Do Canada passport holders need a visa to visit TM?

Canadian passport holders need a visa to enter Turkmenistan, and a certified Letter of Invitation (LOI) arranged through a licensed Turkmen tour operator is mandatory before applying. As of 31 May 2026, Canadian ordinary passport holders require a visa to visit Turkmenistan for tourism. There is no visa-free, eVisa, or unconditional visa-on-arrival channel currently available. The cornerstone of the process is a Letter of Invitation (LOI): since tourists are not visiting a specific host, the LOI must be obtained through a state-licensed Turkmen tour operator and certified by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan (valid 3 months from certification). With a certified LOI, you can either apply at a Turkmen embassy/consulate in advance (strongly recommended) or obtain a visa on arrival at Ashgabat International Airport by presenting the original/photocopy of the certified LOI. The standard single-entry tourist visa (up to 10 days, extendable by 10) costs about USD 35 in consular fees, but the tour-operator LOI service typically adds USD 100-300 and 2-6 weeks of lead time. On arrival you complete a paid migration card; stays over three working days require registration (and deregistration before departure) with the State Migration Service. Note: Turkmenistan's parliament amended its Migration Law on 14 April 2025 to legally replace the LOI with an electronic visa system, but the e-visa platform is NOT operational as of this date and has no confirmed launch, so the traditional LOI-based process still applies. Passports must be valid at least 6 months beyond the LOI date. Turkmenistan is not in the Schengen area, so the Schengen 90/180 rule and ETIAS do not apply.