Uzbekistan new registration system from July 2018

[steven]

All your questions and answers about the registration system in Uzbekistan are welcome below. Before asking, please read

****Uzbek registration chapter in the visa guide*****

Thanks!

[reiseleben]

We left Uzbekistan today. We travled from Bukhara via Samarkand and Tashkent to the Fergana valley and left to Kirgistan (Osh).

Only two hotels asked us for the previous slips, but this was still in June.

No official asked us for the registration slips. There were 2 police-checkpoints on the way to Fergana valley, but no vehicle to the valley was stopped.

And also at the border nobody asked for the registration slips.

In one hotel they tried to explain the new system to us. But there were many contradictions, so we were not sure about it. Looks like the new system is more about the tourism tax and less about police registration.

Greetings from Osh.

Wolfgang

[leela]

We got registration slips for all our nights (apart from the night on the train), but people seemed way more relaxed about it compared to four years ago (when we had difficulty even leaving our bags past checkout time, because guesthouse owners were worried that if officials visited and found bags for people outside the registered time, questions would be asked).

No-one asked to see them. Much as the customs forms have gone by the board, it seems that no-one much cares about registration now either.

[Mrloes]

We left Uzbekistan yesterday, travelling by train from Tashkent to Bishkek (through Kazakhstan). We had all our registration slips, except for one night in the train, but didn't have to show them at the border.

Tashkent was the only place where they asked to see our registration slip from the previous night, apologising that "these are the rules we have to follow". In the train they usually collect the tickets when the train departs, but you can get them back upon arrival, just ask for it if you're travelling to Tashkent by night train.

[rgarg]

Hi,

Tashkent times mentioned a functional site with address www.emehmon.uz for online registration. It also mentions that from May 29th...the onus of registration lies with the hotel/residence owner rather than the foreign tourist. I am planning to travel to Tashkent and Samarkand in late September and interested in getting apartments from Air BNB rather than staying at a hotel.

Any information on the new registration process and if hosts of Air BNB will take care of this formality is welcome.

[wakeyjamie]

Hi all,

has anyone tried using the new registration system?

[gaetandzoni]

Our registration marathon without spending any night in a hotel.
For tourists in Uzbekistan, the first registration in a hotel muss be done after the 3rd night maximum. In Bukara, after the 2nd night, we got our registration paper for 15 nights, after 4 hours fighting and waiting, for 137000 Sum for each (about 17,50 $ in July 2018). How we got it :
After 4 visits of officials tourism buldings (OVIR, regional department of tourism, ...), we find an english speaker, who has able to help us ... maybe !

Here is the contact :
Kamolov Ma'ruf Raufovich
Bukara region departement for tourism development
Chief specialist of "international relations" section
@ : [email protected]
+998-93-474-7774
+998-91-418-0778

I went with him and his official minister member card to 5 different hotels. Our goal – try to use the new law for “single travellers” (it means that you are independent, even if you don’t travel alone) and get a registration paper without spending any night in the hotel. And because it’s new since about 2 weeks, nobody has got the information yet and every hotels are afraid to be punished. So many times, they refused our request even I was with a official person. Finally, the last one could understand the “truth”. The secret: printing the new law and read it at the reception.
I paid in Sum (not with dollars !) and we were finally free to camp or getting hosted by locals for 15 days. Youhhhou – no stress anymore.
At the border with Tajikistan, they asked for our registrations and they were happy with this single paper. They let us leaving the country by bike very easily.
Hope it can help you and probably this new law will be famous everywhere in Uzbekistan in a few time.

Gaëtan and Priscilla
French people cycling east

[thl989]

gaetandzoni to be clear did they ask for your registration at the border? Are you sure you didn't offer it to them? Because I was not asked for registration, the reports on what the law says (re: it's the hotel's responsibility now) would indicate they don't check, and other traveler's have said they don't check. I'm just a little suspicious this was difficult because you were trying so hard to do something that may not have been necessary. Of course your situation was different than mine in that you camped but had I just went and camped I don't suspect anything would have become of it. Especially give how friendly the guys at the border (overly friendly to the point where I can't help but think they are ordered to be friendly like the Tajikistan side)

edit: nevermind I guess your situation is sufficiently different in that you are independent of any hotel. I would be curious to hear what happens to someone who just ignores this stuff completely and shows up at the border, though.

[steven]

Hi thl989,

some people get checked, other people do not get checked. So far, I have had some reports of people who completely ignored this stuff and got through without hassle. I am waiting for a report of someone who ignores everything and will have to pay a fine. So far, none yet.

In general, though, I think you should pay. You are using precious resources (eg water) and you should take your responsibility for it. You are very rich (average wage in Nukus is 50-100$/month). If you really are that poor that you cannot afford the 20$ for registration, earn some money, unless you live somewhere where the average wage is 100$/month (but then you are unlikely to travel since your passport is worthless).

[wakeyjamie]

Hi All,

Has anyone actually tried using the website mentioned by Rgarg; emehmon.uz. We are driving in our camper from Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan hopefully in about 2 weeks. I totally agree with you Steven. Of course I dont mind paying any necessary fees. But we do love wildcamping in our van, it's part of what makes travelling in a camper so special, but we don't want to be tight and we want to help contribute to the country's economy that we are visiting. So we were thinking about staying at a hostel maybe every 3 or 4 nights.
thanks
Jamie