Uzbekistan visa for German citizens

No, for tourist trips of up to 30 days. Germany is one of the countries whose citizens have enjoyed visa-free entry to Uzbekistan since 2018–2019. Germans have long been among the most numerous European visitors to Uzbekistan, drawn by the Silk Road cities, and the visa-free regime has made trips much easier.

Always check the latest rules before you travel, on the official portal e-visa.gov.uz and on the travel and safety advice of the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). See our Uzbekistan visa guide for the general rules.

For stays beyond 30 days, or for work, study or business purposes, you need a visa obtained in advance, as an e-visa where available or through an Uzbek embassy or consulate. Use only official channels. If you leave and re-enter Uzbekistan during a regional trip, a new visa-free period generally starts on re-entry; check the current rules.

• Passport: valid at least six months beyond your stay is the safe rule. A German identity card (Personalausweis) is not enough.
• Travel health insurance valid abroad, ideally with repatriation.
• Medicines: some medicines common in Germany, such as certain strong painkillers, sleeping pills, tranquillisers and ADHD medication, are controlled in Uzbekistan. Carry them in original packaging with a prescription or a doctor’s certificate, preferably in English or Russian.
• Drones require permission.

Present your passport at immigration; you may be asked for your hotel address and return ticket. Declare large amounts of cash and keep the declaration until departure. Foreign visitors must be registered where they stay; hotels and licensed guesthouses do this automatically. Keep any registration slips until you leave.

Uzbekistan Airways has operated direct flights from Frankfurt to Tashkent, and at times to other Uzbek cities, taking around 6 hours; check current schedules. Other options connect via Istanbul, Dubai, Doha or other hubs, sometimes with onward flights to Samarkand, Bukhara or Urgench.

Time difference: Uzbekistan is 4 hours ahead of Germany in winter and 3 hours ahead in summer; it does not use daylight saving time. See Tashkent airport and domestic flights.

The currency is the Uzbek som. Euros and US dollars in clean notes are easy to exchange at banks and official exchange offices. ATMs accept Visa and Mastercard in cities; German debit cards (Girocard) may not work unless they also carry a Visa or Mastercard logo. Cash is still essential in bazaars, taxis and small cafés. See money in Central Asia.

German citizens can usually visit Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan visa-free for limited stays. Tajikistan offers visa-free entry or an e-visa to many nationalities, with an additional permit for the Pamirs. Turkmenistan requires a visa with a letter of invitation from a local agency. See Central Asia visas and border crossings.

English is spoken in hotels and by guides in the main tourist cities, and Russian is widely understood. German-speaking guides exist in Uzbekistan, but they are fewer and should be booked in advance. Learn a few words of Uzbek: see our Uzbek phrases.

Most German visitors spend 8–14 days in Uzbekistan. A classic route is Tashkent → Samarkand by the Afrosiyob train → Bukhara → Khiva across the desert, then a flight from Urgench back to Tashkent. Many add the Fergana Valley for its silk and ceramics workshops, or a night in a yurt camp in the Kyzylkum desert. The busiest months are April–May and September–October, when trains and good hotels sell out, so book early. See our 7-day and 10-day itineraries, and Tashkent to Samarkand for the first leg.

The German Embassy is in Tashkent. Save its contact details before you travel. You can also register your trip with the German Foreign Office’s crisis preparedness list (Krisenvorsorgeliste).