I would like to travel overland from Egypt to Pakistan (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan). I'm British so all of them are visa countries except Jordan and Turkey.
Given the length of the visas and the time they take to get, how should I organise getting them? Has anyone done a similar trip?
Kind regards,
Joseph
Reply to this Hi Joseph
Even if you have a visa for Syria you might not be allowed to enter the country - if your passport shows evidence that you have been to Israel before. Hence you can't travel overland from Egypt to Jordan via Israel - you will need to fly or alternatively take the ferry between Nuweiba in Egypt and Aqaba in Jordan. This is the only way to avoid travelling through Israel.
The better idea would be to leave Egypt as the last country on your itineary. This way you could easily travel from Jordan into Israel and on to Egypt. This is not only cheaper but also far more exciting than the ferry. You might want to stop at Eilat's
Dolphin Reef in Israel on the way - an ideal place to have a close encounter with these fantastic mammals.
Steffen
Reply to this Hello Josephf 😊
For the Iranian one I would use an agent to get the visa application number. This is a number from the foreign office in Tehran. If u do not have it when u apply to the consulate u will be less likely to get your visa and it will take longer for them to process it because they will apply for the number for u. The downside of using an agent is that they cost money which makes the cost of getting the visa at least double.
Dont bother to phone the consulates. If anybody picks up the phone then u will be lucky if they can help u with any information. Look on one of the websites of any of the consulates for the list of requirements u need to apply. The requirements for the visa dont vary much from consulate to consulate. If u apply to the consulate without the visa application code it will take them 2 to 5 weeks to issue the visa. From the date of issue u have to enter and leave Iran within the following 3 months. If u have the visa application code it will take from a few hours to 5 days for the consulate to issue the visa.
The agent I used was www.iranianvisa.com
U can apply for the visa code on this site and choose which consulate u want them to send it to. From the date of issue of the visa code u have up to 6 months to enter and leave Iran, depending on how soon after u get the code that u apply for the visa.
How long are u going to be in Iran anyway? U may be able to get a transit visa. They are valid for around a week as far as I remember. I forget what the details about these are. Maybe u can get them at the border. Check on an Iranian consulate website.
Iranian consulate websites: Some are better layed out and updated then others so if one does not give u the information u want try a different one in Europe.
Mel
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