I used to think getting a visa was this bureaucratic nightmare that required weeks of planning and a stack of documents thick enough to kill a small tree.
Turns out, Uzbekistan’s tourist visa process is actually one of the more straightforward systems I’ve encountered in Central Asia—though that’s a pretty low bar, honestly. The country introduced an e-visa system back in 2018, and it’s transformed the whole application experience from something that involved embassy visits and mysterious processing times into a process you can complete while sitting in your pajamas at 2 AM. The basic requirements are pretty standard: you need a passport valid for at least six months beyond your intended stay, a digital passport photo that meets their specifications (which are weirdly specific about background color and head positioning), and a credit card to pay the fee. Most nationals can apply online through the official e-visa portal at evisa.mfa.uz, though there are still a handful of countries whose citizens need to go through the traditional consular route. The processing usually takes around 2-3 business days, give or take, and the visa itself is valid for 30 days of stay within a 90-day entry window.
Here’s the thing: the online form is actually less painful than you’d expect. You fill in your personal details, upload your photo, enter your travel dates, and pay the fee—which hovers around $20 for most nationalities, though I’ve seen it vary slightly depending on where you’re from.
The Document Checklist That Actually Matters (And What You Can Skip)
Wait—maybe I should back up and explain what you actually need versus what travel forums will tell you that you need, because there’s a lot of outdated information floating around from the pre-e-visa era that makes this sound way more complicated than it is.
For the e-visa application, you genuinely only need three things: your passport (with that six-month validity rule I mentioned), a digital photo, and payment method. The photo requirements are where people tend to mess up—it needs to be 3.5 x 4.5 cm, taken against a white or light-colored background, with your face taking up roughly 70-80% of the frame. No glasses with glare, no hats unless they’re for religious purposes, no smiling too enthusiastically like you’re in a toothpaste commercial. I’ve seen applications rejected for photos that were too shadowy or where the person wore a turtleneck that covered too much of their neck, which seems absurd but apparently matters to whoever’s reviewing these things.
You don’t need hotel bookings anymore, which is a relief. You don’t need invitation letters unless you’re going for a business visa or you’re from one of those countries still on the restricted list.
The older system required you to register with local authorities within three days of arrival—actually, scratch that, it’s still technically required, but hotels handle it automatically now when you check in, so you barely notice it happening. If you’re staying with friends or in private accommodation, you’re supposed to register yourself at an OVIR office (the local migration authority), though enforcement has gotten pretty lax in recent years. Some travelers skip it entirely for short stays, which I’m not necessarily recommending, but I’m also not going to pretend everyone follows every rule to the letter when traveling. The registration slips you recieve from hotels should be kept with you because border officials sometimes ask to see them when you’re leaving the country, and not having them can lead to fines or delays that’ll make you miss your flight—I guess it depends on who’s working that day and how thorough they’re feeling.
Processing Times, Fees, and the Weird Exception Cases Nobody Tells You About
The standard processing time is 2-3 business days, but I’ve had colleagues who recieved theirs within 12 hours and others who waited the full five days during peak tourist season in spring. There’s an expedited option that costs more—around $35-40 instead of $20—and supposedly gets you approved within 24 hours, though whether that’s actually faster seems to depend on how backlogged the system is.
Payment has to be made by credit or debit card through the online portal. They accept Visa and MasterCard, but I’ve heard mixed reports about American Express working consistently.
Now for the exceptions that travel blogs never seem to mention clearly: if you’re entering Uzbekistan overland from one of the neighboring countries—Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan—the border crossing process can be wildly different depending on which specific crossing point you use. Some of the smaller border posts don’t have reliable internet to verify e-visas, which sounds like a problem from 2003 but is definately still a thing in 2025. The Pap-Namangan crossing with Kyrgyzstan is generally smooth; the crossings with Turkmenistan can be unpredictable. If you’re planning an overland route, it’s worth checking recent traveler reports on forums like Caravanistan or the Central Asia section of Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree to see what’s currently functional.
Anyway, most people fly into Tashkent and avoid the whole overland complication entirely.
One last detail that might matter: Uzbekistan has transit visa options if you’re just passing through to another country and staying less than 72 hours. It’s free, but you need proof of onward travel—a flight booking or train ticket to your next destination. The transit visa application is through the same e-visa portal, just a different category selection. Honestly, unless you’re on a really tight Central Asia circuit, the regular 30-day tourist visa is probably simpler and gives you more flexibility if you end up wanting to stay longer or change your plans.
