The portal is open. The fee table is not. Illustration: SimpleVisa
Turkmenistan has long been one of the hardest visas in Central Asia to sell. Tourist travel typically meant a letter of invitation arranged through a local agency and approved by the State Migration Service before a visa could be issued. From 1 October 2026, the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan routes electronic visa procedures through a dedicated online system. Its portal, evisa.migration.gov.tm, now publishes the categories, document lists, and processing times.
The commercially important line on the portal is a short one: for the tourist e-Visa (e-TU), an invitation letter is absent from the mandatory documents.
For OTAs, tour operators, DMCs, and airlines, that is an opening and a reason for caution. The portal is new, the fee is unpublished as a table, and parts of the user journey are still settling. This note sets out what is published, what is unpublished, and what to verify before you sell fulfilment or change document checks.
It is not legal advice. Facts below were read from the portal's published requirements and interface text on 5 October 2026 (portal build 0.39.x). No application was submitted end to end. SimpleVisa does not file Turkmenistan e-Visas from this note.
Milestone
Date
Status
State Migration Service routes e-Visa procedures online
1 Oct 2026
Confirmed
Portal requirements and interface text read; no end-to-end application
5 Oct 2026
Confirmed
What the official portal publishes
As of 5 October 2026. Three e-Visa categories:
Code
Purpose
Category-specific document
e-TU
Tourism
No invitation listed
e-BS
Business, up to 30 days
Invitation letter from a company or organisation registered in Turkmenistan, including the applicant's position
e-HM
Humanitarian
Official letter from the humanitarian organisation or UN agency confirming the assignment
Mandatory for all three
Scan of the passport biographical page. Passport valid at least 6 months from the date of entry.
ICAO-compliant passport photo: colour, plain white background, taken within the last 6 months. The portal's photo guide adds composition and quality rules (face 70–80% of image height, minimum 600 DPI, no tinted glasses, no headwear except for religious or medical reasons).
A valid email address, used for status notifications, document verification, and delivery of the e-Visa.
Optional for all three: a travel itinerary or a confirmed hotel booking, and medical insurance.
Processing options, in working days
Option
Processing time
Regular
7 days
Urgent
3 days
Super Urgent
24 hours
Fees and payment. There is no fixed public fee table. The portal says the fee is calculated during the application and depends on its parameters. Payment is at submission, online. All fees are quoted in USD. Bank commissions are excluded. The interface also shows amounts in TMT (Turkmen manat) in account dashboards. The application terms state that service fees are non-refundable.
Other tools on the portal. A status check for e-Visa applications and for issued electronic or regular visas, using any two of last name, passport number, and visa number. Transfer of an e-Visa to a new passport, with email verification. If the traveler's name has changed, the portal asks for a new application. Languages: English, Russian, and Turkmen.
Registration of stay is a separate system. The State Migration Service also runs rgstr.migration.gov.tm for the registration of foreign nationals during their stay. That step is distinct from the visa. On 5 October 2026 a TLS connection to that host did not complete from our checks, so this note links it and describes it only as the State Migration Service describes it: online registration of stay, separate from the e-Visa.
What the interface tells sellers
The portal's interface text, visible to anyone loading the site, points to features that matter for intermediaries. Treat these as signals to verify. They are unpublished as a confirmed procedure.
Organisation accounts and groups. The dashboard references company details, application groups with shared parameters (visa type, urgency, entry type, validity dates), group invoices, and payment by an inviting party. That suggests a tour-operator or host-organisation workflow alongside individual applications.
Applicant confirmation and biometrics. Applications go through document and biometric verification, including a live selfie matched to the passport photo. Where an organisation prepares an application, the applicant receives an email link to confirm. Groups can't be paid until every applicant has confirmed. The interface also mentions a "simplified verification" option for some submissions made on behalf of applicants. Conditions are unpublished.
Individual "Apply Now" flow. The current build shows an email-plus-verification-code entry point for individual applicants, alongside the username/password Login to Portal page. On 2 October, independent checks reported no visible self-registration link. The login page directs sign-up questions to the portal's support address. Test the individual flow before promising it to customers.
Stay details. The form asks for region, city, address, trip type, and border zones. Itineraries that touch restricted areas need extra attention. The portal does not explain the separate permit rules in its public requirements.
Unpublished, and therefore absent from product copy: e-Visa validity periods and maximum length of stay for e-TU, entry types available by category, nationality eligibility lists, fee amounts, and which border crossings accept the e-Visa.
OTA and tour-operator checklist
Before you sell Turkmenistan e-Visa fulfilment or market "no invitation needed":
Verify the live portal end to end with a real internal or consenting applicant: account or email entry, application, KYC and selfie, payment, issuance, email delivery.
Confirm the fee produced for your typical itinerary (category, urgency, entries) and how it is shown in USD. Bank commissions are extra. Service fees are non-refundable.
Keep official fees and service fees separate in checkout, as with any government visa.
Update product pages: tourist e-TU lists no mandatory invitation. Business e-BS still requires a Turkmen company invitation.
Retire stale content that says every tourist visa requires a letter of invitation, and keep a note for travelers who may still need the traditional invitation route until you have confirmed the e-Visa covers their nationality and itinerary.
Collect ICAO-grade photos up front (600 DPI minimum, white background, six months old or newer). Poor photos are the obvious failure point in a new system.
Plan for applicant confirmation. If you submit on behalf of travelers, they must confirm by email and complete the selfie check. Build that step into timelines.
Separate registration of stay (rgstr.migration.gov.tm) from the visa in itineraries and pre-trip emails.
Watch border-zone itineraries. The e-Visa text on the portal does not say it covers restricted-area permits.
Set a recheck date. Portal builds are changing quickly. Recheck requirements before each campaign.
Airline and ground-handling checklist
Brief check-in and document-control teams that Turkmenistan now issues e-Visas, delivered by email. Passengers may present a printed or on-screen e-Visa.
Use the official status check (any two of last name, passport number, visa number) when a document looks unfamiliar.
Passport validity: the portal requires at least 6 months from entry. Align check-in guidance.
New passport after issuance: the portal offers a transfer process. A mismatched passport number is a flag to check. Escalate per your usual procedure.
Watch for Timatic and carrier-information updates reflecting the e-Visa. Internal rules stay inside what is published.
What to watch next
A published fee schedule and eligibility list.
Confirmation of the individual self-registration flow.
Guidance on e-Visa validity, length of stay, and accepted ports of entry.
Carrier-facing guidance on presentation of e-Visas at departure.
The neighbouring Central Asia change is Kazakhstan's QazETA checklist, scheduled on this blog for 8 October 2026. Airlines bringing a new e-Visa regime into pre-departure checks can read how airlines reduce denied boarding with visa data. Rule-change email for destinations you already sell is coverage alerts.
This note is a briefing on the government portal. SimpleVisa does not file Turkmenistan e-Visas.
This article is general industry information for travel businesses. It is not legal or immigration advice. Requirements are taken from the official Turkmenistan e-Visa portal as displayed on 5 October 2026 and may change. Visa decisions are made by the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan. Verify the live portal before selling or advising on any application.
LM
Founder, SimpleVisa
Loris Mazloum founded SimpleVisa and writes the coverage notes on this blog for airlines, OTAs, and other travel companies. Each note is checked against the government source named at the bottom before it publishes. SimpleVisa keeps requirement data for 190+ destinations and files applications where a government channel exists.
