Armenia, Azerbaidschan, Kasachstan - international driving license + registration
 

Is an international driving license and an international bike registration necessary for Armenia, Azerbaidschan or Kasachstan?`

Greetings

Frank

International driving licence I am sure is required and at only £5 in the UK I always carry one, not sure what you mean by international bike registration but my UK registration document was fine in Turkey, Georgia and Azerbajian.

Hello Frank,

Your German driving licence and technical sertification of your bike to your name is enough for this countries.

I lived 7 years in the area (in Aze and visited Georgia extensively).

Note, if you visit Armenia before Azerbaijan, you will be not allowed to Azerbaijan as Nagorno Karabagh region is Azerbaijani land and captured by Armenia.

I don't know if you will be allowed to Armenia after visiting Azerbaijan...

my 2 pfennigs...

Hi Mark,

the hassle with the German international driving license is only valid for a year.

There´s something simular for the bike registration/document.

We had both for our RTW trip but in 3.5 years it was requested roughly half a dozen times only.

See you on the road

Frank

Hi Samy,

thanks for the quick reply and for the explanation of Azerbaijan/Armenia/Nagorno Karabagh "trap". I was allready aware of that.
Armenia after Azerbaijan should work.

See you on the road!

Panny

Not quite correct. Only if you have evidence of visiting Karabakh will the Azerbaijanis potentially refuse you entry. Having stamps from Armenia is fine.

Hi Eurasiaoverland,

the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs says: If you have a stamp of Armenia you have to expect long waiting and intense interviews at the border of Azerbaijan.
This doesn´t mean it happens to everybody, but if they write it, it has happend to a significant number of travellers.

It means, too, that you can enter with a stamp from Armenia, but to keep things smooth, we will do those two countries in the easy order: AZ first, ARM second.

Greetings from Köln

Panny

UK driving licence is acceptable in Kazakhstan so I presume this would apply to other EU licences also. Carnet is not required, just ensure you have your original registration document with you.

I don't know about Armenia or Azerbaijan, sorry, but you may find more useful information on Caravanistan | The Silk Road Travel Guide

I've just been granted my Azerbaijan visa. Do I have to pay any deposit at the border for the bike or is it just the documents you mentioned in the replies above?
Cheers
Holger

Hi Holger,

the old rule, that vehicles, which do not comply to EURO4 norm have to pay a deposit seems to be abandoned.

QUOTE The lastes report from April 2017 says the old customs regimes have been cancelled. There are now no longer any hefty deposits to be paid. Total payment at the border was 20$ import tax and 20$ mandatory insurance.UNQUOTE
SOURCE: Driving in Azerbaijan | Caravanistan

Gruß

Panny
Krad-Vagabunden.de

:thumbup1: Sounds good to me. :mchappy: so just the Turkmenistan visa and we are ready to go.
Cheers
Holger

Never was asked for IDP in any of those countries. In fact I've been asked only once or twice for IDP per around 95 countries of travelled in over 250 000km and all continents except Antarctica of course. It's good to have it but not so important.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a fantastic place to experience, highly recommended! Take the small road out heading towards Lake Van. Not many people know about this, great scenery.

On entering Karabakh from Armenia you don't need to do anything in advance just get the permit slip from Stepanakert and tell them not to put it into you passport (knowing how agressive the Az officials can be toweards the tourists usually they don't put it in the passport anyway).

Not sure if it's changed, at least on June-August 2016 the Azerbaijan had EURo-4 restriction on motorcycles. If you had an EURO-4 or higher motorcycle you could get the proper 30-day import. Less than that it's 72 hours permit only, so most overland MC travellers are limited to 72 hours like we were. There's just a fine of couple of dozen dollars per day on exceeding it, so it's not a show stopper if you want to look around more.

Of course don't say a word about Karabakh visit on Azerbaijan border (you will be asked directly for sure and you never were there). Seeing the Armenian stamps in our passports the very first thing they said very seriously and loud to to us at the border that Armenia is their enemy. We nodded, but they still searched our bikes, riding gear and luggage throughout for any Armenian or Karabakh souvenirs etc as they explained. Interestingly we never experienced such suspecting attitude in Armenia or Karabakh. On exiting Azerbaijan the officials were angry because we had stayed longer in Armenia than in Azerbaijan, we hinted them about the 72-hour stay limit, they were very confused and couldn't believe it but said next time contact them directly, pay a little and they'll extend it to full 30-days (illegally I guess?).

Azerbaijan is an interesting country in itself, but the stay limit can be a problem for MC travellers.