Afghan visa - has it ever caused you any problems?

[ccc]

Just wondering if anyone has ever had problems applying for visas or entering countries (except US) with an Afghan visa/entry stamp in their passport?

[Christian77]

I had a work visa for Afghanistan (in a US passport). Only once did it come up. I want sent to secondary screening in Washington-Dulles (only white guy there) and a guy asked if I had some ID or docs to show who my employer was in Afghanistan. I came up with a hilariously misspelled ID card for a European NGO, and he let me go through (but only after some Department of Agriculture guy sprayed the bottom of my boots in case I was tracking in any Afghan goat manure disease).

Since then, no problems with any country I've been to (SE Asia, Australia, western Europe, Turkey, Central Asia, Hong Kong, etc...)

But I suppose this is one of those "your mileage may vary" things. I'm white, and not Muslim. A Muslim, even with a British or American passport may end up getting more scrutiny.

This is all a little silly, of course. The most suspicious stamp to have would be Turkey, by a long, long margin (as that's the last thing an ISIS recruit would have in their passport). Flying into Kabul is really not something to be worried about. Nobody who joined Al Qaeda or the Taliban went through customs and immigration. They went straight to Pakistan.

[ccc]

Thx a lot, but is not a problem to visit China, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Israel as well, after a short stay in Afghanistan?

[Christian77]

Depending on your citizenship and professional profile, I would be careful with the Iran trip.

The others (China, Israel, Saudi) will just turn you back or reject you if they don't like you.

[ccc]

Better not to go to Afghanistan. No visa/stamps –> no problems.

[murg]

Just wondering if anyone has ever had problems applying for visas or entering countries (except US) with an Afghan visa/entry stamp in their passport?

Hi there,

I don't know your citizenship, but eine countries hand out a second passport to Help you avoiding exactly those issues....

[ccc]

Thanks, but I’m not looking for a solution, asked just generally, if you cannot enter or get a visa to some countries, because of Afghan visa.

[tokyodom]

This is my experience, though it's not necessarily up to date. Had an Afghan visa in my old passport back in 2002 and I was pulled aside for 2ndary screening regularly going through the US (mostly transiting which doesn't exist there thanks god knows what thinking). I can't point finger at afghan visa specifically as also had Kytgyz, Tajik, Uzbek, Chinese, Pakistani, Indian, Iranian, Azeri, Georgian, Armenian & Turkish visas or stamps alongside and was regularly quizzed as to why I had travelled in so many muslim countries.

Checking recently for a now aborted return trip to the Wakhan, have checked that Afghanistan is not on the list of restricted countries that cause issues for non-US citizens applying for ESTA visa waiver (unlike, Iran, N. Korea etc) but no idea what the situation is for US citizens - imagine easier as you have a domestic profile and can explain it was work.

[netllama]

I've heard an unconfirmed rumor that Libya (of all places) will refuse entry to anyone with an Afghani visa in their passport.

I was in Afghanistan last February, and recently travelled around West Africa using the same passport and had no issues. Granted, West Africa isn't all that picky about this sort of thing. I'm hoping to spend time in Chad later this year, which might be more interested in my passport content.

[ccc]

You cannot enter Libya with Afghan or Somali visa/stamps.