Tajikistan visa

Tajikistan tourist visa

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, tourist visas are given for a duration of 30 days. Some tour companies quote a 45 days maximum. Some embassies however give 60 or even 90 days. Single entry or double entry visa can be requested. A double entry visa is the same price as a single entry visa.

Double-check to make sure that you will get a tourist visa, not a private visa from the embassy. In the past, there were reports that some embassies only gave tourist visas with a LOI. This seems no longer to be the case, but make sure. Private visas need to be registered at OVIR, incurring extra costs.

Tajikistan visa on arrival

It is possible to get a Tajikistan visa on arrival at Dushanbe airport and Khujand airport for citizens of certain countries (see “list of countries” paragraph). You need a letter of invitation.

January 2013. A French traveller paid 58$ for a 1 month tourist visa, and he had an LOI. 45 day multiple entry visa would have cost 68$.

However, most Westerners can get a private visa on arrival without LOI, but that requires OVIR registration (expensive!). Latest success story: April 2013.

Between 23/04/2013 and 30/04/2013 the Tajik Border control ceased the issuing of visas on arrival at Dushanbe airport. The reason seems to have been a large opposition conference. Everything seems to be back to normal now.

Tajikistan letter of invitation (LOI)

If you need a letter of invitation, this can be arranged for you by any tour company in Tajikistan. With a reliable tour company, the LOI will be issued in a couple of days after you hand over the necessary paperwork.

Tajikistan visa requirements

For your visa application you will need:

• 1 passport with minimum 6 months validity after expiry of the Tajik visa and 2 empty pages
• passport pictures (1, 2 or 3 depending on the embassy)
• 1 completed Tajikistan visa application form (download here)
• a letter of invitation (depending, see above)
• photocopy of passport can sometimes be requested.

Registration in Tajikistan

Registration is not necessary for travelers on a tourist visa staying up to 30 days. All other visas have to register with the Migration Police (OVIR), as well as people on a Tajik tourist visa staying longer than 30 days. Please be aware that registration in Tajikistan is an expensive affair:  100$+!

OVIR Dushanbe: Mirzo Turzunzade Street 5 Tel. 227 67 22 (no English) Opening hours: 8am-5pm

Tajikistan visa extension

A 1-month Tajikistan tourist visa can be extended for 1 or 2 weeks.

June 2012 report: Get to Ministry of Foreign Affairs office early – opens 8.30am - at 8.30  I was already 18th in line. Need to put name on list. Was given application in Russian – there is a notice board at end of room with examples of completed forms, including an English example. Need to write letter to consular section detailing your request. Then need to go to the amanat bank on Ismail somoni to pay $1 processing fee. Photocopy of passport and visa page plus 2 passport photos.  All needs to be done and handed in by 11am. Go back after a week to find out decision on your Tajikistan visa extension.

Went back after 1 week, at advised time / day – office closed. Back the following day- wednesday. Visa pick up from 2-5, arrive early (even at 1.30 was #47) put name on list. Visa extension granted so needed to visit bank (10-15min walk, taxis waiting out front of mofa office) to make 2 payments: $20 and 40somoni. Back to mofa office, need to leave passport, pick up Monday… Explained needed to leave by Sunday, ok pick up 3pm Friday afternoon. Give you stamped letter saying they have your passport.

On Friday arrived at 1pm #19 on list (opens at 2pm, visa pick-up at 3pm). Press bottom button for ticket issue – others press top button. Pick up started 3.40. Visa extension was ready for pick up. Woohoo! However, another British tourist went for pick-up on Wednesday to be told it wasn’t ready and to come back on Friday.

Ishkashim border market on Tajik visa

It is possible to visit the Saturday border market of Ishkashim on a Tajik visa. You leave your passport with the Tajik border guards, and walk across a little bridge to get to the market. When you are done, you walk back and pick up your passport. No Afghan visa is required (source).

Tajikistan visa application on the road

Tajik embassy in Almaty Opening hours: 9-12 and 14-17.

June 2012: 2 Swiss travelers paid 7500 tenge for 45-day tourist visa + GBAO for next-day service. They were told they do not need registration with OVIR.

October 2011: Australian passport, 1 day processing and 45$ for 45 days + GBAO permit.

August 2011: Japanese traveler got 30-day single entry Tajik tourist visa + GBAO permit without LOI for 100$.  Processing time: 15 minutes.

July 2011: British traveler paid 30$ for Tajik visa (without GBAO), pick-up next day.

Tajikistan embassy in Bishkek

April-May 2013: Belgian and German nationals, visa on the spot (10min waiting). 75 usd + 100 som for 45day visa and GBAO permit. Single entry ( double was 10 usd extra). The english speaking lady from the embassy assured us that a registration is no longer needed for 45 days. 10$ less for 1 week processing.

Tajikistan embassy in Tashkent Opening hours: 9 – 12

September 2012: as before: lots of people – 1 week processing 55$.

July 2012: we applied for a 45 days visa. we got 45 days plus double entry without asking for it for 55$. without LOI. Make sure that you bring your passports in the morning to get them back at 5 o’clock in the evening.

July 2012: The Tajikistan visa in Tashkent was pretty straightforward and a few tips from other travelers saved us loads of time. Bring a filled out application form from online and there are loads of locals out front in a huge crowd. Just weasel your way to the front of the crushing mass of humanity and say “tourist visa” to the security guard. There’s a second crowd of people you have to shimmy through once inside the embassy and the same trick works. It seems dirty, but it gets the job done. Cost is $55 and takes 1 week to process. No LOI needed.

June 2012: $55 for a 1-month visa (with LOI). Get there early (it opens at 8am) and just sort of edge your way to the front of the crowd. Don’t argue with the guy behind the desk too much cause he’s unlikely to change his mind just because you make sense. Do however turn up a day early if you need your visa before you’ve be told to get it.

May 2012: very busy, 1 week processing time, no GBAO permits issued.

March 2012: very crowded, 55$ with 10 working days processing time. Express fee: 200$! Tour firms can no longer help. Summer 2011: only GBAO permit – 20$. visa and permit – 60 to 70$. April 2010: 1 month double entry Tajik visa (no GBAO permit) with same-day processing: 50$. Tour firms can help you for a fee of around 35$.

Tajikistan embassy in Baku  Address: Badamdar Str.,Baglar street, 2nd Baglar alley, 20 Tel / Fax: (+994 12) 502-14-32 Web: www.tajembaz.tj

Get there by bus number 3 (AZN0.20), which departs from opposite Bank Standard on Azerbaijan St which is just behind Nizami’s statue outside the old city. Get off the bus at Galin Gaya in Badamdar, and follow the sign to AEF hotel. But before arriving there, there is an alleyway to the right, and the emb is 30m on the left.

Opening hours 15:00 – 17:00 Tuesday to Friday.

April 2013: No GBAO permit is issued as they do not have the stamp!  The consul is friendly, and speaks English well. He’ll tell you to write a letter to the ambassador, and will tell you what to write. TWO app forms, TWO photos, the said letter to ambassador, copy of passport and AZ visa. LOI apparently not needed though “helpful” the consul said. “Processing” is 4 days (drop off Tue, pick up Fri), and USD35 to be paid at time of collection. Express processing is probably available but not enquired.

Embassy of Tajikistan in Kabul

March 2012: A Dutch traveler was refused a visa at the Tajik embassy in Kabul. Advice of the consul: try in Mazar or Kunduz. Only after correspondence with the embassy in Brussels did he get his visa.

Embassy of Tajikistan in Istanbul

Address: Yeni Baglar cad, Billur sok. No: 16, Senlikkoy may, Florya, Istanbul Opening hours: 8am to 5:30pm.

April 2013: I can vouch for the Istanbul consulate report, just picked up a 45 day visa today (British national) including GBAO permit for $60 (including $10 for double entry), also payable in €/£, took about 20 minutes. Filled in the English language form I’d printed off the London embassy website and hand wrote my own letter of intent as dictated by the consul who speaks good English as well as Russian of course and apparently Hindi and Japanese!

No LOI required, just passport with photocopy and 2 photos. Well worth the trek to the suburbs and beats £150 for the equivalent at the London embassy open 4 hours a week!

Note: the train to Florya suburb is suspended pending construction of the new high speed line in Istanbul, you need to take the BN2 bus which runs along the coastal road from Eminönü and around Sultanahmet.

March 2013: I just walked in and got a visa for 45 days and the GBAO at the same time. $25 each so a total of $50. Filled in the paperwork when I got there. It’s the Consul himself who issues the visa, speaks fluent english and the process was completely straightforward.

Embassy of Tajikistan in Ankara

Address: Ferit Recai Etrugrul Caddesi. Oran. (opposite Panora mall on the hill, you will see the grand embassies and their flags) N39.85207 E032.83115. Opening hours: 0900-1700 Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri.

Payment is made to the Ziraat Bank down the road at N39.84751 E032.82871

March 2013: $54 USD for 1 month or 45 days with single or double entry for British passport. No LOI required. Visa turned around in less than 24 hours. Spoke excellent English. We requested the double entry but where asked on collection if we would like 45 days instead of our requested 30 days to which we said yes as we had all ready paid. Friends we met here (British Nationals) applied in the morning and picked up visa in the afternoon for the same price.

July 2012: Collected next day, was originally told 3 days but somehow during the course of the conversation the guy said ok come back tomorrow at 3, nice! 45 day visa but no GBAO permit issued here anymore, border or Dushanbe for that. 65$ paid direct, passport kept by embassy. No LOI

June 2012: GBAO permit is no longer issued in Ankara due to ‘problem with Australian man.’  Visa is apparently no problem.

Tajikistan embassy in Moscow

The embassy is at 13 granatny pereulok but the visa section is about a 10 minute walk away. Everything is possible. 3 months, multiple entry,… A helpful forum post from February 2011 explains how it works in Moscow.

Tajikistan embassy in Islamabad

July 2012: Australian passport paid USD45 all up and took under 2 hours including writing a letter of intentions.

“When I asked about the GBAO permit he first said no he couldn’t do it as he didnt have the forms. When I got my passport back he had handwritten “Entry to GBAO permitted” in English as well as the local lingo, plus his signature and stamp. That’s when he told me it cost 25 for the visa plus 20 for the GBAO permit (although when I first asked about the visa cost he had said USD50, before I had mentioned the GBAO permit).”

Embassy of Tajikistan in Tehran

Opening hours: 9-12. Not very busy. You need the application form printed twice , 2 photos, photocopy of passport and letter of introduction from your embassy.

May 2012: Australian traveler paid 25$ with 5 day processing time. GBAO permit was not issued in Tehran. The Tajiks require a letter from your embassy, which is free or expensive depending on your nationality. Passport is not kept during processing.

Tajikistan embassy in Beijing

No. 1-4, Section A, Liangmagiao Diplomatic Compound Phone: +86-10-6532-3039 / +86-10-6532-2598 Fax: +86-10-6532-3039

April 2013: Strange experience but nonetheless managed to get my visa with GBAO permit in 5 days for US$70. Strange because despite calling to check they were open and issuing visas, when I turned up at the embassy I was told the Consular General was away for a week and therefore they were not issuing. They also said I required a letter stating my itinerary. I went back the next day to negotiate and they accepted my application and said I should call in 5 days to check if my visa was ready. That I did and they said it would be a further 3 days. I got my chinese friend to call them and then picked up my visa an hour later. Like many things in China, if you want something done you need to get a local on the case (despite being able to speak passable chinese myself).

Embassy of Tajikistan in Tokyo

Embassy website with visa form

July 2012: The GBAO permit cost is included in the base visa cost, but you MUST ask for it separately (in person and in your processing cover letter). If you don’t have a cover letter they will give you one to copy for the request at the consulate. Make sure you come with TWO copies of your visa paperwork (and associated photos). When picking up the visa they will make you sign that the visa is correct. NOTE: the actual dates, etc are handwritten so be sure to triple check!

Cost for Americans: ¥9000 JPY (8000 for the visa + 1000 processing fee) for a 30 day single entry visa. This is paid via wire transfer (ATM) with receipt DUE AT APPLICATION TIME.

Tajikistan embassy in London

October 2011: British traveler applied by post. Cost 100£ for 2 month double entry visa + 50£ for GBAO permit. Processing time: 1 week. Registration with OVIR in Khorog cost 135 somoni.  The embassy requested a travel itinerary (hand-written suffices).

Embassy of Tajikistan in Geneve

June 2012: Swiss traveler paid 65 EUR for a visa and 10 EUR extra for a double entry.

List of countries

Countries whose citizens can get the visa on arrival in Dushanbe or Khujand airport: Austria, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Hungary, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Cyprus, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Great Britain, Germany, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Andorra, Vatican, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, South Africa, Senegal, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, USA, Brazil, Bolivia, Cuba, Chile, Vietnam, Brunei, Israel, China, Iran, Qatar, Japan, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Philippines, Pakistan (only diplomatic and service visa), India, (only diplomatic and service visa), Yemen, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan (only diplomatic, service, investment, free zone, transport, sportsman, artist visa), Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand, Stateless persons who are former citizens of the Republic of Tajikistan.