Afghan Visa in Bishkek

[steven]

Please read and post reports on the Afghan embassy in Bishkek below.

We summarize all info on the Afghan visa page, under embassy reports.

[barefoot-backpacker]

Just a note to confirm that getting an Afghan visa in Bishkek is both easy and quick(I got mine today).


If you turn up early enough (I'd say before 10.30am), it's possible to get it done the same day - otherwise you'll get given an application form and told to come back tomorrow morning to start the process. You need your passport, a passport photograph (they asked for two but I got one back with my passport), and the completed form. The consul will then give you a small chit of paper with the bank details on, and you need to give this to the National Bank of Pakistan, a few blocks North. They then give you a stamped form that, once you've paid (US$81 for both Brits and New Zealanders), you take back to the embassy. You then come back in the afternoon (between 2pm and 3.30pm) and the visa is yours.

Apart from on the form, I wasn't asked any details about why or where I was going - a New Zealander I met there said the consul just asked her a couple of questions to make sure she wasn't going anywhere dangerous.

[Asiatrek]

Yep ! The same price for french, belgian citizen single entry visa for 30 days. You have 90 days to enter country. You have to fill their own application form, not the one you can download in website.
Bank is corner of Moskovskaya / Sovetskaya.

A few questions, a cup of tea, that's it !

[Cyclovent]

The price to pay is 81 $, to pay directly at the Pakistan Bank !

[Ole2]

Price is now 70 $ for normal, 7 working days. 200 $ for urgent, 1 day.
I got there in the morning, was told to come back in the afternoon for an interview with the consul, got the paper for the bank, Then next day I could pay and then apply.
Norwegian passport.

[matt2matt2002]

OK.
Visa easy to get.
May I ask where folk went to in Argh?
And what border crossing did they take?

[steven]

Hi matt, good to see you again!

Check out this thread http://caravanistan.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1275 - ishkashim bazaar, has some recent info on the ishkashim crossing.

[Ole2]

I got to Kabul by airplane from Dushanbe. The airport has few facilities, no atm and the bank was closed. I asked in the tourist information for a taxi, they helped me find one, seemed safe, but the price was a rip off. Should have been just 8 $, they told me at the hotel later. But I was too preoccupied with safety to haggle about the price.

[ColeUSA]

Visited the embassy today and spoke to someone from the visa section, but didn't actually apply. Take with a pinch of salt. The man spoke English; I speak no Russian.

1 Month tourist visas cost $160 for US Citizens (cheaper for everyone else). Normal processing time is approximately nine days. Rush service is $50 extra for all nationalities, processing time two days.

According to an English-language sign on the gate, required documents include a copy of your passport, two photos, and "Letter for lack of criminal responsibility with certifying Ministry of Foreign Affairs." I didn't ask about this, and it's not even clear which MFA needs to write a letter (Afghan, Kyrgyz, or your country of nationality/residence).

Also according to the sign, consular section reception hours are 9:30-12:00 and distribution hours are 14:00-15:30. "Reception days" are Tuesday and Thursday. I explained that my passport is at the Tajik Embassy until Tuesday afternoon and was advised to bring it Wednesday morning. Perhaps the listed hours are flexible to some degree.

[ColeUSA]

I ended up getting the visa in Bishkek after all. Rush service could be picked up the following afternoon. No letter from the MFA required. Extremely smooth process. Oddly, I was never permitted to enter the embassy building. Everything was done at the gate.