Azerbaijan e-visa: who needs one and how to apply

Planning a trip to Azerbaijan starts with one question: does your passport need a visa, and if so, which kind? Search results mix the government portal with other sites that look official, which makes the answer harder to find. The short answer: check your nationality on the official lists first. Some nationalities enter visa-free¹. Nationalities on the eligible-countries list can apply online at evisa.gov.az, the official e-visa portal^2,3. The e-visa is single-entry and allows a stay of up to 30 days⁴, so plan your trip around those limits.

Step one: which route applies to you?

Before you pay anyone, work out which of the three situations applies to your passport.

1. Visa-free. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes the list of countries whose citizens can enter without a visa, with the permitted length of stay for each. The terms differ from country to country. The examples below are from the Gulf region only and are not the full list, so check your own nationality on the Ministry’s list:

• United Arab Emirates: visa-free, with a 90-day stay¹.
• Qatar: visa-free, with a 30-day stay; Qatari citizens coming to study or work must obtain a visa in advance¹.
• Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain: for citizens holding ordinary passports, a temporary visa-free regime from 15 February 2026 to 15 February 2027, allowing 3 entries of up to 30 days each¹. The e-visa portal carries a notice about the same regime². If you are travelling after 15 February 2027, check the list again; we cannot say whether the regime will be extended.

2. E-visa. If your nationality is not visa-free, look for it on the portal’s eligible-countries page². Check the list against your own passport rather than relying on the experience of a traveller who holds a different one.

3. Embassy visa. If your nationality is on neither list, contact the Azerbaijani embassy or consulate in your country and ask what it requires. Do not use an intermediary site that offers an e-visa to a nationality that is not eligible.

Applying on the official portal, step by step

1. Type the address yourself. Enter evisa.gov.az in your browser instead of clicking the first advertisement in the search results. The portal identifies itself as the Official Electronic Visa Portal of the Republic of Azerbaijan³; check that the address bar shows that exact domain, not a look-alike.
2. Apply in time. The portal asks you to apply at least 3 working days before arrival for a standard e-visa, or at least 3 hours before for an urgent one⁴. Treat these as minimums and leave yourself a margin.
3. Copy your passport details exactly. If you find a mistake after submitting, the portal says you must create a new application; the existing one cannot be corrected⁷. In practice, that means paying again.
4. Pay online by bank card. The portal’s information page (undated; checked 30 September 2026) lists a state duty of 20 US dollars for a standard e-visa; the portal adds its own service charge, so check its current amount on evisa.gov.az before you pay⁵. The pages we checked do not say whether the state duty differs for an urgent e-visa, and two portal pages list different accepted card types^5,7, so read the payment screen before you confirm. If a site asks for far more than the portal shows, check that you are really on the official portal.
5. Check the status, then print. The portal’s status page lets you look up your application by its registration number or, if you do not have it, by your email address and passport number⁸. Once the e-visa is issued, print it and present it with your passport at the border; the portal says not to attach it to the passport⁷.

Travelling as a family? The portal accepts family applications for 2 to 10 people⁵.

What the e-visa does not allow

• More than one entry. The e-visa is single-entry⁴. If you plan a side trip to a neighbouring country and then return, you will need another arrangement.
• More than 30 days. The stay is limited to 30 days⁴. Staying longer than your e-visa allows makes you liable under Azerbaijani law⁴.
• Paid work. The e-visa gives no right to paid work, and foreign media correspondents and camera operators must obtain accreditation before applying⁴.
• A refund. Payments are not refunded if the application is rejected⁴.
• Skipping place-of-stay registration. A foreigner staying temporarily for more than 15 days must be registered at their place of stay⁹; for citizens of Kazakhstan, the State Migration Service gives 30 days¹⁰. The portal’s own pages are not consistent on this point^7,4, but the Migration Code is the reference, so check with the State Migration Service if in doubt. See our guide to place-of-stay registration in Azerbaijan.

Planning your trip around the e-visa

A simple sequence of steps keeps the visa from becoming a bottleneck:

• Before booking: confirm your route (visa-free, e-visa or embassy visa) and check your passport’s expiry date against the 3-month rule⁴.
• Once dates are fixed: apply, then check that the dates printed on your e-visa cover your whole stay, which can be up to 30 days on a single entry⁴.
• If you stay more than 15 days (30 days for citizens of Kazakhstan): plan for place-of-stay registration^9,10.

When this may not suit you

• You plan to study, work or live in Azerbaijan. The e-visa covers stays of up to 30 days and gives no right to paid work⁴; some visa-free regimes also exclude study and work, as with Qatar¹. Ask the embassy about the right visa.
• Your nationality is on neither the visa-free list nor the e-visa eligible-countries list. Apply through the embassy.
• You rely on the temporary visa-free regime for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain for travel after 15 February 2027. Check the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list again first¹.

Frequently asked questions