Passport Validity Rules for Azerbaijan: Entry, E-Visa and TRC

The official rule is simple: your passport must be valid at least 3 months beyond the end of your visa. This applies to the ASAN e visa (condition 4 on evisa.gov.az) and to embassy visas (Migration Code, Article 36). For a temporary residence permit the rule is the same idea, but it counts from the end of the permit.

You may read "6 months" on airline or travel sites. That is not a separate legal rule. It comes from the e visa itself: the visa is valid 90 days from issue, and 3 months more brings you to about 6 months. So aim for 6 months or more on the day you apply, and you are safe.

• Valid at least 3 months after the e visa expiry date.
• Apply with the passport you will travel on. Dual nationals who apply with one passport and travel on another have an invalid e visa.
• Upload a clear scan of the photo page. If the system cannot read it, the e visa is refused.
• A child written in a parent's passport still needs own data in the application. A family application covers 2 to 10 people.
• Print the e visa and show it with the same passport at the border.
• Not sure you qualify? Use the free visa checker or read the e visa requirements.

When you apply for or extend a TRC, the passport must stay valid at least 3 months after the end of the new permit. The trouble is that you do not know the new end date in advance. A first permit lasts up to 1 year and an extension up to 2 years. So if your passport ends within about 15 months of your current card's expiry, renew the passport before you file.

After you get a new passport, the Migration Code (Article 44.5) asks TRC holders to tell the Migration Service within 10 working days and to apply to have the card reissued. For permanent residence holders no matching rule was found in the law, so ask the Migration Service on 919.

A passport that ends less than 3 months after your TRC can lead to a refused extension or a cancelled permit. Without a valid ground you must leave the country. Check your passport date before every renewal.

1. 1

   At 6 months left

   Start the renewal at your embassy. Many embassies need weeks to issue a passport. Find your embassy in our guide to embassies and ASAN centres.

2. 2

   Before a TRC renewal

   Check that the passport outlasts the new permit by 3 months. If not, renew it first.

3. 3

   Within 10 working days of the new passport

   Tell the Migration Service and ask for the card update.

4. 4

   Keep the old passport

   It holds your entry stamps, which border guards and the Migration Service may ask for.

If you lose your passport in Azerbaijan, contact your embassy for a new one. If you hold a TRC, the change of identity document starts the same 10 working day clock with the Migration Service. If the residence card is lost too, report it within the same 10 working days. A new card costs AZN 20, and the fine for a lost or damaged card is AZN 30.

Children follow the same validity rules as adults. A child under 18 with an own passport who travels without a parent or legal representative needs extra papers for an embassy visa: a notarised copy of the birth certificate, the parents' permission and copies of their IDs (Migration Code, Article 36.2). A child without a passport can apply for a TRC with a notarised birth certificate copy, but still needs a travel document to cross the border. Read more in bring your family to Azerbaijan.

Passport stamps also prove how long you stayed. These limits count days, and both the entry day and the exit day count.

Border guards have the final word. Keep your stamps readable and keep your own list of trips. Sroky's day counter keeps trip dates on your phone only.