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Uzbekistan extends visa-free travel to Germans in tourism bid

Uzbekistan said Friday it will allow German citizens to visit for up to 30 days visa-free to boost tourism as the ex-Soviet country emerges from long-term isolation.

Published: 4 January 2019 14:26 CET

Uzbekistan extends visa-free travel to Germans in tourism bid

Monument of Independence in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Photo: DPA

Germany will be the second European Union country after France to gain visa-free travel to Uzbekistan, which has opened up somewhat since the death of its long-reigning hardline leader Islam Karimov in 2016.

Germans will be able to enter the central Asian nation visa-free from January 15th, the Uzbek tourism committee said Friday, three months after authorities granted French citizens the same 30-day visa waiver.

The impoverished country is highly dependent on commodity exports and has made developing tourism a priority.

In particular the government is keen to show off the lavish Silk Road heritage of cities such as Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand.

According to the Uzbek tourism committee, 18,094 Germans visited Uzbekistan in 2018, almost five times as many as in 2016.

Reform-touting Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev is set to visit Germany this month after meeting US President Donald Trump and French leader Emmanuel Macron last year.

These high-profile visits are seen as rewards for his steps towards greater openness following the death of Karimov, under whom Mirziyoyev served as prime minister for 13 years.

The current president has reversed a number of policies that hampered the tourism sector in recent years.

Among the restrictions he scrapped was a ban on photography in the capital Tashkent's ornate metro that had led to police detentions of unsuspecting tourists.

Mirziyoyev's bid to boost tourism in the immediate aftermath of Karimov's death suffered a false start, however.

In December 2016, he issued an order easing or cancelling visa requirements for visitors from 27 developed countries but this was reversed a month later before actually coming into force.

The reversal was attributed to resistance within the powerful security apparatus.

Uzbekistan offers visa-free entry to citizens of Turkey, Israel, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan, in addition to long-standing reciprocal visa-free entry for citizens of most former Soviet countries.

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Do you need permanent residency to apply for German citizenship?

If you’ve lived in Germany for a while, you may have already considered one day naturalising as German. If so, you’ve probably heard of the main requirements: having at least B1 German, completing a citizenship test and proving that you can support yourself and your family financially.

But did you know that you also need a certain type of residence permit to be eligible to apply?

When it comes to naturalisation, the rules around visas and residence permits can be confusing for foreigners, and many people assume that they won’t be able to obtain a German passport without first applying for permanent residence.

READ ALSO: What do I need to apply for German citizenship under the new law?

While this isn’t strictly true, there are some cases where your visa may disqualify you from citizenship (at least for now).

Here’s how to find out if you’re eligible for naturalisation in Germany on your current visa or residence permit.

What residence permits make you eligible for German citizenship?

According to German citizenship law, one of the criterion for naturalisation is that foreigners have “an unrestricted right of residence in Germany” at the time of applying.

This includes people who are EU citizens, third-country nationals with permanent residence (i.e. a Daueraufenthaltserlaubnis) and British citizens who received an Aufenthaltsdokument-GB under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

All of these groups are allowed to stay in Germany for an unlimited period of time without needing to renew their permits – though they can lose their residence rights if they are abroad for too long.

READ ALSO: How long can you leave Germany for without losing permanent residency?

But what about people who don’t have this kind of unrestricted residence right? Are they still able to apply for German citizenship?

In many cases, yes – but not always.

The law states that, as well as people with an unrestricted right of residence, foreigners can also apply for citizenship if they hold “an EU Blue Card or a time-limited residence permit which in terms of its purpose may also lead to permanent residence”.

Two Blue Cards for foreign skilled workers are on a table at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Bavaria.

Two Blue Cards for foreign skilled workers are on a table at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees in Bavaria. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Karmann

That excludes temporary visas such as student visas or visas for research or vocational training, but includes other forms of residence permit like an employment or skilled worker visa or a family reunification visa.

As mentioned, people with either time-restricted or unrestricted EU Blue Cards are also eligible to apply for citizenship.

How do I find out if I’m eligible for German citizenship?

If you’re unsure whether you are currently eligible to apply for German citizenship, there are several ways to check before submitting an application.

The simplest is to get in contact with your local immigration authority, which is usually responsible for handling citizenship applications in your city or municipality.

READ ALSO: When and how can I apply for German citizenship?

If the Ausländerbehörde doesn’t handle citizenship applications, they will at least be able to tell you who does.

Once you make contact with your local authority, you’ll generally be offered a telephone consultation with an advisor who will check your eligibility.

Alternatively, some larger citizenship offices such as those in Berlin and Bavaria have online ‘quick check’ tools that tell you whether you can currently apply.

In more complicated situations, it may be worth making contact with an immigration lawyer, who will be able to offer more tailored advice.

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