Turkmenistan embassy in Tehran... correct address?

[ustrasse]

Hello,

We're currently in Tehran hoping to apply for our Turkmenistan visas tomorrow morning during their narrow 9-11am window. We can't verify the correct address for the embassy/consulate, and the shortlink provided in the visa guide isn't loading in either a normal browser or the Tor browser.

Can anyone give us the correct address/GPS coordinates?

Thanks!

[Adrien Seg]

Hello ustrasse,

The Turkmenistan embassy in Tehran is here (google maps link) : https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2 ... !1s0x0:0x0
And here are the coordinates : N35 48.269 E51 27.148

After you go to the Turkmenistan embassy, can you please tell me if you managed to submit your visa application? Because i met some Tadjik guys at the Uzbekistan embassy that told me it was not possible anymore to apply for a Turkmen transit visa in Tehran, only possibility to apply AND pick up in Mashhad.
I was about to call the Turkmenistan embassy, but if you could give me a report on your visit there it would be awesome!

Cheers,
Adrien

[ustrasse]

Hi Adrien,

Thanks for all that info! Your Google Map link worked better here in Tehran than the shortlink on the visa page

We were able to submit our applications with no problem. We arrived at the embassy around 10am but realised we forgot our photos. The guy at the consulate window (a friendly guy with the patience of a saint, and he speaks good English) said we could come back in the afternoon and submit the applications out-of-hours. We supplied him the provided form, one passport photo (they prefer 4x6 size but we got away with 3x4), a written letter with our requested dates and entry/exit points, and a copy of our car registration. We've been told to pick it up any time after one week from today in Mashhad.

The consulate has a pinboard and one of the posters written in English says the office will be closed from 1st October to 31st October, 2014, but it was open today...

One strange thing: We wanted our transit visa to begin on the 22nd of October, but were told that we had to move it to the 18th because of an upcoming holiday in Turkmenistan (Independence day on the 27th I guess?). I didn't really understand his explanation, so I'm not sure if it's an issue of the consulate being closed, or the borders being closed, or what. I overheard him telling two Spanish dudes ahead of us in the queue the same thing.

If anyone has any info on the above please let us know!

[steven]

Turkmenistan will be closing its borders from 21st of OCtober until 1st of November due to Independence Day.

[Adrien Seg]

Omg.
Steven can you confirm this information? I planned to cross Turkmenistan around the 26-28th of October... Is it then completely impossible?
I will probably have to take the plane to Tashkent then.
Or last option : i could go from Tehran to Baku and then take ferry to Kazakhstan then join Ouzbekistan. But is it possible to get a transit visa for Azerbaidjan from Iran? I read its quite tricky.
Thanks for all the informations!

[steven]

Sorry, I made a typo there. 24th of October - 1st of November. I think, if they gave you a visa, they will let you in. If they haven't given you a visa yet, fat chance they will give you one, according to the info I received from one Turkmen tour operator.

But, they told me they are not allowing tourists/tourist visas in this time, but perhaps transiting is okay? Nothing is ever certain.

About the Azeri transit visa...no idea. Can you still extend your Iranian visa perhaps?

[Adrien Seg]

Hey everybody, hello Steven!
It's me again, with my neverending questions about this Turkmen transit visa .
(Btw I finally solved my situation by extending my Iranian visa and staying two months in Iran!)
I now have my Turkmen transit visa, starting from next Saturday. Questions is : is it possible to enter Turkm on sunday, one day later than entry date written on visa? Or since it's date specific I have to enter the country on the exact date written on the transit visa, so next Saturday?
Thanks for the info!
See you soon for new adventures

[steven]

Hello Adrien, glad to have you back!!

No problem to come later into Turkmenistan, just don't exit later!

Can you tell me your experience of extending Iran visa, please? Thank you!

[Adrien Seg]

Thank you very much Steven for these informations!

So, i extended my visa in Tehran, which is, according to Lonely Planet 2012, not the best place at all to do it. They advise you to avoid Tehran and to do it in Isfahan or Shiraz, which is probably better, but if you have to do it in Tehran, don't worry, it's actually quite easy.
The only thing to know about Tehran is that the immigration office is NOT anymore at the adress given in p.65 of the LP2012 : the immigration office moved. It's now at metro Tehran Pars, terminus of line 2, quite easy to get there from the center. Unfortunately i don't remember the exact adress, but it's 2min walk from the metro, very easy : go out of the metro, turn left, go down the street, turn left at the corner and it's there after 20m. If lost, just ask any random person in the street about "visa extension", they know and will show you!
Then everything is in LP2012 : you need your passport, two photocopies of the picture page, of the current iran visa, and of the entry stamp. You can make photocopies in the office (not for free). Then you need to pay 300 000 rials at the Melli Bank nearby and bring back the receipt (some very nice iranian guy did it for me, so i don't know where is the bank but since it took 5 min i guess it's not far). Then fill some forms and it's ok! If you come early you might get the extension the same day. Otherwise they keep your passport and you come back the next day and your extension is ready! (what i did).
Good luck!

And i take the opportunity of this message to inform that my musicla project on the Silk Road is going on very well! So, i'm travelling from France to China with my accordion in order to find in China the ancestor of my beautiful instrument (yes, it comes from China and was brought to Europe through Silk Road some centuries ago!). On the way, i'm recording traditional musicians in order to edit an album at the end about traditional music on the Silk Road!
I'm learning everyday about many different local musics, and i'm trying to exchange my musical culture with theirs, and when possible i try to play with local musicians and record it. It's quite passionnating and i try to relay it as much as i can on my blog, "A trip in Accordeonistan" : http://accordeonistan.com/the-project/?lang=en
The main content (the articles) is in french but static pages are translated in english and most of my recordings are listed in the section "The sounds" with little explanations in english. For now most of the recordings are from Turkey, Armenia and Georgia; Iran was very prolific but since internet connection is so bad i will upload everything later .
So, i'm now heading to Central Asia, and i will try to sneak in some yurts to meet with the nomadic musicians of the snowy steppes

See you soon for some additionnal questions about visas!

[steven]

Thank you for infos and keep in touch, I will need to feature your project on the blog when you finish.