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
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 7 days later.
- Have your confirmation letter printed to hand-in at the border.
- 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 (no longer in the MFA building on Lakoba). The visa office is within the building of Repatratsia. 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.
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.
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.
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].
