Turkmenistan embassy - UK

[nmanno]

Hi guys, anybody else having any problems getting the Turkmen transit visa in London. A friend of mine and I are planning to go there end of March (coming from Baku) and we are told we need an LOI for a Transit visa! If I can't get it in the UK, any other places I can get it quickly and without LOI? what about Turkey etc?
Thanks

[Phil Flanagan]

Hi

Last year myself and another user ( motoedde ) both independantly got turkmenistan visas.
I opted for standard visa which required loi. loi came from stantours and visa granted at point of entry.

Motoedde opted for the transit visa. This he got in Istanbul without problems and reasonably quickly.

check this thread for location details posted by me for the consulate location in Istanbul and for info from edde.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...bassy+istanbul

[nmanno]

Thanks Phil. Great help.
I will push the embassy in London and if not, will try in Vienna or in Istanbul.
Cheers

[henryuk]

I think you might want to try Ankara not Istanbul, picked mine (tourist) up their no problems and I think at the time I was told I wouldn't be able to get it in Istanbul. Don't know if anything has changed now that Turkmenbashi is no longer with us....

[Bjorn]

I just phoned the TKM embassy in London today. They said I'd only get a transit visa if I also have transit visas for Iran and Uzbekistan. If I have tourist visas for there, I HAVE to get a tourist visa for TKM - which requires a LOI.

2 questions:
1) If I get a LOI (from Stantours probably): do I need to get a guide as well?
2) If I somehow get a Transit Visa somewhere else than London (Berlin, Ankara?), but have tourist visas for Iran & Uzbekistan: won't thew border guys tell me off?

The whole TKM thing is really starting to p*$s me off - (in addition to this visa issue, their embassies are not the friendliest, don't even mention their name when they pick up the phone).

Bjorn

[nmanno]

Hi Bjoern,
yep, this is the same issue we had. They won't bulge, we tried several times and they didn't want to give us a transit visa, saying since you have a tourist visa for Azerbaijan and one for Uzbekistan, we want you to take a tourist visa for Turkmenistan!
If you go through Stantours, you will be required to book some guide, accomodation etc...approx. usd400-500!
We chose to get the transit visa in Vienna. Apparently Berlin also does this without issues, i.e. you send them your application form, the money and the passport and within a few days they give you a transit visa. This is much better service then in London.
When are you going?
Good luck mate.

[Bjorn]

Hi Mnanno,

Thanks for your reply. So: Did you have any problems with the transit visa at the border?
How long did it take to process the visa in Vienna, and which other visas (Uzbekistan?) did you have before you went for the Turkmenistan one?

We'll be there end of July. Our route is Turkey, Iran (2-3 weeks), TKM, UZB (2 1/2 weeks), TAJ (3 weeks), KYR (1-2 weeks), China, KKH/Pakistan, India.

Lots of visa work to be done...


Bjorn

[Bjorn]

Just phoned the German embassy again and asked what the deal was. Again, not very friendly those old russian bureaucrats... ("our website is offline" and just when I asked him for the bank account details, he goes "I've got other people waiting" and didn't want to speak to me anymore...).

What I got as a response is:
I have to get BOTH Uzbek/Iran visa first. Then apply for Turkmen transit visa, which MIGHT be issued – or maybe not. No matter what: I'll have to pay upfront (and as you may imagine, no refund if application isn't granted).

I can't afford a "guided tour" with LOI through Uzbekistan. How else can I connect Iran and Uzbekistan? Are there ferries from Iran to Kazachstan? Probably just as expensive as a guided tour through TKM...

I'm tempted to give the whole thing a miss, really...

[CornishDaddy]

Hi Bjorn, just picked up this thread - what did you do in the end? How did it work out?