Hi,
I am Canadian and live in China. I was not able to go to Beijing to obtain a Syrian visa. So, now I would like to know if anyone has obtained a visa at the Damascus airport before. Or any suggestions. Thank you.
I emailed a travel agent in Damascus, and they wanted a large sum of money for a single entry visa.
Any help would be great! Thanks.
We run a hostel for foreigners(from USA,Canada,Europe and Australia) who arrive daily at airport and some by land.I raise the visa question with every one of our guests.I found few who obtained a visa in their country .Most obtain visa at the airport or borders like Turkey,Lebanon and Jordan.
While obtaining a Syrian visa at a land border is often possible (even though officially it's not), counting on doing so at the airport is a very bad idea. Not so much because the Syrians wouldn't issue you one (they probably would) but because the airline you're flying in with is quite likely not to let you board if you can't show them the visa at check-in. I've been to Syria 5 times and have never been able to board without showing my Syrian visa.
I.e. if you don't have a visa yet and can't find a travel agent to get you one at a reasonable price, fly to Beirut and get one at the land border.
Good point your raised George.It happened to me to too ,the Airlines refused to let me board the plane unless i sign a written undertaking that in case i was refused visa ,the airline is NOT responsible for my expenses of having to return me to another country.I know of other travellers who did that too.Having to go to Beirut could add more cost ,time and inconvenience .
The foreign ministry in Denmark's website says that a 15 days visa is obtainable at the airport for Danish nationalities - I can trust that, right?
Thanks in advance
the only nationalities that can obtain a visa at the border are those who don't have a Syrian embassy in their home country. So if there's a Syrian embassy in Canada, you will not be able to get a visa at the airport.
I am dutch, there is no embassy here in the netherlands, so i could get a visa at the airport. the airline (Austrian Airlines) did not check my passport in Amsterdam, in Vienna there was a Syrian man at the gate checking everybody. When he found no visa in my passport, he checked a list (it said 'Syrian Embassy worldwide' at the top of the paper) and then smiled and let me through when he saw that indeed I had no embassy in my country. On arrival in Damascus, immigration again checked the same list and issued me with a visa.