Egypt to Turkmenistan visa requirements

Yes, an Egyptian ordinary passport holder needs a visa to visit Turkmenistan. You must first obtain a Letter of Invitation (LOI) from a licensed Turkmen travel agency, certified by the State Migration Service, then collect the visa at a Turkmen embassy or pick it up on arrival at Ashgabat airport with the pre-approved LOI. A long-promised eVisa is legislated but is NOT yet operational as of mid-2026, so the LOI system remains mandatory. Turkmenistan maintains one of the world's strictest visa regimes, and Egyptian ordinary passport holders are not exempt — there is no visa-free, genuine visa-on-arrival, or live eVisa channel for tourists. The realistic route is a tourist visa supported by a mandatory Letter of Invitation (LOI) arranged through a licensed Turkmenistan travel agency and certified by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan. Once the certified LOI is issued, the traveler either applies at a Turkmen diplomatic mission (the nearest covering Egypt) or collects the visa upon arrival at Ashgabat International Airport — but only because the LOI was pre-approved, so this is not an open visa-on-arrival. Tourists are, in practice, required to be accompanied by a licensed guide for travel outside Ashgabat. A single-entry tourist visa is typically valid for up to 10 days (extendable by another 10 days), with consular fees commonly around USD 35 for a short single-entry visa. On April 14, 2025, Turkmenistan amended its Migration Law to introduce an electronic visa intended to remove the LOI requirement, but the platform was confirmed not operational as of February 2026, with categories, fees and durations still undefined. Until the State Migration Service confirms the eVisa is live, travelers must continue using the LOI-based process. Plan a 6-8 week lead time and budget for guide/agency costs.