Damascus Travel Forum

hello. irish guy here. travelling from istanbul to damascus in a few weeks. there is no embassy or consulate in ireland. is it possible to get a visa on the turkish/syrian border?

No, you need to get a visa before departure, and while there may not be a Syrian Embassy IN Ireland, there is one FOR Ireland, it's the one in London so you will have to send your passport by post:
Embassy of Syria, London, United Kingdom (also responsible for Ireland):
8 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7245 9012, Fax: +44 (0)20 7235 4621, http://syremb.com/
See also http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=8766

Yes you can. Most definitely so!

Despite what Syrian embassies officially say, you can get visas at land borders easily and hassle-free. In the past I got mine from the Lebanon/Syria border. More recently (1 month ago) two friends of mine entered Syria from Turkey, and bought their visa at the border, too.

Happy travels
Rhia

I'm also Irish and am also trying to get this info at the moment. I hope to travel from Turkey through to Syria too. Next April. It seems there is some ambiguity towards the Visa for Irish citizens. I just received a reply from the Syrian embassy in London telling me that I can indeed get one on the border, but that it can take a long time... They ultimately advised me to apply for one which can be done by post. It is a little bit of hassle though, having to send your passport, paying in sterling etc. I have not decided what I will do. If you have any more information, please let me know.

All the best,

Colm

You can get visa at the border because you do not have sirian embassy in Ireland. I was in Syria two month ago. Take dollars for paying official taxes and such things but in the banks you can change evros and pounds too. Visa costs 32 dolars. On the way out I had to pay about 7 dollars again.
So take dollars for such things, even at petrol station you can find that they do not know evros for example

hi colm

just back from syria. i came there via turkey (from gaziantep) and there was no problem with getting a visa at the border. the only delay was that they couldn't figure out how much to charge me. ($33 in the end). you will love syria. if you have any question let me know.

That's great to hear. Thanks a lot for letting me know - really appreciate that. I may have one or two questions for you coming up to the date I leave. Can't wait to go.

Thanks again,

Colm

you'll have a great time mate. happy to answer any questions you have.