Travellers to Turkmenistan: e-Visa Live, Invitation Dropped, Fees Still Unknown

Turkmenistan's State Migration Service put its electronic visa, or e-Visa, system into service on 1 October 2026, the authority announced on 30 September 2026. The move is aimed at saving travellers time, allowing documents to be handled electronically and simplifying immigration formalities in a country whose entry rules have long ranked among the most restrictive in Central Asia.

Key facts

• Start date: the e-Visa issuance system goes into service on 1 October 2026
• Who it covers: foreign nationals and stateless persons seeking to enter Turkmenistan
• Legal basis: amendments to Turkmenistan's migration law adopted in April 2025
• Invitation: under the 2025 amendments, no invitation has to be arranged or issued to obtain an e-Visa
• Application portal: an official subdomain, evisa.migration.gov.tm, appears to be intended for applications but was still hard to access when checked
• Post-arrival registration: available online at rgstr.migration.gov.tm

What is changing?

The State Migration Service says the new system processes and issues visas electronically to foreign nationals and stateless persons travelling to Turkmenistan. The launch follows a briefing held in Ashgabat on 30 September 2026 on the digitalisation of immigration procedures, which gathered representatives of diplomatic missions and international organisations as well as Turkmen ambassadors and consuls posted abroad.

Diplomatic missions were briefed on the new procedures so they can pass information on to travellers, according to a report from Turkmenistan's state news agency on the meeting.

Does this end the letter of invitation requirement?

The April 2025 amendments to the migration law provide that an invitation does not have to be arranged or issued in order to obtain an electronic visa. Until now, tourists generally needed a letter of invitation approved by the State Migration Service and usually arranged through a local travel agency or organisation before applying for a visa.

The State Migration Service has cautioned, however, that the portal's operational rules must be published before it is clear which travellers and which types of stay will actually qualify for an invitation-free application.

How do I apply?

The authority's announcements do not yet clearly state which web address travellers should use to submit an application. An official subdomain of the migration.gov.tm domain, evisa.migration.gov.tm, appears to be the intended portal, but it remained difficult to access when checked, so application requirements could not be reliably reviewed.

A separate official page at migration.gov.tm/evisa is dedicated to verifying information relating to an issued e-Visa, confirming that supporting infrastructure for the new document is being put in place.

Registration after arrival also goes online

The State Migration Service has also introduced an online registration system for foreign nationals and stateless persons already in Turkmenistan. The service at rgstr.migration.gov.tm allows registration at a place of residence, extensions of that registration and deregistration to be completed remotely.

Travellers and the individuals or organisations hosting them can handle these procedures online instead of visiting a State Migration Service office. Local sources confirmed in August 2026 that the system was already being used for registrations, extensions and deregistrations.

What this means for travellers

The 1 October launch moves Turkmenistan's e-Visa from a planned system to an operational programme, and the law removes the prior invitation from the e-Visa route. Travellers planning to use it should watch for publication of the portal's operational rules before relying on the invitation-free process.

Key details still need to be clarified, including eligible nationalities, available visa categories, required documents, fees, processing times, the validity of the visa and permitted stay, and any restrictions on authorised ports of entry. Full access to the application portal should eventually provide that clarity.

The State Migration Service has not given a date for when the missing eligibility criteria and application requirements will be published.