in Dushanbe without problems.

[AndrewRogerson]

You could try using a LOI, which is available through Steven, on this site.

[steven]

Just to add to this: no LOI is needed for the transit visa, only if you book a tour. Did it work in Tashkent?

[peyreoli]

Just had the same problem. Please did it work in Tashkent?
I'm French by the way

[kumaso]

I was also refused the application for Transit Turkmenistan Visa in Dushanbe (I'm a Japanese passport holder).
I did all the required paperworks along the embassy staff's advice and was told to come again a week later. I went to the embassy today to receive Visa, but they just said "refused" to me. Of course, I asked the reason, but I couldn't figure it out at all because they didn't know as well.
My route plan was from Uzbekistan to Iran with passing Farap border and Sarakhs border. It seems nothing strange.
That's a mystery and frustrating indeed.

By the way, in my case what's required was different from the information on embassy report page.
・1 Application form
・1 letter of request of transit visa
・2 passport photo
・1 photocopy of main page of passport, photocopy of visa of both countries before and behind Turkmenistan. (each of them must be colored)
These are actually what I provided for the embassy.

The visa affair department works 9:30~12:00 and there is a polite staff speaking English well.

[steven]

Thank you kumaso,

We also do not know the problem, a lot of people got refused in summer for no reason, and now it seems to be 50-80% chance you will get it based on anecdotal evidence. No idea what the reason might be for refusal sadly, all nationalities and routes seem to be affected evenly.

[bwv812]

Coincidentally, the only person I met in 2012 who wasn't able to get a 5-day transit visa in Dushanbe was also Japanese: he was only given a 3-day so he had to do a mad dash. We both arrived in Iran within a day of each other, so it wasn't a holiday/independence-day-related thing, either.

[SQRR]

Lucky enough, I could pick up my transit visa last Friday in Dushanbe.
I did apply the Wednesday before and was told to come back the next Thursday (5 working days). As I turned up on that day, they did not receive any response from Ashgabad. So the guy just called Ashgabad and they told him that they will decided on that Thursday afternoon.
He was apologising about the inconvenience as he knew I wanted to leave the same day to Uzbekistan, and asked me to come back the next morning.
The next morning the visa was ready and he asked me again when I intended to leave Tajikistan. When I told him I will drive there straight after I get my visa, I was able to pay the 55$ in cash. That saved me to drive 6km to the bank and 6km back.

Different sources confirmed to me that it is really hard to get a transit visa for October but November is no problem at all.
Good news is, that I met quite a few people who applied for a transit via for November and NON of them WERE REJECTED!
It seems they have a certain allocation for each month and therefore easy to get the visa in the least travelled month.

good luck!

[traveler10]

I heard that everyone was refused in October as Turkmenistan was holding military exercises. I applied in Dushanbe on November 2 and was told the visa code would be emailed to me on the 9th, but have not received it yet. I did not have my Uzbek visa yet (I got it on the 3rd) and did not have a visa or flight for my ongoing country (Dubai, UAE) as it is a visa on arrival. The fellow said that there should be no problem. Hopefully that is not what is holding up my receiving my email code.

[bwv812]

I heard that everyone was refused in October as Turkmenistan was holding military exercises.

The usual explanation is that they limit the number of visitors around independence day (October 27th). Apparently some people still get visas for this time, but most are rejected. The last two weeks of October are the most difficult. I asked a tour agency in Ashgabat about this, and they seemed to think it was quite normal for this to happen, given that leaders from around the world came to recognize independence day and they needed to ensure their security.