Turkmenistan business visa (BS1, BS2)

Turkmenistan’s visa regulation lists the business visa under the codes BS1 and BS2; Turkmen missions also call it the entrepreneurship visa. It is requested for foreigners invited by a legal entity or by an individual entrepreneur registered in Turkmenistan, including staff sent to carry out contracts signed with Turkmen ministries, departments or other organisations.

The business visa does not allow employment. The Migration Service lists people who may work without a permit, among them experts visiting for up to one month to carry out financial, audit or other checks, hold negotiations or conclude contracts, staff of foreign companies coming for up to a month for installation, repair and maintenance, and founders, shareholders and managers who have no employment relationship with the Turkmen entity.

The inviting party gives the State Migration Service an application for a BS1 or BS2 visa in three copies, the list of invited foreigners in three copies, information on its own activity explaining why the foreigner is needed, and a copy of the foreigner’s passport. On a first application, or when they expire or change, it adds copies of its constituent documents, an individual entrepreneur’s registration certificate and patent, tax registration, licences for licensed activities and the contracts concluded, plus a power of attorney for the person handling visa matters.

If the foreigner comes to carry out a contract with a ministry, department or other Turkmen organisation, the application must also carry a letter from the head of that body, or proof that the Cabinet of Ministers agreed to the stay.

Consular fees published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are USD 20 for a single-entry visa of up to 10 days, USD 30 for up to 20 days, USD 40 for up to one month and USD 30 for each further month. A multiple-entry visa costs USD 60 for the first month and USD 40 for each further month, and visas issued at Ashgabat International Airport carry an extra USD 50. A fee for actual costs is added, depending on where the visa is issued. Children under 7 are exempt from the consular fee and children aged 7 to 16 pay half; the fee is not refunded if a visa is cancelled.

With the invitation letter, you apply at the Turkmen embassy or consulate responsible for your place of residence; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issues visas through its representations in the provinces and at Ashgabat International Airport, where an extra USD 50 is charged. The checklist published by the Turkmen embassy in Ankara, the mission page this guide draws on, asks for the invitation letter, the special visa application, the passport with a colour copy and two 3 x 4 cm colour photos, each copy on A4 paper, with the fee paid on submission. Check opening hours, appointments and any extra requirements with your own mission.

The State Migration Service considers invitation documents in 10 working days as standard and in 3 working days if urgent; some applications take up to 45 calendar days. Once the invitation exists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says consular actions take up to 10 calendar days from receipt of the documents, or 3 working days for urgent processing at a 100 percent higher fee.

After arrival, foreigners staying longer than three working days register with the State Migration Service department at their place of stay within three working days, not counting the day of entry. Registration uses a personal application or a letter from the host, one 3 x 4 cm colour photo, the passport and copies of documents giving the right to use the accommodation. A change of address, employer or personal details requires new registration within three working days, and trips to other places of up to 15 days must be reported to both migration offices.

The State Migration Service lists the grounds on which an invitation or visa may be refused: documents from the inviting party found to be unreliable, an unserved penalty for a criminal or administrative offence from an earlier stay, false information or missing documents, expulsion from Turkmenistan within the five years before the application, or a negative answer from a state body whose approval is required.