Registering with Tajikistan OVIR in Khorog

Updated April 2025, Registering with Tajikistan OVIR in Khorog was originally published in December 2024

If you’re entering Tajikistan visa-free or using the visa-on-arrival scheme and staying in the country for more than 10 business days, you must register with OVIR (Department of Visas and Registration of Foreign Citizens).

If you are planning to register with OVIR in Khorog, you will find all the steps to do so to make the process a little less painful, that said, still plan for the whole charade to waste an entire day of your trip and still be a giant headache.

Planning to register with the OVIR office in Dushanbe? Check out my post on registering with OVIR in Dushanbe as they do have slightly different requirements from the Khorog office.

Please note that if you are visiting Tajikistan on the e-visa, you DO NOT need to register with OVIR.

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Where is the OVIR Office in Khorog Located?

The OVIR office is located just to the south of the Khorog Airport (37.495715, 71.520312). You will also find the location on Google Maps below.

What You Need to Register with OVIR in Khorog

  • Passport
  • 4 photocopies of your passport info page
  • 1 passport photo
  • 1 photocopy of your GBAO Permit
  • Fee (amount can vary)

Where to Make Photocopies & Get Passport Photos in Khorog

Inside the building, just to the west of the Old Central Bazaar (37.490740, 71.538227), across the street from Pamir Plaza, there is a small photocopy and passport photo shop. It’s located in the hallway to the right upon entering the building from Lenin Street.

For reference, I paid 32 TJS for 4 photocopies and 8 passport photos (doesn’t hurt to always have a few extra passport photos lying around).

OVIR Khorog Office Hours

The OVIR office in Khorog is open from 08:00 and 17:00 Monday through Saturday. Specifically, the office dealing with foreigner registration does not open until 10:00.

Most officials go on lunch between 12:00-14:00. I suggest arriving as close to 10:00 in the morning as possible. If you arrive close to noon or just after, you will likely be told to return after 14:00 (this happened in my case, having arrived just before noon).

The Registration Process at Khorog OVIR

OVIR registration Tajikistan

This is where it gets convoluted, but I just navigated it (July 2024 after returning from Kyrgyzstan).

On arrival at OVIR in Khorog, walk inside the building and follow the hallway all the way down to the left. At the end of the hall on your right, find door #55. Knock and peek in and the woman will let you know either to come in or wait outside.

Once inside, tell her you need OVIR registration (OVIR registratsiya). She does speak limited English, but knowledge of Russian or Tajik will help the process.

She will then ask for your passport, passport photocopies, passport photo, and GBAO permit photocopy.

While she is making copies of all of that, she will have you fill out the OVIR registration application. I suggest having the Google Translate app downloaded on your phone and Tajik language downloaded for use offline, that way you can easily use the camera function to translate the application for you as the questions on it are written in Tajik.

You will be asked to pay at some point in this process- more on that (and my experience) in the ‘How much does OVIR registration in Khorog cost?’ section.

Once she’s finished copying all of the documents and you’ve filled out the application, she will bring you across the hall (door #56) to have the application signed off.

After the application has been signed off you will return to room #55 to give the application back over. You will then be told when to return to pick up your migration slip.

I had to return to OVIR in Khorog at 14:00 after lunch to begin the process, as I mentioned previously. We did not finish the application process until about 15:45.

Once finished with the application, you will need to return to OVIR to pick up your registration slip. In my case, I was told to return at 10:00 the following morning when the office opened.

I arrived back at OVIR Khorog the following morning around 10:30. I was brought into the office and handed my whole application file, then escorted down the hall to get my file and OVIR registration card stamped.

Once the card was stamped, the process was finished and I was given my OVIR card and I was free to go.

How Long Does OVIR Registration Take?

This can vary on how early you show up, how busy the office is, and the mood of the officials you’re dealing with.

In my experience it was a two day event, needing to apply one day and receiving the OVIR registration the following morning.

In theory, if you apply in the morning when the office opens, you may be able to receive it before closing the same day.

How Much Does OVIR Registration in Khorog Cost?

I’ve heard varying amounts- in my experience, it was 150 TJS.

They only accept payment by local card (DushanbeCity, Amonatbonk, etc). You likely do not have a local debit card, so you will be asked to pay the woman in the office in cash and she will charge the fee to her personal card.

Want to Avoid the Headache of OVIR Registration All Together?

Do note that you can opt to enter Tajikistan with the e-visa which does not require you to register with OVIR.

If you will be in Dushanbe prior to Khorog, I would suggest doing your OVIR registration there as it is less steps and documents.

There are also OVIR offices in Dushanbe, Murghab, and Khujand as well. In my experience, the OVIR office in Dushanbe is the easiest if you will be registering yourself.

Have any questions about OVIR registration in Khorog?

Ask in the comments section below.

More posts from Tajikistan:

2 thoughts on “Registering with Tajikistan OVIR in Khorog”

  1. Mo

    Hello! Thanks a lot for this piece of information, it helped me a lot.
    I applied it today and it worked even better than expected.
    Did 4 photocopies of passport/gbao permit, 2 photos, (11 somoni) 1 of both is enough to register. I entered the OVIR at around 11am, knock at the #55 door, but nobody. I then waited behind other people in front of #56 door. The woman for registration was here. I gave her my passport, a photocopy, a photo. With her translation help we filled the form (Google translation app did not want). I paid 122 somoni with the help of the tadjik credit card of the next person in the queue (that might have been a problem otherwise).
    By 11:30 it was done and I was told to return at 2pm. At 2pm I waited half an hour and got the final paper!

    Reply

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