In trouble in Uzbekistan..

[Baron Bolton]

I've been in Uzbekistan for 5 days, and protocol says you must register as a foreigner within 72 hours of arrival.

The fine for failure to do so is stated as a minimum of $1000.

I'm starting to worry a bit, can anyone help!?

My options as I see, are:

- Head to a border, and try and cross, see what happens

- Go to one of the local government offices, and see what they do to me

[Toyark]

Gabe, Ii you knew the registration within 72 hours protocol and the consequences for failing to follow it....I am not sure what 'help' you expect :confused1: - you took a chance and you might get away with it - fingers crossed for you.

If not and you are confronted by an official, you'll have to kowtow a lot, apologize sincerely, and pray - fine are sometimes negotiable....
Breaking rules usually costs money (in the UK as well) and doing so knowingly always hits you in the pocket.

Personally I'd head for the border - there may be a 'better opportunity' to negotiate there -Good luck feller.

[Lighter]

Gabe,

If I am not mistaken, registration is processed by your hotel. The Lonely says that if you have some missing days, you can arrange this with an hotel.

To which country would you be heading to ?

I am now in Dushambe and just tested the road between Pedjikent and the Tadjik capital: terrible. At least the scenery is gorgeous. If you take the tunnel, be prepared, it can get a little bit scary.

A.

[Caminando]

Hi Baron

This is only an idea as I havent been where you are. Can you get hold of a doctor who can give you a document to say you were sick, fevered, incapacitated etc? You couldnt register, you were told someone was doing it for you but let you down, etc blah blah. You were assured all was OK.

Have you time to find a British National there who can advise? Ok, not easy, but you never know. Have you the phone number of such a person? Or find it somehow?

Don't use this doc's note, till the right moment, if they try to fine you.

Don't get downhearted, try to be positive - it could all work out. You need a bit of support and cheering up. Lets hope someone who's been there responds.
.................................................. ................
And someone has below!!!!Yeahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

[samson]

last year i was for a month in uzbekistan. i didnt register one day . i enterd from Nukkus and i left to tadjikistan . on the border to tadjikistan they asked for noting . no problem . about the road to duchambe ,watch out in the tunnel . this is the tunnel

[MotoEdde]

I was in Uzbek and crossed border into Kazakh...no issue about registration.
Also keep your receipts, in case they ask...which they probably won't.

[gay bikers on acid?]

Hi Gabe, Dan & Deb here. We were in a similar situation in Thailand once when we overstayed our visa by 2 weeks so we crossed overland into Laos at low key border crossing. Our thinking was " well, we're guilty so we'll say nothing & see if the border police notice. If they do we'll try & pay them off with some green backs or go through the formalities & pay the penalty." Luckily we got through no problem. If we were you we would go to the border as you've probably got a better chance of getting out at less expence, rather than having to deal with government officials in Tashkent. At least going to the border you've got more chance that they'll wave you through as your exiting the country on an onward visa so in there eyes your a problem thats leaving the country .
Try not to worry about it too much, at worst its a 1000 dollar penalty so try & blag it to keep the cost down.
Good luck with the rest of the trip
D&D

[KTMmartin]

If you got an invite/sponsorship into Uz, then ask them for advice. If I remember correctly, they are responsible for whatever their guests get up to whilst visiting...

Otherwise I'd not worry too much, I would be surprised if they check on your exit.

[colebatch]

go to a proper hotel for a night, offer the girl 10,000 sum to register you and 'extend' your dates. you should be ok that way, they are anal about registration at Tashketn airport(group tours etc) but if you have any registration at road borders it should be fine. road border guys are not so anal.

i have exited once at airport and once on road. road guys checked that was some registration and that was enough. didnt check dates or details. Airport guys went over it with a comb, even called the hotel in bukhara to verify it

uzbekistan, more than anywhere, is a place where official fines exist only in theory. A good salary, even in the big smoke of Tashkent, is 150 us dollars a month. So any official who pulls you up is not trying to punish you, but rather looking to supplement his income. Use that fact as the basis for any 'discussions' with uzbek officials.

[Baron Bolton]

Bertrand, I had no idea about this registration process until 5 days into my stay here, but thanks for the support!

I'm now in Tashkent, where rules and procedures seem much more stringent that elsewhere in the country.
I have asked literally dozens of hotel, guesthouses and officials of a way round this, and each time insisted I would be keen to pay for the servcice. Each time I was met with a No Chance response.
Here in the capital they have to give the records to the govt so frequently, you can't backtrack registration far at all.

I get different answers from every person I ask, as is cutomary in this part of the world I guess. I was edging towards the response you have converged on, and will head to the border tomorrow evening. I need another Kazak visa, which will be ready for me tomorrow 5pm. That was a hell of a ball-ache in itself.

The registration process is a pain. Hotels now won't take be here in Tashkent, as they need to enter the last registered palce I stayed!
You are supposed to have registration for every nights stay. I stayed 2 nights with a family, so no chance of anything for those days, and another 2 days in a rented apartment here in TKent, not govt registered.

In my current slghtly negative mindset, I'd say not bother with Uzbek, but maybe if you're careful it's not so hard. Camping woud be difficult I guess..

So watch this space I guess, if you're interested. I'm praying for no hassles at the border, or a small bribe.

Kyrgz is rumored to be closed, and Takij paperwork was about $200, for the few days I'd have there, so Kazak it is. Then fast to Mongolia and chill for weeks and weeks.

Thanks again guys

---

Dan and Deb, good to hear from you again, it was a pleasure to meet you at Ripley. What's the username all about!?

---

KTMartin, I had no support or anything with visa, just went and got it from embassy in Istanbul. But good shout

[colebatch]

gabriel, check your pms

[gay bikers on acid?]

Hi Gabe, Gaye Bykers on Acid were a thrash punk techno band who's music i've never heard before although, i knew a bit about them from a total nut case diamond driller who used to give me a lift home from London when i was an apprentice. The name just struck a chord with me & i've always used it. What do reckon, a cool name for a band or not? its certainly raised a few eye brows on other forums.
let us know how you get on at the border
D&D

[Baron Bolton]

The relief I feel at having that little episode behind me, thank god it's all over and I got anway with not following the rules!

I got my passport and Kazak visa back at about 6pm, after a painful couple of days at the embassy, and a stroke of extremely good luck.
I'm sure they've engineered a system there to make a relatively straight forward process as complex, slow, and painful as possible. There is no other way they could have implimented a system like the one they use.

Anyhoo, I headed to the border, and arrived as dusk was turning to night, and a friendly armed guard explained the the border crossing was for locals only, and they simply didn't have the capacity to process foreigners.
So I made the dangerous journey south to a place called Chinoz, then on to somewhere else, can't remember the name (I'll update when I have the bit of paper with it written on, maybe useful for someone).
Border had closed for the night, but amazingly, there was a very cheap, and excellent little 'hotel' a stones throw from the border. Spent the night there, and up at the crack of dawn for the crossing.

No mention at any point of any kind of registration, some problem with a missing certificate I should have been given on entry, stating how long I was entitled to have Honda in the country, but this was ignored eventually, and the English speaking guard assigned to me was more interested in football teams than certificates.

So that particular drama is over, and I'm so happy for it. I've been told that if exiting from the airport, they pratically open a detective case to ensure you've followed the registration process, often phoning the hotels you claim to have stayed at to confirm you were actually there when you said you were. I was also told of a Korean chap that was deported.
But in my case, on that day, at that crossing, I was all OK, no problems at all.

As a side note, West Kazakstan seems lovely, much more scenic and green than East. I was stopped for speeding yesterday, and shown a wonderful photo of Honda and I sweeping round a bend on a beautiful country road.
There was a brief mention of dollars, but as we chatted they talked themselves out of the fine, and sent me on my way with a flurry of smiles, good wishes and handshakes.

On even more of a tangent, I rode all day yesterday, was invited to a wedding, drank litres of extremely cheap string Russian vodka, danced, and made a microphone amplified speach in front of hundreds of guests that couldn't understand a single word of what I was saying. What fun.

I hope this post can be of some help to ease someones concerns if they find themselves in the situation I did.

------------

D&D, that post had me in stitches, great little story.
Be good to meet up again sometime..