Tajikistan visa problems

Hello,

I am a UK national whose application for a Tajikistan tourist visa was rejected. I wanted to share my experiences with other travellers. In practice, e-visas do not appear to be available for UK nationals.

I have filed a complaint with the Tajikistan Embassy in the UK and the Tajikistan Foreign Ministry, but they did not reply to my emails.

This is the timeline:

5 February: I submitted my application together with the only document requested (a copy of my passport details page). This was 2 weeks and 4 days in advance of my planned departure date (23 February). The official Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs website states: “it is recommended to apply for a visa two weeks before the trip”.

6 February: I was asked for a better-quality scanned copy of my passport which I submitted on 7 February.

9 February: I was asked for my flight ticket and hotel reservation which I submitted on 9 February.

13 February: I was asked for an invitation letter and provided with a link. (The link didn’t work. There was the following message in Russian: Страница не найдена.)

13 February: I emailed back ([email protected]) explaining that I was travelling independently. Furthermore I pointed out that the link provided didn’t work. My email was not answered.

13 February: my visa application status changed to ‘assessed’.

14 February: my visa application status changed to ‘approval in progress’.

20 February: With my booked flight only 3 days away, I had heard nothing, so I emailed and messaged the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for an update about my visa and received no reply from the Ministry. I used the email address and the contact form provided on the official Tajikistan e-visa website. (I followed the following instruction on that website: “Send a message to Main Consular Department by filling and sending the form below or by writing an e-mail directly to [email protected]”). In reply to the contact form message I got an automatic message saying “We will get in touch soon”. No-one ever got in touch from the Ministry. I copied [email protected] and [email protected] into the same email. [email protected] replied to ask me to contact [email protected] which I did the next day. [email protected] never replied.

21 February: With my booked flight only 2 days away, I had still heard nothing, so I again emailed and messaged the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for an update and again received no reply. I again used the email address and the contact form provided on the official Tajikistan e-visa website. In reply to the contact form message I got another automatic message saying “We will get in touch soon”. No-one ever got in touch. I copied [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) into the same email who again never replied.

22 February: I cancelled my flights. I was charged a cancellation fee of $126.33.

6 March: my visa application status changed to ‘rejected’ (despite the previous status being ‘approval in progress’).

The total cost to me was $156.33: my flight cancellation fee ($126.33) plus the visa fee ($30).

I am experienced in travelling in the former USSR. I studied in Moscow for a semester and have visited all the former Soviet republics except Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. I had hoped – and still hope – to visit all the former Soviet republics. I am very disappointed not to have been able to visit Tajikistan, to have spent $156.33 and got nothing in return, and not to have received any response to my multiple emails and messages to the Tajikistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

I hope the above is helpful for other British nationals considering travel to Tajikistan. Thank you.