Hi everyone,

I am currently checking riding options for this year and Iraq has been mentioned.

I've been having a hard time getting reliable specifics about the visa process - especially with bike. That's why I'm asking here about recent first hand experiences.

- Is carnet needed?
- Where do I have to apply for the visa?
- Which limitations will I have in the country?

I am travelling on a German passport.

Thanks and cheers,
Benjamin

I spent just under a month driving through Iraq (from Basra all the way up to Mosul and then Turkey, i.e. not just Kurdistan), returning last month. I entered at the Shalamcha border crossing from Iran.

To answer your questions:

-No you don't need a carnet. You will be issued with some sort of customs document when you enter. The cost was $100 for a car, I don't know what it would cost for a bike. It is important that you tell the customs officer which border you will leave Iraq from if you are not returning to the same crossing.

-Getting an Iraqi visa is simple. Since March 2021, Iraq has started issuing visas to individual tourists. However, Iraqi embassies do not issue visas to individual / independent tourists. Tourist visas are only issued at international airports (Baghdad, Basra, Najaf), and should technically be available at land border crossings into Federal Iraq but not into the Kurdistan region. In practice, I can only say that visas are available at the Shalamcheh / Shalamcha border crossing with Iran (Khorramshahr to Basra). I have not heard of anyone trying to get a visa at the borders with Kuwait, Jordan or Syria, or other border crossings with Iran, but they should technically be available. A visa costs $75 and it's a good idea to have a hotel booking arranged (though not strictly necessary).

Just to make it clear, if you want to go to Iraq proper (Baghdad etc), you should not enter from Turkey (or the Haji Omran / Beshmaq / Parviz Khan crossings from Iran) as the stamp you are given at the Kurdistan border (which now costs about $70) is not valid for travel outside of Kurdistan.

-Can you be more specific about 'limitations'? If you mean in terms of areas you can visit, a proper Iraqi visa (a paper visa stuck in your passport) is valid for the entire country (including Kurdistan). However, the political situation in Iraq is complex and sometimes police / militia will not let you into a certain area if you don't have a contact there.

Iraq was an amazing experience for me, maybe the most genuinely welcoming and kind people I have ever met, and the historical sites (if you are interested in ancient history) are fascinating. I highly recommend visiting, so long as you are aware of the security situation and preferably have some local contacts to assist.

Good luck

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

If you are European and staying in the Kurdistan (the safest region) is enough, you can get visa at the border. This is probably the easiest way if you are coming from the west.

I wrote about my border experience here:

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...an-iraq-102703

Price was 100 dollars for the visa + road tax.

Iraqi embassies do indeed issue tourist visas. You will need a LOI and the process takes around 2 weeks. FYI, to the OP, if you do intend to only visit IK then not all nationalities are able to acquire a VoA at the land borders. Check in advance if you are eligible.

As far as I know, they do not issue individual tourist visas. There are visas sponsored by an inviting person or body ('visit' or 'ziaraat' (pilgrimage) visas), but these are not what I mean by 'individual tourist visas'. I will add the word 'independent' to my original statement.

A good point about eligibility - there are a list of 50 or 60 eligible countries (and some countries don't need a visa at all - mostly in the Middle East) who qualify for the VoA. But given the language of the last line of the OPs post, I made the assumption of DE / AT / CH nationality, all of which are on that list.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Last week spoke directly to an Iraqi embassy about the process for a tourist visa. Definitely not a visit or pilgrimage visa. It may depend on region? Anyway, they were very helpful and explained exactly what was reqd.

Interesting. If you are being invited by a person, I believe that is a visit visa. If it's a tour company then perhaps it would be a tourist visa, but these have, as far as I know, always been issued on arrival (to accompanied groups). Please let us know how it goes. Friendly talk from a consul is one thing, getting a visa is another.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Hi all and thank you for your replies.

So I deduct that I would be able to get a visa at the border when arriving from Iran for all of Iraq. I could get one at the border for Iraqi Kurdistan when arriving from Turkey.

Alternatively I could apply at an embassy with the related trouble of having to let go of my passport for approx two weeks.

Has anyone tried getting a (full) Iraqi visa at an embassy or consulate in Turkey?

Thanks and cheers,
Benjamin

When you ask a question about visas, it really helps to state which passport you will travel on - the rules for getting a visa almost always vary according to which passport you have.

There are no first hand (or second hand that I know of) accounts of anyone getting a tourist visa at an Iraqi embassy. Sure, the embassy website makes it sound simple and the consul may even read these steps out to you, but getting someone to invite you, and then getting authorisation from the relevant ministry in Baghdad is no small task. I have inquired several times over the years at different embassies about getting a visa, I have heard others making similar inquiries, I have been told by an Iraqi working in the Foreign Ministry (via a close Iraqi friend) and I also have a friend who runs a quite well-known 'off-beat' travel company and has regular group and individual tours of Iraq. I am 95% sure you will not have any success getting an Iraqi visa from an embassy, unless you are personally invited by a well-connected Iraqi person (visit) or company (business). This could change, and I hope it does, but that has yet to be demonstrated as far as I am concerned.

I am not sure what you are looking for in Iraq, but in my experience visiting 'real' Iraq (Mesopotamia) is a fascinating adventure, while staying in Kurdistan is only mildly interesting, similar to eastern Turkey or western Iran. Definitely worth the complication of getting into Iraq proper in my opinion.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Thanks for your reply. I have added that I am travelling on a German passport above.

From all the replies I will thus consider visiting Iran which should not be too difficult with my passport at the moment and then trying to enter Iraq from there. Alternatively I could still visit Kuwait and other countries in the region.

Thanks and cheers,
Benjamin

Going through Iran is the only proven way to get in with a vehicle as far as I know. Sooner or later someone will try to get a visa at the border of Kuwait or Jordan I suppose (a bit longer for Syria), but there's always the risk that it doesn't work.

In case you have not been, Iran is also a fascinating experience, worth a lot more time than the 32 hour transit I made through it this year, but Iraq was the main aim of the trip.

Best of luck for your trip!

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

Hi,

two resent border crossings to Irak with vehicle I came across the net:


From Iran Salamanche leaving to Kuwait


http://www.wuestenschiff.de/phpbb/as...33bfddbf2588ce
or
<br /> - Mit dem Ogermobil auf Tour



From Jordan Al Karama

https://www.allrad-lkw-gemeinschaft....?f=18&t=100912
or
https://saschawill4.home.blog/2022/03/0 ... al-karama/


regards
bernd

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www.afritracks.net

In case anyone is interested, I personally visited the Iraq consulates in Jeddah and Istanbul and was told by both that it is not possible (for US citizens) to apply for a tourist visa in advance, only at the airport. In Jeddah I asked about wanting to cross overland into Iraq via Kuwait and was told that they have no idea if you can get a visa in advance in Kuwait city or on arrival at the Kuwait-Iraq border.

I have never heard of a country only issuing visas on arrival, not beforehand from an embassy or consulate; usually you have the option of getting a visa in advance and the VOA is just meant to be more convenient. Personally, I have decided to fly from Istanbul to Baghdad and will be doing so on Tuesday. Hopefully the VOA is as easy to get as everyone says.

Thanks for sharing that. It is indeed a pretty mad visa policy, dating I believe from Saddam's time and only partly reformed it seems. I guess either Iraq will update the policy in the coming years, or some tourist will do something stupid, or get in trouble and the authorities will go back to organised tourism only.

But I can say Iraq was absolutely worth the trouble to visit (I had to get an Iranian visa and a CdP just to transit Iran and then wait more that two weeks while the Iranian authorities suddenly closed the borders, then opened them again..)

Have a great trip,

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

I've now been in touch with two traveller groups who actually flew to Bagdad to get their Iraq proper visa.

Two of them flew from Turkey and then back to their bikes. The other two actually entered Iraq Kurdistan and flew domestically from Erbil to Bagdad and then back to their bikes. The latter have been questioned about leaving their bikes in Iraq Kurdistan while flying to Bagdad but succeeded in the end.

So it seems to be possible but a headache. If you're not American, Israeli or British then getting a carnet and entering from Iran might be easier. I might go this route later this year.

Cheers,
Benjamin