Uzbekistan is set to allow US visitors visa-free entry under a new framework intended to reduce red tape and boost international arrivals. The scheme is currently being developed by government officials following instructions from President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Though no timeline has yet been formalised for the lifting of current Uzbek visa requirements for US visitors, according to President Mirziyoyev’s decree on 15 May 2025, officials have been given a three-month timeline to put the plans together.
As the entry rules currently stand, there is a difference in Uzbek visa conditions for US citizens depending on applicants’ ages. Would-be visitors over the age of 55 are already allowed to enter visa-free but younger candidates applying to cross the country’s borders are required to pay $20 for an electronic visa. However, distinctions between visitors based on age are expected to be eliminated under a new visa-free regime for everyone.
The unilateral move comes as part of the double-landlocked Central Asian nation’s strategy to grow its travel and tourism sector. That aim has seen the recent introduction of a Golden Visa scheme and the announcement of a 30-day visa-waiver for Chinese visitors available from 1 June 2025, making a total of 90 countries whose citizens now benefit from reduced friction when travelling to Uzbekistan.
With a goal to reach 15 million visitors by 2030, Uzbekistan pursuit of visa-free arrangements is a policy that’s in line with numerous studies, including work published in 2024 by researchers at Mallorca’s University of the Balearic Islands, showing that tourism is negatively impacted by visa requirements, which the IATA too has called a “deterrent” to tourists.
The Uzbek opening up appears to be working. National statistics reveal that 8.2 foreign tourists went to Uzbekistan in 2024, a leap of just under 25% year-on-year. With State Committee for Tourism data indicating that a record 1.3 million foreign visitors arrived in April 2025, Uzbekistan appears to be on track to reach its 15 million target sooner than predicted.
As well as easing the administrative burden of visa applications and processes, the republic’s work to be seen as a more desirable destination has included promotional activity of its historic Silk Road cities, such as Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand.
Neighbouring Kazakhstan has also been pushing for a breakthrough in the travel and tourism sector and welcomed 15.3 million foreign visitors in 2024, who spent in excess of $2.6 billion across the year.
