Nowadays, it is possible to enter Abkhazia from both Georgia and Russia, and getting a visa is easy. The process and requirements are detailed below. For important border information see border crossings of Abkhazia.
Visa-free
Since April 1st, 2016, only passport holders of countries that recognize Abkhazia as a separate country are allowed a visa-free stay of up to 90 days. These are Transnistria, South Ossetia, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Nauru, Nicaragua and Russia.
Formerly visa-free nations (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine) now need to apply for a visa, like all other nationalities.
Visa types and fees
The Abkhazian visa is date-specific. Which means you can enter later than the date specified on your visa, but not earlier. You can leave earlier than the date on your visa, but not later. The later you enter, the less days you have.
Eg. If you have a 30-day visa from January 1 to January 30, and you enter on January 15, you have to leave before or on January 30.
Single transit visa: | |
For a period up to 12 hours | 5 USD |
For a period up to 24 hours | 10 USD |
For a period up to 48 hours | 20 USD |
For a period up to 72 hours | 50 USD |
Single entry/exit visa: | |
For a period up to 10 days | 10 USD |
For a period up to 30 days | 20 USD |
For a period up to 1 year | 30 USD |
Multiple entry/exit visa: | |
For a period up to 3 months | 40 USD |
For a period up to 1 year | 60 USD |
Visa extension: | |
Up to 12 hours | 5 USD |
Up to 24 hours | 10USD |
Up to 48 hours | 20 USD |
Up to 72 hours | 30 USD |
Up to 10 days | 50 USD |
More than 10 days | 50 USD for every 10 days |
Visa application
You can apply online. You can also get the visa on arrival according to one report.
Online visa application
- Fill in the electronic application. You should receive an immediate confirmation in your inbox. The permit should arrive 5-7 days later.
- Have your confirmation letter printed to hand-in at the border. Print several, you will need another one for step 3.
- Upon your arrival in Abkhazia you must visit the Consular Service within 3 working days in order to receive the visa of the Republic of Abkhazia. The Entry Permit Letter (Clearance letter) only serves as an entrance permit to Abkhazia, it’s not the visa yet.
Visiting the Consular service of Abkhazia
Address: Sakharova 33, Sukhumi (Gmaps) (no longer in the MFA building on Lakoba). The visa office is within the building of Repatratsia, near the Pingvin cafe. Tel: +7 (840) 226-70-69. Open Monday-Friday 9-5, closed 12-1 for lunch.
The visa fee is paid in cash or by card, in rubles, to the Consular Service. Your visa will be printed as a separate sheet of paper and will not be stuck in your passport.
You cannot enter in shorts or skirts!
All updates and questions are welcomed in our Abkhazia visa forum topic.
Visa on arrival
A simplified procedure for obtaining an on-the-spot visa at the new Psou river check points on the Russian-Abkhaz border should have been implemented since mid-April, operating at all hours of the day, according to Georgia Today. We have since gotten confirmation: it works. Reports welcome in the Abkhazia visa on arrival forum thread.
Refusals
We have one story (January 2018) of a refusal at the border, although an entry permit had been granted. Some type of list exists, and the traveler’s name was not on it. Thus, no entry.
Entering with your own vehicle
Apparently you need a permission to come with your own vehicle, but where do you get it? At the Enguri border crossing in October 2017, a Romanian tourist was turned back initially when he arrived at the border with only a visa. He later crossed, but we are unsure of how he obtained the car permission slip.
Try asking directly at [email protected].
