Getting An Afghanistan Visa In Peshawar: My Experience
- Konrad Tillman
- Mar 19
- 3 min read
Intro
For my trip to Afghanistan (which by the way is going so well) I had to somehow obtain a visa in a very short period of time. When it comes to getting a visa to Afghanistan, there are a few different options you can choose from:
A quick visa in Peshawar
1 day turnaround in Islamabad
1-day turnaround in Dubai
Border Visa south of Dushanbe
Supposedly New Delhi, but I am not sure about
These are just some of the options that I had come across, and I am sure that there are more. With no flight to Dushanbe, I settled on the Peshawar option due to the connectivity through the Torkham Border and Dubai (as a last-case resort).
Getting To The Afghanistan Consulate
Feeling a little bit tired after the debacle at Shelton’s Rezidor, along with a late-night drive from Islamabad, the military escort picked me up from the hotel.
For those looking to get there on your own, head over to Indrive and simply type in “Afghanistan Embassy/Consulate (I forget) and it will show up.
It’s not a long drive from the main town of Peshawar and is located approximately 10 minutes away from Shelton’s Rezidor.
Getting The Visa
Once we arrived, we were greeted by some very helpful people informing me that I needed an online visa before actually applying for the physical visa. At first, I thought it was a scam (my brain works wonders sometimes), but it is not, and you must first apply for the visa online:
If you do not, there is someone outside of the embassy who takes your passport away for 15 minutes and will come back with the online visa. Tip him 1000 PKR, it is pretty much mandated and it also saves you a lot of hassle…
With that all sorted out, I headed inside on my own, where I was greeted by the lovely people of Afghanistan. They took my phone and gave me a notecard to get it back at the end. From there I was directed to the visa waiting area, where I happened to meet two solo travelers from Argentina, and Madrid.
It was about 9:15 am at the time, and I had quickly made friends with these two. By 9:30 am the immigration officer came over, took our passports, online visas, and the crisp 100 USD, and said to wait.
By 10:10 am our passports had returned, we collected our phones, and made our way outside!
A Quick Piece Of Advice:
The Afghanistan Embassy is open Monday-Friday, 9 am- 4 pm (ish) and these hours are subject to change. The visa processing time takes about 40 minutes, but it seems that visas only begin issuing at 9:30 am, on a First Come, First Served basis.
My advice is to show up early.
The cost is 100 USD (a brand new crisp one)
Drive Back To Shelton’s Rezidor
Heading back outside from the embassy, I was surprised to see the 4 policemen all waiting around for me ready to take me back. It’s wild to think that this is all free.
It was a 10-minute escorted ride back to the hotel, and it was time to relax a little bit, and figure out my flights to Afghanistan!
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to get a Visa to Afghanistan, and fast, look no further than the embassy in Peshawar. All of the people are very friendly, the process is easy, and you can have your visa in less than 40 minutes if you go in the morning. Just make sure to apply for your online visa in advance, and is speeds up the process. Happy travels, and hope this helped!
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