Azerbaijan Invitation Letter for a Visa: Business and Family

If you can use the e visa, you do not need an invitation. You only upload your passport page. An invitation matters when you apply for a visa at an Azerbaijani embassy.

For tourism, transit and official visas, no invitation is filed with the ministry. For business, work, science or education, medical treatment, humanitarian, culture and sport visas, the inviting side files one first. A private visit visa uses a personal invitation from your host.

In short: the person or organisation in Azerbaijan does the first step, and you do the second step at the embassy. Without the first step, the embassy cannot issue an invited visa.

A business invitation is not only a letter on company paper. The company in Azerbaijan files it with the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry then instructs the embassy you will use. The company provides:

• The application form of the inviting party, in 2 copies.
• A letter to the Consular Department with the purpose (business), the length of stay (up to 180 days for business, 60 for culture and sport, 90 for other purposes), single or multiple entry, and the embassy where you will apply.
• Company documents: registration certificate, TIN, and the property deed or lease of its office.
• A copy of your passport.
• A power of attorney and ID copy, if a representative files for the company.
• The receipt for the 4 AZN state fee, paid on gpp.az under MFA budget payments, code 142241.

The Consular Department is at Sh. Gurbanov 50, Baku, and receives invitation filings on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 to 12:30. Hours can change, so the company should check the MFA page first.

1. 1

   Wait for confirmation

   Ask the company to tell you when the ministry has approved the invitation and sent it to your embassy.

2. 2

   Apply at the embassy

   Fill in the form on visaapplication.mfa.gov.az and hand in your documents at the embassy you named: passport, two 3x4 cm photos, insurance, the fee receipt and the invitation details.

3. 3

   Get the decision

   The embassy decides within 15 days. See embassy visas for the full list of documents and fees.

4. 4

   Plan your timing

   The invitation and the embassy decision both take time. Start early, and keep the dates in the invitation in line with your real trip, because your stay must match the purpose and days on the visa.

If your passport can use the e visa, a Business e visa covers meetings, negotiations, conferences and site visits for up to 30 days. No invitation is uploaded. It is still wise to carry a letter from the company you visit, with dates and a contact person, plus your hotel booking and return ticket.

A good letter to carry on a business e visa has these details:

You need the business visa with an invitation when your passport is not on the e visa list, when you need more than 30 days or several entries, or for some business residence permit routes. Neither visa allows paid work. Read business trip vs work.

• Company letterhead with the full company name and address.
• Your full name and passport number.
• The dates and purpose of your visit, such as meetings or a conference.
• A contact person in Azerbaijan with a phone number.

For a private visit visa, your host does not file with the ministry. Instead the host gives you papers that you hand in at the embassy:

The private visit visa allows a stay of up to 90 days. Keep copies of every paper with you when you travel, because border officers may ask where and with whom you will stay. If you stay more than 15 days, your host should register you at their address.

• A notarised invitation letter from the host.
• A copy of the host's passport, residence permit card or ID card.
• The host's promise to cover your costs, or proof of your own funds.
• Proof that you are related, for example a birth or marriage certificate, when you visit family.

Yes, with a limit. A foreign worker or student who lives in Azerbaijan on a temporary residence permit can invite only family members on a private visit visa. Family here means a spouse, children under 18, adult children who cannot work and dependent parents.

If your family comes to live with you, they later apply for a residence permit on the family ground. See bring your family to Azerbaijan. Sroky can keep every family member's documents and remind you before each one ends.

Friends and other relatives of a foreign resident cannot be invited this way. If their passport allows it, they can come on an e visa with the purpose Personal trip, or visa free.