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Visitors to Azerbaijan must obtain a visa from one of the Azerbaijani diplomatic missions, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries, countries eligible for visa on arrival or countries eligible for ASAN electronic visa.
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General visa requirements
The passport must be valid for at least 6 months after the expiry date of the Azerbaijani visa applied for. If there is less than 3 months for the expiry of a foreign citizen's passport, a visa will not be granted. Citizens of specific countries listed, who are required to obtain a visa with an ordinary passport or with a service passport, have to obtain a visa before travelling to Azerbaijan. Visas are issued in at an embassy or consulate of the Republic of Azerbaijan or upon arrival at the border crossing points of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The visa application form may be filled online and submitted to the diplomatic mission.
Visa exemption
Citizens of the following 9 countries can visit Azerbaijan without a visa for up to 90 days:
Additionally holders of diplomatic or official/service passports of Albania, Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Syria, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Vietnam and only holders of diplomatic passports of Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Spain and Sweden do not require a visa to visit Azerbaijan.
An agreement between Azerbaijan and Latvia on mutual visa-free visits for holders of service passports was signed in February 2017 and is yet to be ratified.
Visa on arrival
Citizens of the following countries can obtain a visa for Azerbaijan on arrival valid for 30 days obtainable at any international airport.
Citizens of Iran can obtain a 15 days visa on arrival only for the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Citizens of Turkey can obtain a 30 days visa on arrival only at Heydar Aliyev International Airport.
Citizens of United States can obtain a 30 days visa on arrival only if arriving on a direct flight of Azerbaijan Airlines from New York City.
Visa on arrival for holders of an official invitation letter issued by the State Migration Service of Azerbaijan or other Azerbaijan government authority. Visa on arrival for staff of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and their dependents, provided holding an official invitation letter issued by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Visa on arrival for a maximum stay of 30 days for holders of an official invitation letter issued by the Operating Committee of Baku Chess Olympiad or an accreditation card issued by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).
Electronic visa
Azerbaijan introduced electronic visas for citizens of designated countries in January 2017. The system is called ASAN Visa and the visas are issued for a single-entry visit up to 30 days. The e-visa should be printed and presented together with the passport (that should be valid at least 3 months more than the validity period of the electronic visa) at the border checkpoint. The designated 81 countries are the following:
As of February 2017, ASAN was looking into the possibility of making the electronic visa application available directly at the ports of entry at the border with Georgia, Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
Visa facilitation
Azerbaijan concluded a visa facilitation agreement with the European Union (excluding Denmark, Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom) which reduces the number of documents sufficient for justifying the purpose of the trip, envisages issuance of multiple-entry visas, limits the length of processing and reduces the issuing fee or waives it entirely for many categories of EU citizens.
Bans
Due to a state of war with the Republic of Armenia, the Government of Azerbaijan bans the entry of citizens from Armenia, as well as citizens of any other country who are of Armenian descent, to the Republic of Azerbaijan (though there have been exceptions, notably for Armenia's participation at the 2015 European Games held in Azerbaijan).
The government of Azerbaijan strictly bans any visit of foreign citizens to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh (the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), its surrounding territories and the Azerbaijani exclaves of Karki, Yuxarı Əskipara, Barxudarlı and Sofulu which are de jure part of Azerbaijan but under control of Armenia, without prior consent of the Government of Azerbaijan. Foreign citizens who enter these occupied territories, will be permanently banned from entering the Republic of Azerbaijan and will be included into the "list of persona non grata".
Visitor statistics
Most visitors arriving to Azerbaijan were from the following countries of nationality: