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Confusion about Syria visum: at border?
Hi there,
Planning to do an overland trip to Cape Town starting september I'll have to cross Syria. Application for a visa with the help of a visa company was denied by reasons of demand of hotel reservation. Sounds a bit strange since I am overlanding through the country. I am a Dutch native, and I am curious about the rumours about getting a Syrian visum at arrival at the Turkey-Syrian border on the spot. I've searched the HUBB but didn't get clear recent informormation about this subject. Anybody who can confirm or deny this information on lately required information? 'Get the hotel reservation!' I hear your think, well yeah, but in the meanwhile I will have tot aply for the Sudanese visa as well, so therefore my pasport will be proceded by the Sudanese embassy. I woud be very pleased with your reply. Guido The Netherlands |
Syrian - Visas
Hi, Guys.
I worked as an overlan driver in the middle east for 3 years. Some people have managed to get syrian visas before travel, however. I used Fajer click-t@mail.sy who is based in Damascus just over the road from the embassy. The cost of paying Faj for your visa's is normally less that what it would cost in time and money finding a visa in any other country. He would send a agent to the boarder, do all the boarder paperwork for you and vehicles, (No bribes or backsheesh required). And set you on your way. Then when you leave the country he would send an agent to exit you as well. Not sure how much he costs now, but try him. He has many friends who speak loads of languages. Record Time, I made a mistake once, phoned Faj with all my passport details plus 15 passengers, and we crossed the boarder 2 hours later with an agent. Check out the visa and make sure you understand the time limits of vehicles in the country. overstaying my truck usually cost under $200 in fines. Hope it helps, if you can't get in touch via email s i'll pass your details |
Thanks Akentigernfox,
Most likely the recommended service is well for large groups, but al I wanted to know if it is possible to get a visa at the border. I get different infos on this topic after searcheing the HUBB, so I would like tot know if there is any recent info that can be usefull. Guido |
You'll find different information throughout the site on this issue because, well, people have different experiences. One person without a visa will be turned around at the border and the next will be granted entry. If you're worried about getting stuck then jump through all the hoops as requested by the Syrian Govt. If not then take your chances. I always prefer not having the worry of getting visas at borders and hence plan well ahead. Not at all my way of thinking when I was 21.
Having been to Syria on a number of occasions I have always found them to be relatively efficient and honest (certainly much more efficient and friendly than most western countries). I always include a letter with my visa application describing what I am doing and providing an hour-by-hour account of what my movements will be and where I'll be stopping. Doesn't really matter if you don't follow it, all bureaucracies need this stuff and it helps the visa dude tick the box. The previous poster left the contact details of an agent who can actually do it - if you don't have the time or incliniation to sort it yourself use the agent. |
I've also plans entering.
Looks like those who get VISA on the border are those who don't have Syrian embassy in their native country. Those who have embassy probably will be refused - meaning they should have the visas done by local syrian embassy prior to the trip. True or not? Or is it just a lottery? :) |
Technically that's right Margus. But some people have reported (including recently) that they have managed to get visas at the border.
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Margus,
The embassy in your own country rings true in my memory. I was stopped even approaching the syrian embassy in Amman Jordan. I was English, and that was all they needed to know, but hey, I just phoned my guy in syria i mentioned before and did stress free travelling bit. Andrew |
Well,
Let me share the results on this topic with you. It seems indeed that there is possibility to get an visum at the border if your home country does not have a Syrian embassy. Regulations seems to vary each year. At least we can conclude that the Syrian authorities are more flexible than we might expect. Confusion is still there if you consider the existance of an consulate as a representative of the Syrian authorities. In the Netherlands we have. Apply to them? Anyway, concerning te infos of a Dutch commercial visa bureau it must be possible to obtain a visum at the border. I will be safe and let them arrange one for me. Regulations my be subject of change.... Guido |
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New info I got is that if you get the VISA on the border, then you'll probably get transit VISA only. It's quite long and can be extended and mostly satisfyes travelling needs (over 2 weeks), but some say you can't get multiple entry VISA on the border. Probably have to buy 2nd VISA again if you return like I plan to do. Looks like I'll be looking for Syrian embassy on route on the way to Syria to avoid that problem... Ride safe, Margus |
I am a Belgian citizen. Syria has an embassy in Belgium. I am currently in Central Asia and am going to Egypt overland.
Am I f*cked? I can not apply in Belgian as I am not there now :-) Can't do it via mail as I need my passport. How in godsname can I drive to Egpyt then? ;-) I sent the Syrian in embassy in Belgium a mail btw, no response as of yet. |
Hi, Frederik,
We are planning a trip ourselves and will have a similar problem as you have. Normally you can only get a visum for Syria in the country of residence (i.e.Belgium). Various overlanders obtained a visum nonetheless in Iran/Kenya etc., with a letter of recommendation from their embassy (preferably in Arab). It might help if you get your visum for Jordania first to show that your route continues beyond Syria. The addresses for the embassies can be found at Ministry of Tourism- Syria :: under Missions. Good luck Henk BTW Great journey you guys are doing - thanks for sharing! |
syrian visa on the border for belgians
hi all,
same problem hereñ we´re belgians now in the stans and heading towards the middle east. getting visa in iran is time-consuming and we don-t really want to get into teheran. i emailed the Fajer-guy mentioned above and he said he could arrange visa at the border within 3 days notice for 150 dollar. not cheap, but cheaper than getting it in a capital, we figure... the click-t@mail.sy adress still works fine. no idea how good his service is, wont use it till december... cheers g and t |
some clarity.
Now been there done that.
Coming from Turkey, getting the visa on the border "system" is not exacly based on whether you have an embassy in your country or not, it's rather whether they (border officials) have motivation to give you one or not! Things seemed to be organized in "arabic-chillout / no-chillout" style :) We were lucky, since we were the first Estonians on motorcycles they ever had seen, so thanks to the curiosity one of the officials gladly helped us. The VISA procedure is the following: the border guy FAXes VISUM request to Damascus (probably to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?), if they reply with a positive response, they'll issue VISA for you on the border. If you get it, 15 day VISA costs 12 USD. It's much cheaper than from most of embassies around the world. Apparently lot of the stuff depends on the mood of the border officials. I don't want to be too optimistic, but for me it seemed that altough when they say "VISA very big problem!" if you're an interesting person (i.e. travelling with a motorcycle etc) and they're in a good mood, you'll very probably get the VISA. If they're bored and had a bad day, things may be different... Getting your bike in w/o the Carnet is another story. It costs 67USD for temporary import (they call it a "visit") + 20USD border guys "fee", so 87US dollars. Note that if you're leaving the contry and re-enter it (like we did - visit the country twice), then you must pay 87USD again. If I remember correctly, the insurance for the bike for 15 days was around 12USD, this you don't have to pay again. Visiting the country twice you also must get the new VISA on the border again, but it'll be much easier if you already got one in your passport. It seems on that you can get only single-entry VISA on the border that is limited to 15 days. Let me know if you need any further information. Ride safe, Margus |
Very thorough and comprehensive Margus...Ta! for future travels!!!
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Margus, good to know that it can work out ok. We will probably just try to show up at the border. If we really can not get trrough we can still use the guy mentioned in this thread.
Does this guy have a telephone number? Trui, We just left bahodir BB in Samarkand, your picture was on the wall. Where are you know? |
I can confirm Margus theory. We just showed up at the border and told the immigration officer we did not have visa. He asked why we did not apply in Belgium, as there is an embassy there. We said we already left Belgium 15months ago and thus were unable to apply there.
He had to discuss this answer with his chief/officer/whatever and they agreed that was a plausable reason. They showed me a piece of paper with the different rates to purchase a visa on the border (depends on your nationality). As a Belgian we payed 36US/person (in the bank with an official receipt) and were good to go. No hassle at all. Just make sure you have a good reason (having a full passport to back up your story sure helps). This was at the border in Killis about two weeks ago. 2 Belgians in a Toyo Landcruiser. Other costs at the Syrian side of the border: Road tax: 9US Insurance(no way around this): 38US Diesel tax: 102US PER WEEK! They seem to ask 200Syrian pound for stamping the carnet (and doing it wrong!), but this should obviously not be payed. Lots more practical tidbits on Syria here: Radio Baobab » Informationsheet per country |
I crossed at Kilis, too and got my visa with no problem. Originally, I had tried to cross at a backwoods border point, got out of Turkey, but was refused entry into Syria... they recommended I try Kilis because it's a larger crossing. I did and, like I said, it was easy (with a Canadian passport). They asked me at the border if I wanted a multiple entry visa, but I didn't think I'd need it so I said no (which sucks, because now I'm in Lebanon and I need to re-enter Syria! Live and learn.)
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I just got my Syrian visa through the embassy in Brussels and was also told to show the hotel reservations..... which I didn't have so I went on-line booked a couple of hotels that would give me a quick confirmation and printed them off. The Sheraton in Aleppo will book you over the phone and fax you the confirmation immediately . Use the fax copy and email confirmations to get the visa and then cancel the bookings .... not that I would ever condone such behaviour of course :innocent:
Euro 85 each from the embassy so it's cheaper getting them at the border from what I am reading here ! |
Have any Americans been able to get border visas?
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Thank you all for this great resource. Syria seems to be the only country in the middle east that has such complicated visa applications, and actually wants you to apply from home. This makes life much easier.
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I got the visa at the syrian embassy in germany, without any hotel reservation. and on my way back from jordan, directly at the border...
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I'm Canadian. Quite a few years ago (meaning that the situation might have changed by now) I was able to get a tourist visa for Syria from the Syrian Embassy in London. They didn't seem to have any problem issuing the visa to me, even though there's a Syrian Embassy in Canada. The funny thing is that I paid a lot less for my visa than my friends who got theirs in Canada. I think that it only took a day to get. If I recall correctly, I filled out a form, paid a fee, and handed them my passport. I came back the next day (or within a couple days - I can't remember exactly) and my visa was ready.
They had a big sign in the embassy that stated very clearly in English that if you had ever been to Israel, they wouldn't give you a visa under any circumstances. So, if anyone else is in a foreign country and thinking of going to Syria, I'd recommend going into (or calling) the local Syrian Embassy. If they say "no", try calling another Syrian embassy that you may be travelling past en route to Syria. |
I know of 2 brits that got SYR visas at the border with Killis, Turkey.
but I guess thats the only border crossing that you can. I tried 2 days ago, about 250km east of Killis, at akchtakale, or something like that (S of Urfa) they wouldnt give me one. I tried to even pay an extra 'fee' no go. Doug |
This is our experience in 2007, if it helps. But the advice to try a different crossing/mission if the first one says no is correct.
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ighlight=syria |
Hi,
I met as couple from the USA in Gaziantep who had been denied visas at the border and had had to go to the Embassy (fortunately) in Gaz. (rather than back in Istanbul) and apply properly. Brits and Irish can definitely get visas at the border (09/2009), the USAs were the first people to be denied and I think they said that USAs were specifically denied and no-one else. Cheers, Ian |
syria visa at turkeyborder
We just entered Syria from Turkey, Kilis.
It was not really a problem, you need some time, money and a carnet is handy. We paid 28 dollar for the visa each and you have to buy an insurance which we bought for a month (minimum) 80 dollars for 2 bikes. It took about 3 hours and they prefer you to get the visa upfront, but its do-able. greetz Els |
Syrian visa at the border
Hi,
I'd like to place a recent experience on obtaining a Syrian visa at the border. The official rule is that Dutch citizens should apply for a visa at the consulate in Begium because the consulate in the Netherlands does not supply visa. Due to a change of travelplan we headed to the Syrian border, coming from Sianlurfa in Turkey, without a visa. At the border we said we were getting it here and it was no problem at all. It took some time but at no point anything was said about getting it in the Netherlands or Belgium. Enjoy your travel. Arno :scooter: |
My wife and I are the American couple mentioned in the previous post and yes we were denied a visa at the Turkey Syrian border. We tried two different borders and denied at both. It took us three weeks to recieve our visas from Gaziantep. We are currently in Cairo finding the Sudan visa as difficult and the procedure different from our European friends.
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I've spent a week in Syria three weeks ago. And I was told by Syrians that something had happened, that had anoyed Syrian officials. And because of that, no more visas where given to Americans.
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We got visas o'k at Kilis earlier this year, plus no need for carnet. (Brits)
Is it true that Kilis is the easiest crossing for obtaining visas? I'd like a change of route this time but don't fancy hassle at another border post if they are more difficult. ps. Ripped off tho' coming back from Jordan into Syria at Der'a crossing. "Baksheesh" |
Visum Syria for Dutch citizen at Greek embassy
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We left The Netherlands without a visum for Syria, basically because we didn't know you officially need to apply in your home country and also because we were not sure that we were going to cross Syria. By the time we were in Greece, we determined our desired route, which was through Syria and we started some reading. Soon we read about the requirement to apply in our home country, so we started sweating a bit. We tried and asked at the Syrian embassy in Athens anyway and they said it was OK, but we needed a "proof of authenticity" for our pasports, from the Dutch embassy. The Dutch embassy said a proof of authenticity was probably not needed, timeconsuming and expensive, so they made us the standard "invitation/request for entry letter". We then applied for the visum at the Syrian embassy. The guy there asked us if we had a letter of the Dutch embassy and we said yes, but didn't give it to him at that moment (because he didn't ask to give it to him). He then gave us the application form, which we filled out, and we all forgat about the letter from the embassy. We had to pay 28 euro per person. Then he told us to collect the visum the next day! (we read it takes 5 days). The next day we came to collect the visum, but then the guy told us he forgot to ask for the letter of the embassy the day before and we thought: "Damn, now we need to come back tomorrow. We waisted a day...". But when we gave him the letters from the embassy, he just took them, didn't even look at them and directly gave us our passports with the visum for Syria! I guess this shows the whole "letter from your embassy" thing is a bit of nonsense. We already had the visa in our passports before we gave them the letters and they didn't even look at those letters... Anyway, we got a visum with a validity of 3 month (3 months to reach and enter the country) and a duration of 1 month. Not bad! We will see about the motorcycles at the border. We will just have to take the insurance and we have a carnet, so we don't worry too much about importation hassles. Happy traveling! Dave and Marly, crossing Africa on Honda NX 250's travelin.tk |
je kan toch gewoon een visum halen aan de syrische grens?
probeer overigens jullie website te raadplegen alleen lukt dat niet.... ben benieuwd naar het verloop van jullie reis Veel veilige en mooie kilometers! Marco |
wish u all the best for that great adventure..if u will have time, we wish to ınvite u for welcome drinks at our club in istanbul.
istanbul bisiklet motosiklet ihtisas klübü | Facebook |
Crossing from Turkye into Syria at the Reyhanli/Cilvegcizu - Al Hawa/Dana border (from Antakya to Allepo).
When we arrived at the Syrian side of the border, we found a big building on the left side, before the actual border gates, so we figured we should arrange our papers in the building first, before crossing the gate. (which was a correct assumption). Inside the building we found it had two sides, one side for immigration and the other side for customs. So first we went to the immigration side to get our visas stamped. On the wall there where some instrucions: 1. Fill in the application form, 2. If you have a visa, get it stamped at the counter, 3. If you don't have a visa, go to this and this office. We already had a visa, so we filled in the form and went to the counter. There it was the usual frantic struggle with everybody waving their passports until an official would take it into proces, so we did the same. It took us about 10 mins. before we could give our passports and then it was 5 mins. before our visas where stamped and everything was OK pretty quick. Now our 2 motors... We figured we needed to be on the other side of the building (customs) (this assumption was also correct). On this side we also found instructions on the wall: 1. If you have a carnet de passage, get it checked at the border gate, 2. Then pay the entry fee of 9 dollar, 3. If you don't have a carnet de passage, you have to pay 100 dollar. These instructions where far from complete we later noticed, because it does not talk about insurance and the whole process has a few more steps. We took out our carnets, but where to go now? This side of the building had several counters: Insurance, Bank, Personal ... (Entry/Exit). The insurance and bank counters where pretty clear, but the other counter confused us a bit, but we figured that this should be the customs counter, as they had seperate entry and exit counters. So we wanted to go to this counter first, but here again there was a frantic struggle of men (truckers mainly) to get the attention of the officials to get their carnets processed. One of the trucks pointed to the back of the "queue" (although it was barely a queue), so we went over there. But then 2 other guys (who just seemed to be hanging around) told us in pretty good English that we first needed to go outside to have the carnets checked/signed at the border gate. So we went outside and after asking, some guy asked us where we had our motorcycles. When we pointed them out, he put some writing on the entry receipt of the carnet and told us to go inside again. Inside we weren't sure where to go now (customs first? insurance first?), but the same guy that told us to go outside, now accompanied us to the bank counter. He told us we needed to pay 40 dollars per motor (28 dollars insurance per motor, 9 dollar entry fee and we got 3 dollars back). We started to realise this guy was a fixer and we needed to pay for his service. Actually we didn't want to, but as this was the first time we crossed a border with motorbikes like this (outside Europe) and the first time we ever used a carnet de passage, we thought it might be worth the cost. So I kept a 2 euro coin ready, because we didn't want to pay him more. So we paid our 37 dollars per motor and got a receipt for 1300 Syrian pound (28 dollar) and 1300 Syrian pounds in cash and the fixer took us to the insurance counter. (we didn't realize that we didn't get a receipt and the Syrian cash for the 9 dollar entry fee yet, imagine...). At the insurance counter we gave the receipt, the 1300 Syrian pounds and our passport and vehicle papers and we got our proof of insurance, but not after we had to pay 100 Syrian pounds extra per insurance to the official behind the counter (this was clearly a bribe). Now the fixer brought us back to the bank counter, where a receipt of 400 Syrian pound (9 dollar) for the entry fee and 400 Syrian pounds cash were waiting for us (now we realized that we completely forgot about the 9 dollar we paid before, so confused we were...). With this cash and this receipt we now had to go to the customs counter, where the frantic struggle of the truckers was still going on. But the fixer jumped right in and handed our papers to the official. Again we had to paid 100 Syrian pounds extra (bribe) per application. The truckers protested that they were in line first, but soon they just accepted that the fixer put our papers in before theirs. We felt a bit asshamed, but it seemed the truckers didn't make a lot of progress in the last 45 mins, so if things would go quicker for us, we were happy and ready to pay for it. In the next 5 mins. our papers where guided through the customs process by the fixer. (who was now also BEHIND the counter, actually "helping" the officials, putting stamps, dealing out the money, etc. Weird situation...) After 5 mins. the fixer came back to us at the front of the counter and told us that the carnets where almost ready, but first we needed to pay a final bribe of 100 Syrian pounds (or we could pay 2,5 euro, but we had Syrian pounds, so we preferred this) for yet another official. We told them that we would pay the bribe, but to be sure it was really the last, we told the fixer we would only pay the bribe when we had the carnets back in our hands, processed and all. So happened and 1 minute later our carnets where ready and we paid this last bribe. We realised that the fixer would cost us a bit more than 2 euro, so I had 4 euro in coins ready by now. The fixer told us we where finished and could go, so I thanked him and handed him the 4 euros. First he refused, offcourse claiming that is was not enough. He then asked for 10 euro and lightly threatened that if I would pay him 10 euros "there would be no problem" (implying that there would be A problem if I paid him less). I insisted with 4 euros, but he started to walk away. Then his companion suddenly appeared and told me 5 euro would be OK. I insisted with the 4 euro I had prepared and then they accepted. We left the building with the carnets and jumped on our motorcycles to proceed to the border gates. The fixer and his companion then walked by and where all smiles and said "Welcome to Syria", so apparently the 4 euros were enough after all... At the border gate, 25 m further, we stopped to have someone check our carnet and/or passport, but nobody was interested. Finally the guy who did the very first check of the carnets at the gate saw us and told us to drive on. "No problem, finished, welcome in Syria!". Indeed we could drive on and there was no problem. After 500m was the final border gate and we only had to show our passport with the entry stamp, so no papers for the motorcycles and no bribe. From there we continued the drive to Allepo without problems and with many friendly greetings from the Syrian locals. So finally after all, our first not European border crossing was not as bad as we would expect before, (specially after we read a lot of stories from other travellers, who had more bad experiences) Because we did not really know what to expect?, the bribes also could have been more money then "only" 6 times 100 Syrian pounds, and instead of 10 euro the fixers could have asked for 50 euro, than for sure they would not be happy with the "only" 4 euro and the insurances was only 28 dollar, we had read before that it could be 80 dollar! So.....everything went better and quiker than we thought before PS. Luckily we changed about 20 Turkisch lira (10 euro) to 600 Syrian pounds before the border on the Turkish side, this was just enough to pay all the bribes at the Syrian customs (3 times 100 Syrian pounds for 2 motors). This is an exchange rate of 28 Syrian pounds for 1 Turkish lira, which equals 56 Syrian pounds to 1 euro, while the going rate was 63 Syrian pounds to 1 euro. PPS. We had some Turkisch money left, which we used to pay for the petrol in a village about 10 km after the border in Syria itself. The Syrian petrol station was happy to be paid for in Turkisch lira and the exchange rate yhey gave us was OK (the same as before, 28 Syrian pounds for 1 Turkish lira). |
Thanks for the invite...
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