Привет из Ташкента! So welcome to Uzbekistan and today's Tip Thursday with
me Conor Clyne I'm going to be running you through the visa-free regimes in the
five Stans actually it's 4 visa free regimes and one where you're gonna need a
visa more of that in the video and that's gonna be the five countries the
five stans as they're known here in Central Asia so Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan поехали! let's get into the video!
So I've just taken a break from over indulging in the national dish of
Uzbekistan that is plov or pilaf you've definitely gotta try that out when you
come to Uzbekistan hopefully visa-free because if you are a European Union
citizen a Canadian citizen or many of the Latin American and nationalities
then good news for you it has become these are free for 30 days Uzbekistan
now unfortunately for Uncle Sam US citizens still need an evisa
you gotta organize that before you come to Uzbekistan that costs $20 and you
should also be aware that Uzbekistan does have a registration requirement
technically that means that you're supposed to register where you're living
within three days of arrival in Uzbekistan and normally the hotel would
do that for you if you're staying at a hotel my hotel in Samarkand did that for
me thumbs up thanks guys and also my Airbnb host here in Tashkent
he actually organized it and showed me how it's done even though I'd already registered you just
have to register once it's not sure I'm not really sure if it's enforced at the
airport I did actually misplace my registration slip so I guess I will find
out if it's really an issue when I go to the airport right now when I leave
Tashkent and go to my next destination
So greetings from the second country and port of call on my trip here in Central Asia
visa-free welcome to Kazakhstan and 'no' it is not
the country of Borat don't even make that close your faux pas he has nothing
to do with the country or anything stereotypes that he obviously for comic
effect propagated in that film the film is not even shot anywhere near Central Asia it was
actually shot in Romania in a small village but that's another story visa
free good news for you it is thirty days and that also includes our friends
in the United States so for us Canadian for European Union citizens is it is visa free to come
to Kazakhstan for 30 days there used to be a registration requirement my Airbnb
host actually did it for me but it doesn't seem like it's actually
enforced and from what I read online it is not necessary anymore so you know like
you don't need to worry about that they did it for me just in case I get asked
questions at the airport on my way out actually when I left Uzbekistan they
did not ask me about my registration I did not have a slip of paper on me and I
was not asked about it when I was leaving they actually also gave me back my drone
which is nice to them at the airport that was a little bit stressful getting
it back so if do happen to be traveling to Uzbekistan with a drone
if they find it there's a lot of paperwork to fill out they did give it
back to me it was a bit of a comedy because they couldn't find it at first
and you know they were on lunch break when I arrived so at the end of the day it took a
long time to get it back good news is Kazakhstan pretty open I'm Alma-Ata the
old capital of the country the new capital is Nur-Sultan and when I say new
it's actually in the mid 90s that the capital was moved there but this is
still the commercial heart of Central Asia it's a really cool city and I
definitely courage you to come here with your visa free to Kazakhstan
So unfortunately on this trip I've actually already bought a flight back to Eastern
Europe to Minsk in Belarus so I'm not gonna be able to go on this trip to Tajikistann
Kyrgyzstan or Turkmenistan the other three stans now Kyrgyzstan
I've actually visited a few years ago that was actually the first country here
in the region to open up in terms of being visa free for Westerners in
general and today they've actually expanded that to 60 days so sixty days if you want
visa-free if you go to Kyrgyzstan you don't ... same principle registration as in
Kazakhstan and in Uzbekistan it's actually not necessary anymore so you
don't have to worry about that it seems possibly your Airbnb host or your
hotel will still do that formality for you but it's not a big issue now Tajikistan
almost became these visa free for us unfortunately that law was rejected by the
Senate it had actually passed their lower house of parliament and as a result we
still need to get an evisa so that costs you ... will cost you 50 US dollars and
you can do that online before you arrive in and pick it up in the ... and pay for it in
the airport that's my understanding of the rules for Tajikistan so it's 45 days
every 90 that you have with your evisa so that's a little bit of an extra
step to have to do to get that done but it's more or less a formality
now the fifth and final stan is by far the most difficult to go to and that is
Turkmenistan in fact it's even difficult extremely difficult for people from the other
stans to go and visit Turkmenistan nevermind Westerners the country is that
closed and it seems that bizarre it is sometimes referred to as the North Korea
of Central Asia actually one of my good friends who's from Central Asia
it's a also a fellow lawyer we actually know each other from having sat the New York
bar exam together many moons ago and he actually got a job offer in Ashgabat,
the capital of Turkmenistan, and yeah in the end they didn't give him a visa
and he's Uzbek so that means you're gonna have to apply for a tourist visa
there is no visa free to Turkmenistan and you have to go and
apply for that online via a tour company they will take care of all the details
for you so that will cost you approximately thirty five US dollars for
a ten-day single entry visa to Turkmenistan and you do also have to
register the tour company who is organizing that for you for your trip because it's
that not free to go because Turkmenistan they will take care of all that
registration requirements before you but it is I imagine a pretty strict one about
Turkmenistan considering how hard it is to go visit a country in the first place
so in summary the first four stans which were Uzbekistan here in
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan very open visa free minimal hassle you might get asked about
registration but basically you can come and fly in and visit with your passport
for most nationalities like for me the European Union and North America
just remember that Uzbekistan that if you are from the US that you have that
you still need to get an evisa I'm shooting this video by the way
in February 2020 then Tajikistan we didn't get visa free
so far that might change soon and that you're gonna have to organize an evisa but
it's pretty straightforward and costs 50 US dollars and Turkmenistan is
the one that's hard you definitely will need a visa for that that now if you've
already visited the stans you had some additional issues as well extra
information that you think that I overlooked in this video drop me a
comment below in the comments section below this video on YouTube and just let
everybody else know who's watching the video about your personal experience
I trust you found this video very interesting in terms of the informational
content of course it's valuable just to have that summarized for you in February
2020 what you need to know about the visa free issues here and
opportunities in Central Asia it is a region that used to be in the Soviet Union at
the time that is the cultural and historical nexus with the countries I
normally cover on the channel which are of course Russia, Ukraine and Belarus
primarily and I've had a fantastic time here in Kazakhstan in particular it's a cool
city Alma-Ata this is used to be the capital of Kazakhstan before was moved to
Nur-Sultan in the north and before that I was of course in Uzbekistan
which was phenomenal in terms of its beauty in cities like Samarkand and
Bukhara definitely make sure that you are subscribed to the channel and have
hit that notification have whacked that notification bell so that you're
notified when I upload that video see you very soon! ciao ciao! до свидания!