Visas and entry rules for Uzbekistan
Entering Uzbekistan is far simpler than most travellers expect. Many nationalities need no visa at all for short stays, and everyone else applies online. Rules do change, so treat this as orientation and confirm your own case on the official government portal before you book flights.
Visa free travel
Uzbekistan has opened its borders widely over the past years. Citizens of a long list of countries, including most of Europe, may enter without a visa for a short stay, usually thirty days, with a passport valid for the whole trip.
There is no paperwork to prepare in advance in that case. You arrive, your passport is stamped, and your holiday begins at the airport exit.
The official e visa
If your nationality is not on the visa free list, you apply for an electronic visa on the government portal at e-visa.gov.uz. The form takes a few minutes, you upload a passport scan and a photo, pay the fee by card, and the approval arrives by email as a PDF.
Apply at least a week before departure and print the approval. Use only the official portal: agency style copies of the site charge more for the same document.
Registration during your stay
Visitors must be registered at their place of stay. Hotels and licensed guesthouses do this automatically and hand you a small slip for each night. Keep those slips together until you leave.
On our journeys every night is spent in registered accommodation, so the paperwork happens quietly in the background. If you plan private stays with friends, ask us in advance and we will explain what to do.
At the border and in the country
Border formalities are quick. Declare large amounts of cash, respect the limits on medicines with strong ingredients, and carry your passport rather than leaving it in the hotel safe, since it is asked for at museums, stations and when changing money.
Currency is the som. Cards work in city hotels and larger restaurants, cash is king in bazaars, and exchange offices are everywhere.