Applying for Visas
 

I'm planning to do a trip next year. Through Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the 'Stans', Mongolia, Russia and back to the UK. Should you apply and get all your visas before leaving the UK? Is it a lot of hassle to get visas en route? Any info greatly appreciated by a novice to this game.

you dont need visa for turkiye (perheps you may pay something like 10-15 euros). you have to buy insurance(cost around agaon 10-150 euros) at the border in an insurance company (called isvicre sigorta) and get the permit at the border from border officer for free. i dont have any clue for other countries.

good luck

Thanks for the information....
 

Thanks for the information Ozhanu re the Turkish border requirements.
All the best
Paul

If it was me I'd approach the embassys or such for the up to date info. Personally I'd feel happier having all this sorted and for my trip we're sourcing visas etc prior to departure.

Best of luck

Cheers Macp1
 

I'm planning a three month trip and didn't want to get all visas that may not 'all join up properly'. I may get the first few before setting off. I'm planning to go down through Eastern Europe, Turkey and then either Iran or Armenia and Azerbaijan - up through the stans to Mongolia and back through Russia. I did part of your route (I followed your link) last year. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. PM me if you want info on them otherwise enjoy the trip.
Cheers
Paul

Visas for Armenia can be obtained at the main border crossings. Check www.fco.gov.uk.

You will need to go via Georgia to get between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but no visa is needed for EU citizens.

The Azeri visa will be easy to obtain in Tbilisi.

The 'stans are more difficult. Turkmenistan is currently closed to foreigners, it seems. Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan are relatively easy. You can get one month, single entry tourist visas without an invitation.

Uzbekistan requires an invite, though you can, I believe sort this out whilst on the road, and just have the invite emailled to yourself (see www.stantours.com).

Tajiksitan is quite tricky, see www.pamirs.org.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are OK.

Russia will be more difficult. You will need a multiple entry visa, as you can only enter Mongolia from Russia unless you pay stupid amounts to ride / drive through China. A double entry Russian visa is only valid for re-entry from a CIS country, so not Mongolia. A multiple entry visa may be more difficult to come by. see www.waytorussia.net.

In short, you could get away with leaving home with no visas, but it would pay to secure your invites for Uzb / Taj / Rus, or at least know how to get them on the road.

If you got all these visas at home, half of them would have expired before you even entered the country, unless you really fly through your trip.

Hope this helps

Dan

Just the job....
 

Hi Dan,
That's just the sort of information that I've been looking for... It's a bit of a buggar if Turkmenistan is closed to foreigners 'cos I'd planned on crossing the Caspian Sea from there and I can only see the one crossing route.
I'm not going until next spring so things may have changed.
Thanks again Dan for the information and links. It is much appreciated.
Cheers
Paul

Russia-
- a multi entry visa does not have a CIS re-entry restruction, or at least my previous or current full year multi entry business visas have never had this. Apart from queing outside (usually in the rain!) to attend your appointment, they are very straighforward to obtain in London, about £120, but you will need a Letter of Invitation approved by the Ministry in Moscow beforehand. Here is where the Visa Agencies make their money if you do not have a contact there.

That's right - a multiple entry visa is flexible. As per my above post, it's the double entry visa which requires you re-enter from a CIS country. The gist of this is that you can't get a tourist visa which will allow you to enter Mongolia and re-enter Russia. If you're willing to put the time and money in, a Business Visa is quite straightforward, and does not require that you have any real business in Russia. The visa agencies will sort this out for you.

The Russian Embassy in Ulaan Bataar is notorious for refusing to issue visas to foreigners.

Azerb/Uzbek/Kazak visas obtained in Istanbul
 

Collected Azerbaijan visa (UK resident) today.
Took 3 days to process.
Did not need loi.
Did not make booking with any hotel/organisation, but used a valid hotel address in Baku as the answer to "where you stay" question.
Visa cost 60TRY or $40
Need to take along 2 photcopies of passport and 2 photographs.

For Consulate location click this link, it's a PDF file of mine:

http://www.travel.uklinux.net/piccie...l%20TURKEY.pdf


Now also collected UZBEKISTAN visa (UK resident).
Took few hours to process. I have been also told by an American that can get visa without loi but takes a week to process.
Do need loi. (Got mine from StanTours)
Visa cost $80
Need to take along 2 photcopies of passport and 2 photographs.

For Consulate location click this link, it's a PDF file of mine:

http://www.travel.uklinux.net/piccie...l%20TURKEY.pdf



And also collected KAZAKHSTAN visa (UK resident).
Took few hours to process.
Do NOT need loi.
Visa cost $40
Need to take along 2 photcopies of passport and 2 photographs.

For Consulate location click this link, it's a PDF file of mine:

http://www.travel.uklinux.net/piccie...bul_TURKEY.pdf


Phil.

Turkmenitsan
 

and so Turkmenistan.

Consulate insisted today (that's 5th April 07) on having original loi with visa application.
Could wait obviously if I wanted and had the time but have opted to get visa on point of entry.
Assured no problem so long as the original loi is there as well (i.e. the person meeting us from StanTours will have original loi)

location map and details for consulate here :

http://www.travel.uklinux.net/piccie...bul_TURKEY.pdf

Phil.

The information below is from the perspective of a US citizen applying for Stans visas in Istanbul...
I initially intended to travel from Turkey to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and then Russia-exiting via Vlad to the West Coast of the US.
Georgia and Mongolia don't require visas of US citizens. I applied for the following visas: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia while in Istanbul.

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan I got in the same day...
Uzebkistan I could get same day with LOI or apply without LOI and get within a week. Doing it with LOI will save you time!
Turkmenistan requires a visas from any bordering country before they will process a 5 day transit visa.
Afghanistan shot me down as they frown upon overland travel in the North...they wanted me to get the Turkmen and Uzbek visa, as well as a letter of support from my consulate, before they'd let me apply for their visa.
Russian visa I applied with StanTours and will pick up in Tashkent, UZ

I've been waiting in Istanbul three weeks to go through these visas but in retrospect I could have done it in 1.5 weeks and here is how.

Apply with StanTours for an Uzbek and Russian LOI 2-3weeks before arriving in Istanbul, and specify Istanbul pickup. When you arrive in Istanbul, go get your Azerbaijan visa first and then go to the Turkmen embassy...you can then apply for a transit visa since you now have a bordering country visa. They will need 5 days to process.
During those 5 days, go get your Kazakh, Russian and Uzbek visas while waiting for your Turkmen...each of these takes about a day. With any luck, you can pick all these up within 1-1.5 weeks.
Hope this helps.

A quick follow up to the posting above...
Before walking away from the consulate, triple-check that the dates specified in your visa are the dates you wanted.
ALSO, be aware that the Aerbaijan visa is a tricky one...when they issue you the visa, there are three dates on the visa. Date number one is the day/month/year the visa was issued from the consulate. Date number two is how long the visa is valid for and that is typically 1 month. This means you need to enter Azerbaijan no later than one month of Date number 1, which is the issue date. Date number three is the visa length of stay and that's 30 days. This means that once you enter Azeribaijan, you have 30 days to leave...now your vehicle is a whole nother story...3 days, unless you're willing to pay some ridiculously high deposit...as they won't accept Carnet's...

I know I'm bumping an old thread but here it goes:

I'll depart in two months for a RTW including Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Russia...

Being a Turkish citizen, living in Los Angeles, I'm considering which visas to get here in the US and which to get in Istanbul and Ankara. I prefer not to waste my time waiting for a visa in Turkey but I understand that this depends on the expiration of the visas.

There seems to be two durations regarding visas

• Between issue date and entry date. I'll call this effectivity.
• Between entry and exit. The validity.

So far I learned that a Russian multi-entry business visa can be obtained for an extended period such as 6 months to a year. I'll apply for that one while I'm in the US. Kazakhstan does not require visas for Turkish citizens. One less to worry about.

I don't think I can have two passports at the same time. So it would be hard to apply for 7 visas in Turkiye within 15 days.

I wonder if there are any other countries I can apply beforehand while I have time in the US. Visas with long effectivity or validity. It can take me up to three months to get to those countries after leaving LA on April 1st.

Don't know the specific answer(s) to your question, but in your unusual circumstances, I think the only way you'll get a close-to-definitive answer or action ahead of time is by contacting/ asking each of the country consulate/embassies in the US; (and/or) using a reputable commercial visa agency with direct experience/ contacts at the US consulates of these countries.
(You've already checked each country consulate website in the US, and not found the specific answers you need?)
Some of the US consulates should be able to tell you (or a commercial visa rep) at least whether you can apply from the US--and processing time if allowed--or must apply in IST/Ankara. With luck, some may even be able to tell you the effectivity/ validity options under your circumstances.