Visa for Turkmenistan

Visa obtaining, practically, consists of two stages.

The first stage is to get permission (approval) to enter the country.

The second stage is to get visa stickers stamped in your passport.

Permission to enter the country is granted by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan (SMST). Proof of granted permission is a valid Letter of Invitation (LOI) issued by the SMST. A sample of the LOI is here.

To get LOI one’s files should be submitted to the SMST. For tourist visa, only Turkmenistan national tourist agencies are eligible to submit file on one’s behalf. List of tourist agencies registered in accordance with Turkmenistan national regulations can be seen here.

For business visa one’s business partner in Turkmenistan is eligible to submit files.

Only applications for permission (to obtain Letter of Invitation) for private, transit, official (service) and diplomatic visas can be submitted at the Consulate Section of the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Austria.

There is a consular fee of 15 euro for submission, which is non-refundable regardless of the final decision. Consular fee is to be paid to the Embassy account and payment notification should be submitted along with other required documents.

The list of documents to be submitted might vary depending on which type of visa one needs to obtain.

Once permission is granted and LOI is issued one needs to get visa sticker stamped in the passport. There are two options to do that.

First, at any Embassy or Consulate General of Turkmenistan abroad; and

Second, on arrival at the border crossing point of Turkmenistan, including international airports.

To get visa sticker stamped in the passport at the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Austria one is requested to submit:

1.       Completed visa application form with generated QR-code;

2.       Copy of the Letter of Invitation;

3.       Copy of the passport;

4.       one photo;

5.       visa fee payment confirmation.

Note: a copy of a document output from a copier. Photographed on a mobile device and subsequently printed, an image of the document is not acceptable as a copy of the document.

To submit files, one needs to make an appointment (here).