How to reach Azerbaijan-Visa & Formalities

It was early 2019 and I hadjust returned from Singapore & Cambodia and was already searching for new destinations for the next trip. The search for new offbeat destinations led us to the Caucasus which is a small group of three Transcaucasian countries in Eurasia near Caucasian Mountains. These include Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The choice of these countries was also due to fact the they have fairly simple visa policies and visa application processes. The immigration experience however is quite different and far from simple and we shall get to that later. So me & my wife started the research phase which lasted till June of 2019. In June we had all of our itinerary ready and we started applying for the visas. I applied for a Georgia & Azerbaijan Visa and successfully got both of them. But one thing that we had ignored during our research was this Government advisory by the Ministry of External affairs that cautioned against travel to Georgia.

I could not proceed further with my itinerary which was Azerbaijan-Georgia-Armenia due the risk of deportation from Georgia. Mind you that a deportation stamp on your passport shall diminish your passport strength more than you can imagine so just avoid such countries who do not honor their own visas.

And further more, you cannot just go from Azerbaijan to Armenia either by air or by land due to their ongoing border dispute at Nogorno-Karabakh. So we were left with just Azerbaijan where we had an already booked itinerary of just 2 day in the capital city Baku.

Getting to Azerbaijan:

Firstly before you book any tickets for your trip to Azerbaijan, you need to apply for a Visa. Indian citizens are lucky enough to be eligible for a simple e-Visa and the process is also simple. The fee is just 20USD fee+3USD service fees or about 1600 Indian rupees which is peanuts compared to the Visa fees of some countries. Mind you that there are many websites that claim to provide Azerbaijan e-Visa but many of them are fake. The real  website where I got my visa is https://evisa.gov.az/en/ which looks like this

The process of Visa application is handles by Asan. The Azerbaijani visa process requires you to upload copy of the first page of your passport cropped to perfection as per the sample on the website (and pictured below) and the address of your pre-booked & prepaid hotel. Please note that the hotel should be prepaid and not just reserved as this can easily disqualify you for your visa. 

The e-Visa that I got was for single entry valid up to 90 days from days from date of issue and 30 day per visit. I got my visa in around 4 days from the date of application on my email after there is one more step before you book your flight tickets. You must get a travel insurance for at least 10,000 USD from a good insurer. 

I recommend an all inclusive travel insurance of 50,000USD which includes medication, hospitalization ,air ambulance charges etc. I personally use my trusty HDFC Ergo travel insurance which you can get online easily. I took a 50k USD travel insurance valid for 15 days in Azerbaijan & Russia (for my onward trip). This cost me just 450INR per person which is a good deal. I instantly got the insurance document on my email after which I booked my flight tickets

 Their are no direct flights to the Azerbaijani capital city of Baku from India. But, you can go via Dubai (Emirates), Istanbul(Turkish Airways) & Sharjah(Air Arabia) among many others. I personally booked through Air Arabia via Sharjah as it was easy and for just about 22k INR per person. 

I booked my flights in late June 2019, but since July 2019, there is thrice weekly direct flight from New Delhi to Baku by Azerbaijan Airlines for about 20-22k INR which is a very good deal and very convenient rather than having a long layover. 

Now coming to the currency, Azerbaijani currency in the Manat (AZN). One Manat is around 43-45RS depending on the current rate. Before you take off to Baku, I recommend having enough cash equivalent to at least 2000USD per person as the immigration officers in all Caucasian countries ask travelers how much cash they have and your entry to their country might depend on it. In India you will not find Azerbaijani currency at any Forex dealer. I recommend taking US Dollars from your trusted Forex dealer. I always use Thomas Cook India for my Visa & Forex services. They have very good Forex rates. You can buy up to 5000USD per person but you have to pay via check or bank transfer if you buy Forex worth above 50,000INR and a copy of return tickets, your PAN card & your Passport are required to buy any amount of Forex. You can exchange your Dollars for Manat when you land in Azerbaijan. In Azerbaijan you can withdraw USD & Manat from any VISA or Mastercard ATM with your international debit card. Many ATMs in Azerbaijan are dual currency and offer both USD & AZN. Many tourist operators also accept USD.

So when you do board a flight and land in Baku, you will appreciate the architecture of Baku's Heydar Aliyev Airport. The immigration process was fairly simple with almost no questions asked and the process just took 5 minutes max. The only hiccup I faced in immigration was when I was leaving Azerbaijan for my next destination which was Russia. The immigration officer took a while to examine my passport asked whether I speak Russian. I responded with a no, but she seemed unconvinced. She took another while checking my Russian Visa but eventually let me go with a broad smile when I said that I managed very well in Azerbaijan when I do not speak your language either.

That's all for the process of getting to and entering Azerbaijan. Stay tuned for my Blog on exploring the capital city Baku.