Sudan Visas

[SDHEG1]

I'm going to be travelling from Egypt through Sudan into Ethiopia, applying for my visa in London. These visa applications are often turned down. Does anybody have any advice / recent experience on best ways to ensure chances of success? -
(Simon Heginbotham - UK)

[laberio]

In 17 March I come back from Kartoum and after I advise you. Stefano pdposta@tin.it

[SDHEG1]

Thanks Stefano, but I expect to leave for the trip on 15th March, so am applying for my visa next week - anybody else have any advice

[IanS]

I'm about to send off for my visa for business visit and have been told to use the following Agent. They say should not be a problem and will take 2-3 days. I have a letter from a Sudanese company though.
BENMAR PASSPORT AND VISA SERVICES LTD
020 7240 0554 ask for Pat. They charge £23 so its not too heavy.

[SDHEG1]

This item hasn't generated a massive amount of interet, but for anyone wondering about Sudan visas, we have now had our visas issued, taking only just over three weeks form start to finish.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Khartoum give the instruction to the embassy in London to issue the visa. As far as I can tell, they will do this if they are requested to do so by the Ministry of Tourism, who in turn will do this if they are presented with some letter of invitation / recommendation from within Sudan.

Therefore if you have a contact in Sudan, or failing that can get some Sudanese hotel / travel agent to recommend you to the Ministry of Tourism, you should be well on the way. We didn't use a visa agency - I suspect they would only be useful if you had no contact to invite you and they did. However, the agencies I spoke to had no such contacts, so didn't seem to have anything to offer.

Thanks to those who replied to my original question

[Chris Scott]

Thanks for the info Simon, sounds not unlike Algeria or Libya after all.

Chris S

[hed]

Simon, txs for the info, very useful. How long are these visas valid for and do you have to specify where you are planning to enter ? I am planning to go to Sudan by motorbike via Tchad. I was planning to get this visa in NDjamena or so. Do you think that will be OK ? Also, do you think it will be OK to try without a carnet ?

Txs.

Heye

[john-l]

we were issued our visas in norway in just under three weeks. we didnt need any invitationor recomendation, just a letter of xplanation written by myself, ie that we wanted to travel through sudan on our way from chad to ethiopia, copy of important docs (vehicle related and passport) and that was it. No hassle at all.

We have already set off and are in Rabat now for our Niger visas.

[Jasper]

We got our visas recently also, but had contacts in Sudan for the letter from the Ministry. It seems that Simon got visas anyway though.

The visas are valid for 3 months from issue and are good for 4 weeks in the country. I asked the visa section at the embassy, Ms. Ban, a very helpful lady, about entry points etc but she explained that a visa was for a human being and it did not matter the location of entry.

Jasper

[hed]

Txs Jasper and John-l, I will do the same. Any ideas about going without a carnet ? I know it is OK in West Africa, but how about Sudan/Ethiopia, Eritrea ?

Txs.

Heye

[SDHEG1]

Hed - I'm not travelling with my own vehicle, so have no idea about need for a carnet. There was no requirement to state point of entry on the visa application fom they use in London - only to give approx arrival date so that they know from what date to issue it as valid from.

Regarding getting visas in Chad, there is a reply to Jasper's entry "Libyan Visas" (further down the bulletin board) which reports that somebody acquired Sudanese visas in Chad in only a few hours. There are no details, and I suppose you can never be sure that it will be the same for you, but it sounds promising.

Simon

[GWJ]

Sudanese embassies in Europe consult with Khartoum before issuing visas but according to several reports their embassy in Cairo issues tourist visas within a couple of days.