Syria & Lebanon - will I get a Visa now on an Irish Passport?

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khairabar

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I have trip to Syria & Lebanon planned for April/May this year (2010), obviously an most exciting and exotic destination, but now I fear there may be trouble getting a visa for either or both countries due to the suspicions surrounding the Irish passport following the Dubai murder carried out by Israelis on forged Irish passports.

Does anyone know anything about this, as I am anxious not to scupper my chances by making a wrong answer in applying for either visa. I am already having some trouble with the application form as I am in in line for even more detailed questions than usual because (a) I am going alone, (b) I have no "letter from current employer". Now in addition, the reliability of my Irish passport has been obviously undermined in the eyes of any Middle Eastern government which could naturally be home to similar targets for Jewish assassins possibly entering on forged Irish passports.

Most unfortunately, this news only broke just after I had booked flights, and of course all travel insurances exclude failure to obtain visas. Obviously both countries (and particularly Lebanon) now have serious grounds to be suspicious of the authenticity of an Irish passport, so I am hoping someone out there knows how the visas can still be got or what is the best approach. Help.

kb
 
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I can't imagine it's an issue .. visas are just money making rackets really .. the Syrian embassy will I'm sure still take your thirty quid irrespective of what Mossad might or might not have been doing with Irish passports

I will actually myself be applying for a Syrian visa in the next week or two .. I'll post how I get on .. but I'm sure it will not be an issue ... I'd be fairly sure you're getting worked up about nothing
 
Thx, EvilDoc, salaam alaykum! that's very encouraging what you say. Though I do think (especially for Lebanon) there could be more at stake than the few quid, if there is the remotest possibility of a repeat of Dubai. Even if they're cool about it, some of these gents relish an excuse like this to make life hell for you and make them feel important.

What dates are you going to Syria? How soon d'you think you'll make the application? I'd be very interested in how you got on before I apply myself, anyway please do post how you get on. Are you going for work or travel? You sound like you may have been there before. If so d'you know how important the question about "point of exit from Syria" is, as I plan to return from Beirut.

It's many years (decades in fact) since I last applied for a middle east visa, ironically enough for Dubai - that was in the 1980's when there were only business visas and no tourist had ever been seen there.
kb
 
I'll be there for holidays at Easter (haven't been before) .. will apply for a visa probably this week .. unless you put Mossad agent down on your visa form as occupation I really wouldn't worry much but I will tell you when I get my visa.
 
EvilDoc, I see on the Syrian Embassy web site, their visa is "valid from date issued", and (for Irish Passport holders) "valid 1 month". Does this mean if you apply early that the visa would be expired before you even arrive??? My arrival date 26thApril, do I have to wait therefore until 26thMarch to make sure it's still "valid" on arrival?

Also, d'you know why is it necessary to get a Syria visa in advance at all. Apparently "if there is no Syrian embassy in your country" you can get a visa on arrival (?)

Also (as you seem to know these things) d'you know anything about visa for Lebanon? My flight returns from Beirut, so I intend to cross into Lebanon, but I read that "you can not get a Lebanon visa in Damascus". This seems very strange, as if they do not have diplomatic relations with each other. I think Lebanon may be still "technically" at war with Israel, but with Syria?
 
I would assume you are correct on the dates - their site certainly seems to imply that

The guidebooks seem to suggest the visa on arrival for Syria isnt advisable - I guess maybe have a look on the Lonely Planet site (their "Thorn Tree" discussion forums are usually quite good) and look for recent experiences .. but I think the general consensus was that it's better to apply in advance as at a minimum trying to get a visa on arrival will be a very lengthy process.

No idea about Lebanese visas, but Lebanon is certainly not at war with Syria .. while Syria may be up to no good in Lebanon from time to time the countries are not at war.
 
Just to update you Khairabar - unsurprisingly I gave the Syrian Embassy money and they gave me a visa .. no problem on that front

Validity is one month from date of issue ... so don't apply more than one month before you leave ... assume it's one month to date of entry rather than date of departure.
 
thx EvilDoc, it should be ok so.
Hope you enjoy your stay & do post again when you get back to let us know how you got on. Interested to know if you see any ATMs. I have a "Maestro" ATM card and I'm told I can use it in Syria with my ordnary PIN (?)
Sounds way too simple...
kb
 

Spent some time working in Syria, you will be able to use your Maestro Card. There aren't a whole lot of ATMs about though.
 
Re a visa to Lebanon, I was there last August and have been in the past on an Irish Passport and always got visa on arrival with no problem.
 
pete1 said:
Re a visa to Lebanon, I was there last August and have been in the past on an Irish Passport and always got visa on arrival with no problem.
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+1 went to lebanon at the weekends from Syria (Fri & Sat) never had a problem with a visa on crossing the border
 

So just back .. awesome place, would loved to have had some more time... will definitely have to go back.

Re: the ATMs ... there's a lot of ATMs around the place but honestly I found them pretty poor at actually giving cash out on debit cards ... (Credit cards seemed more reliable) ... On the whole it was the flakiest ATM network I'd seen in a long time (and that includes places like Rwanda or Malawi!) ... It seemed pretty tempermental at giving cash out on Visa Debit (The Sheraton in Aleppo had a cash point that I did get to work .. but that was the only one that would give me cash against Visa Debit) .. Visa Credit card seemed much easier (and lots of hotels / upscale restaurants take payment with Visa / Mcard) .. .I don't have a Maestro debit card so can't comment on that.

Try and avoid leaving the country with excess cash - seems impossible to get rid off (anyone want some Syrian Pounds going cheap ! )

Some random observations about Syria
- Clearly there's plenty of money sloshing around the country - lots of very expensive Mercs/BMWs cruising around Damascus and Aleppo
- Booze pretty easy to come by .. not as "dry" a holiday as I thought it might have been. Not all restaurants serve alcohol, but many do .. and there are quite a few bars around the big cities that aren't attached to hotels.
- Food is great, though if you're there for a long time maybe a little monotonous as most restaurants have basically the same menu (mezze, grilled meat) .. prices were surprisingly cheap .. Naranj and Al Khawali in Damascus were the best restaurants .. even there you'd be hard put to spend more than €10 a head on food.
- From a conservative dress point of view for women - in Damascus there were a quite large number of local girls wandering around with dress that wouldn't have been out of place in Temple Bar on a saturday night (though on the other hand I'd guesstimate 80+% of women wore a headscarf of some sort) .. I wasn't of course expecting it to be like Saudi Arabia or anything, but this surprised me a bit in a good way ... Aleppo seemed more conservative.
- People seemed very friendly - and despite a surprisingly large number of tourists (quite a few big groups of Italians, Spanish and Germans) the "hassle factor" seemed very low - compared with Egypt for example there's very little hassle wandering through the souks / at major attractions.
- Taxis are dirt cheap (are fuel prices subsidised to be artificially cheap?) and mostly honest - and even if they rip you off a bit it's still a bargain ... The train line between Aleppo and Damascus is cheap, but probably the intercity buses are a better option (more frequent, faster)

That's all I can think of now - hope it's of some use for your trip Khairabar
 
Evildoc,
Where did you get your visa, in the london embassy? I'm toying with the idea of goign first week in June but better get my act together on the visa front if i'm going to make that.
Cheers
 
EvilDoc, excellent and very useful summary of Syria trip, thanks for posting. Really glad to hear you liked it so much. I guess you didn't see too many Irish there (though it sounds like you could get a pint there on Good Friday). Of course it is officially a secular state unlike what many people think.

Not surprised about the ATM's, I don't believe what bank is telling me, thnk I better stuff dollars in my socks. 'Spose I could use your Syrian pounds - how much have you and what do you want for it?

What's the scene on arrival at Damascus airport (eg) around midnight - for getting into town is it taxis? controlled? metred? How much should it be? Presume there's no other options.

Also assuming one's Arabic is non-existent, do folks speak much English? I have good French, is that understood more/less than English would you say?

Still no visa, tho they have my money. Fingers crossed so,
kb
 
Advice for Syria,
RE: Visas, the London embassy is fairly fast, and my most recent multi-entry visa was approved even after the Israeli shenanigans

RE: Money

There's ATMs all over the place in Damascus, but my BOI Cirrus / laser card only worked in *ONE* (I've been there 6 times in the last 12 months).
The first time I was there it worked in a few, but every other time I've had to use one specific ATM.

The ATM that works for me is in the mall (called Damascus Boulevard) attached to the Four Seasons hotel. There's more than one ATM there, the one that works for me is in a small lobby beside one of the coffee shops (Moka and More I think) and is Banque Saudi Fransi branded

Enjoy!
 
BCPK said:
What's the scene on arrival at Damascus airport (eg) around midnight - for getting into town is it taxis? controlled? metred? How much should it be? Presume there's no other options.
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When you come through immigration (no hassle, but sometimes a long wait) and customs (never had any trouble on my journeys in) there's a desk on the right hand side for Taxis.

Fare to Damascus city centre is 1500SYP, i think they charge about 20 euro if you pay in euro.

Seems reasonable enough until you realise how much it would cost on a meter (which is closer to 400 SYP - Taxis there are very cheap although terrifying the first few times )

There will be people to 'show you to your car' / carry your bag looking for tips, and mostly they're not pushy about it but it might be worth having 2 euro or so handy if you feel intimidated. (against all reason, i often feel obliged and embarassed when it comes to tipping in those situations)

Also assuming one's Arabic is non-existent, do folks speak much English? I have good French, is that understood more/less than English would you say?

Still no visa, tho they have my money. Fingers crossed so,
kb
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Can't say I heard much French spoken; English not much either, there's suprisingly few English speakers in any but the most tourist oriented places, but they'll have enough to sell you something

If you're travelling purely for tourism reasons I'd recommend trying to arrange a guided tour (including a trip to Palmyra) in advance of arriving, just to save on hassle, it's probably cheaper to arrange them on the ground. There's people selling tours in some of the touristy areas of the old city.

When you get the visa back from the embassy there should be a tourist map of Damascus with it; if not I think they can be gotten from hotels.
 
BCPK said:
Evildoc,
Where did you get your visa, in the london embassy? I'm toying with the idea of goign first week in June but better get my act together on the visa front if i'm going to make that.
Cheers
Click to expand...

I live in London so applied through the London embassy - no hassle at all - took 3 days to process ... They only issue 1 month visas to Irish Passports so you shouldn't lodge your application more than 1 month in advance of your arrival date into Syria .. so you've plenty of time.
 

You will find an ATM eventually ... but bring some cash to get you started as you can't rely on finding one .. I think Euros should be fine (save you the expense of double converting into dollars) .. while the ATM network isn't that reliable it's not so bad that I think you'd need to carry a lot of cash on you - which even though Syria seemed super safe is never a good idea anywhere ... I would give you my Syrian Pounds but I'm not in Dublin so probably logistically too complex for the sake of not that much (I think I've about 4,000 of them left over - will just have to go back to spend them - oh no!)

English is understood-ish by many people - everyone was super helpful .. even if a taxi driver didn't speak english they'd go out of their way to find someone to interpret (stopping at a pharmacy one time to ask the pharmacist!) - French wasn't that useful - only found on person who spoke french but no english.

Taxis around town generally fairly honest, super cheap and likely to use the meter .. in from the airport might be a different story (I took the train to Damascus so didn't get a cab into town ... a cab back to the airport cost me 800SYP from the old town .. and that was a tourist price - as igy says would be 4-500SYP if they used the meter ... enquire with your hotel if they do airport pick up ... if they do they mightn't charge anymore than 1500 SYP for it and if that's the going taxi mafia rate at the airport then at midnight it might be worth it to have someone with your name on a board meeting you!
 

The one I got to work with Visa Debit (which is guess is like Maestro in terms of acceptance) was in the small mall attached to the Sheraton in Aleppo - it was called something like the Syrian Internation Trade Bank .... I got Visa Credit cards to work in other bank ATMs
 
Quote
"What's the scene on arrival at Damascus airport (eg) around midnight - for getting into town is it taxis? controlled? metred? How much should it be? Presume there's no other options.
Also assuming one's Arabic is non-existent, do folks speak much English? I have good French, is that understood more/less than English would you say?"

When I was there last summer, I arrived around midnight too. If you dont already have your visa, you queue for that, and then join the immigration queue. Everything was written in Arabic, but there were officials asking if people already had visas, and ensuring they weren't queueing in the visa queue.
There were lots of English Syrians (I would guess born in England, but family in Syria) who were very helpful in translating what I needed to the visa/money exchange guy.

When you come through, on the right-hand-side you find the taxi desk. I was female on my own, so wasn't totally comfortable getting into a taxi in the middle of the night, not speaking the language, not knowing where I was going etc, but I had no problems. The people at the taxi desk spoke rudimentary english. Its about 25 mins into the city centre.

I didnt find anyone speaking french, but most people in restaurants/juice bars/organising tours/hotels etc had some english.

Its an great country - would love to go back. The people were so nice and friendly and welcoming. I really recommend the Iranian mosque ( 5 mins walk from the main mosque) - the mirrored ceilings are amazing.

Enjoy!
 
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