Tajikistan Travel Forum

Dear fellowtravellers,

Did some one get a visa and GBAO permit on arrival at Dushanbe airport?
I did look at some Tajik embassy webpages and it still not clear for me.

Thanks for answering me.

Tobi

Hi Tobi,

if you plan to travel there next July, you will have time enough to organise everything beforehand from home. It is just better and safer, as things change constantly.

Robert Middleton (pioneer for the Pamirs) writes on his website that it is possible to get the visa at Dushanbe airport ONLY if you have a letter of invitation from the Tajik Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA):
http://www.pamirs.org/visas.htm

And then you'd have to get the GBAO permit as well, which is, as far as I know, not possible to get at the airport.

As of Mid 2007, the Tajik embassy in Berlin was issuing the GBAO for free, once you get a visa there:
http://www.botschaft-tadschikistan.de/visaantrag.htm

The Tajik embassy in Vienna is said to be also reliable for visas, but they charge 20 Euros:
http://www.tajikembassy.org/consular.html

Once you are in Tajikistan, you should also get the OVIR, which is something like the regsitration of foreigners at the local police. This is for each of the provinces/states of Tajikistan = one OVIR per state. You should get it 72 hours after arrival in the resp. state.
If you don't have a proper OVIR, be aware that the military or police (whoever controls at checkpoints or in villages) will throw you out of the country immediately. OVIR is approx. 20 USD.


hope this helps
all best :-)
Ingrid