Abkhazia visa on arrival

[steven]

All reports and questions about the Abkhazia visa on arrival are welcome below.

We summarize all knowledge in the Abkhazia visa guide.

[tomm1]

This November I visited Abkhazia from Adler, and I can confirm that visas are now available at arrival. I hope this info is helpful for someone planning to visit Abkhazia. I have a Finnish/EU passport.

I walked to the border from the Olympic Park in Adler, which took a bit over an hour. In the border, first there is a Russian officer checking that you have multi-entry Russian visa in your passport. If everything´s okay, the next stop is the proper Russian border control. I was guided to another room in the building, where an officer checked my passport probably five times with a magnifying glass. After half an hour I was free to walk towards Abkhazia. My passport was not stamped, and immigration card was taken.

In the Abkhazian border they quickly checked my passport, and I was guided to a small window where they sell the visas. The guy handed me a price list, and I chose a 10-day visa, which costed 700rub. I didn´t find a cheaper option in the list, but there was also some longer option for 1000rub available. The visa was not attached to a passport, and my passport was also not stamped in Abkhazia.

Right after the border there is a bus station, and I had no problem finding a marshrutka to Sokhumi.

I left back to Russia the following day. Unfortunately, the Abkhazian border officer wanted to take my visa, so I couldn´t keep it even when I asked. In the Russian border my passport was again not stamped but got a new immigration card with Adler stamp. When I left home the border officer was a bit confused, because I had different stamps in passport and immigration card, but in the end, it was not a real problem.

[steven]

Here is another reference point I got by mail:

June 2017: They took me to the other side of the border control area (where people are traveling from Abkhazia to Russia) and into a room for a quick check of my passport. Then I went to one of the small boxes before the passport control where I received my visa on a piece of paper.

They asked how long I was staying (2 days but they put 3 on the visa) and then said it was 800 rubles for the visa. After paying, I was in Abkhazia after a fairly simple and easy process. They kept asking 'excursion?', so I think if you come for a short time, the visa on arrival is the way to go.

[steven]

via e-mail: In June 2019 we, a South African and a Frenchwoman, tried unsuccessfully to get into Abkhazia without a visa at the Rukhi bridge crossing.
1) Official sources give various timespans for the application process: 7 days, 7 working days, or 10 working days. Our application for a visa with an entry date 7 days later was rejected for being too soon - best to apply a good 2 weeks in advance.

2) Having heard that visa-free access was possible from Russia, we decided to blindly try the same from Georgia. After a 2 hour wait Tbilisi authorized us to cross the bridge, but we were swiftly rejected on the Abkhaz side. Unlike on the Russian side, a visa is mandatory for non-locals when entering from Georgia.

3) There is a shuttle bus across the bridge that will try to scam you off. Don't use it, there is no reason why you can't walk the 500m yourself.

[tonic]

hello guys,

would like to share fresh experience from crossing to Abkhazia from Georgian side (20th of June)
We received permission from MFA after 5 business days. We landed in Kutaisi around 1PM, took taxi to Zugdidi for 70 lari (Bolt app). In Zugdidi we had lunch next to railway station. From there we took another taxi for 10 lari to Georgian checkpoint. There we waited for 45 minutes for our passports. After we cross Enguri bridge, we waited another half an hour on first Abkhaz checkpoint. Then we had nice chat with young Russian soldiers / FSB who checked our baggage. After that we passed Abkahzian customs and we were in Abkhazia. It took roughly 2,5 hours to cross border. Right next to the last checkpoint there are many taxis and minibuses/marshrutkas to Gali and Sukhumi. We opted for taxi for 2000 roubles. It took 1,5 hours to reach Sukhumi, the main road is in a great shape.
Next day we went to MFA to get our visa - you cannot miss beautiful white building on Sakharova street - here https://goo.gl/maps/qxzCNhSF4HaA6Xx48
But be aware, you cannot enter in short trouser or mini-skirt. There is even warning about 3000RUB fine for that .. in Russian of course.
It took few minutes to get visa, you can pay by card and it cost us just 350 RUB. Make sure you will not loose them
After few days in beautiful Abkhazia, we had to leave. We arrived to the border around 10AM on Monday. It took just 20 minutes to get to Georgian side. Your visa will be taken by Russians, but you will have new stamps in your passport. Georgians don't care about stamps at all, they just checked if we have passports and that's it. Not even any customs, so I have two bottle of nice brandy Abkhazia back at home:)

[Milad]

Thanks a lot for the report!
As that's the second report in relatively short time I read about passport stamping in Ingur - could you post a photo of the stamps? That's something new and I'm interested if they are standard passport stamps like most countries have or say something special. Thanks!

BTW, the "no-shorts-in-the-MFA rule" seems to be new as well (or not enforced when I went there in shorts...)

[tonic]

enguri stamp.JPG (64.48 KiB) Viewed 4398 times

shorts fine

[Sweeeet]

Hi as per above... i entered on 18th June 2019. took about 7 work days for the online permit.
Bought rubles before entering from Tblisi.
Took 0700 minivan Zugdidi to Border. got to border at 0720ish, border opens at 0900.
Georgia would not let me proceed until they had confirmation from someone somewhere on the phone. they finally cleared me at 1130. i heard a lady had to wait til 1330 on a different day. who knows who they talk to if anyone. they were friendly though. i walked the bridge to Abkhazia.
Easy process thru Abkhazia control. and yes they insisted on the entry stamp. this threw me off a bit but proceeded with stamp. otherwise can not enter. still need to show the permit too.
At sukumi the Visa (on paper) took about 10 minutes and 600rubkes. easy process
Returning to border 3 days later. arrived about 0830... a bit of a jostle etc in a busy line which took about 70minutes to get to the front. once initial passport verification completed, then i got my exit stamp - that part was a quick process.
walked back over the bridge to Georgia. immigration here quickly looked at my passport and waved me thru.
minivan to Zugdidi then onward connections readily available
its a easy process - just need to be prepared for some waiting here and there..

[Tot hier en verder]

I visited Abkhazia in October 2019. No passport stamps. I was allowed to keep my visa, though.
Visa costed 400 rub. Payment by card should be possible, but the employee told me I had to pay cash. No shorts law was not enforced.

[JulieBe]

Hello fellow travelers. I'm in a weird situation right now and need your help. I arrived today(Jan. 6) in Sukhumi (from Georgia) and went to the visa office but it was closed (tried 3 times...). I assume it will be closed tomorrow since it's Orthodox Christmas. Will the visa office be open on January 8th?
I need to leave Abkhazia on the 9th of January to go back to Georgia and catch my flight back home after that super early on the following day.
If the visa office is not open on the 8th, should I try to leave Abkhazia on the 9th without a visa???