By the May 29 Government’s decree, which will take effect immediately, foreign nationals staying in Uzbekistan hotels, medical institutions and other residences shall no longer be held liable for violation of temporary registration rules.
Liability for tourist registration, except for foreigners on a self-guided journey, shall be borne by the inviting or receiving parties (tour operators, hotels, medical institutions, residential premises and etc.).
Before the said liability was borne by foreign citizens themselves. In case of violation of the law, they had to pay a fine amounting to 50 to 100 times the minimum wage (MW=170,000 UZS), (from 8.6 to 17.2 million UZS, or from 1,073 to 2,146 USD).
According to the new procedure, the inviting, receiving, accomodating parties shall get registration through online notification system, which is due in the near future, or by applying to a local police department.
Temporary registration shall be obtained upon arrival within three business days. The three-day period starts at 01:00 AM the next day after the arrival.
Foreign nationals will not need registration if their stay in each city, town, village doesn’t last more than three days. In this case, they will need documents confirming the fact of stay (for example a receipt for goods or services). The requirement to get registration in one place for the whole duration of stay is scrapped.
Foreign citizens traveling on self-guided tours, living in tents or vehicles, may obtain a temporary residence permit by sending an online notification within three days through an app with indication of places to be visited.
They can also apply to tourist information centers or nearby hotels. In this case, the administrations of tourist information centers and hotels are required to send a notice to the police and provide information about a foreign citizen.
Previously, Uzbekistan's legislation did not allow individual tourists to live in tents or vehicles.
The decree has scrapped the state duty for temporary registration for stays up to one month. Before, the duty was US$ 20, and for the CIS citizens - US$ 5. A differentiated tourist (hotel) fee has been introduced, to be charged by hotels, instead of the 10% of MW fee for each day of stay.
Now the tourist fee is collected only from persons aged over 16: hotels, accomodation facilities - from 5% to 15% of MW (+2% of MW for each star of hotel), sanatoria and resorts - 10%, recreation and leisure facilities - 10%, individual accommodation facilities (cottages, private houses, apartments, yurts, hostels and others) - 5%.
When staying in tents and vehicles, tourists shall, on their own or through a travel agent, tourist information office or accommodation facility, pay the fee of 5% of the MW.
For stay in medical institutions, guest or private houses and apartments for non-commercial purposes, tourist fee is 2% of MW per day.
Should foreign citizens on self-guided tours (living in tents or in adapted transport) fail to register and pay a tourist fee, they shall pay a fine 10 times the unpaid amount of the tourist fee.
