VisaAfghans travelling on foreign passports should check their identity evidence before seeking a visa
The foreign ministry confirms an exemption for people proving Afghan identity, but separate family-entry pages contain different eligibility and fee descriptions.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
First establish whether the traveller needs a visa
Afghans planning to enter Afghanistan on a foreign passport should first establish whether they can document Afghan identity, rather than automatically pay for a tourist or family visa. The foreign ministry’s statement dated 12 December 2025 says no new visa requirement was imposed on dual-national Afghans and that those presenting proof of Afghan identity can continue travelling without a visa. This is an existing-rule guide, not a claim that the exemption was newly introduced on 4 November.
The statement does not specify every acceptable document or explain how an airline will verify the exemption before boarding. Match the actual passport and identity evidence to the more detailed ministry guidance and ask the responsible mission about any discrepancy. A foreign passport alone does not demonstrate that a person falls within the stated exemption. Equally, holding another nationality should not automatically be treated as proof that Afghan citizenship was formally relinquished.
The detailed exemption page identifies alternative evidence
The ministry’s entry-permit page published within its Arabic section contains an English checklist for foreign nationals of Afghan origin. It identifies a foreign passport showing Afghanistan as the birthplace. Where the passport does not show that birthplace, it identifies an Afghan Tazkira, Afghan passport or identity certificate from an Afghan diplomatic or consular mission. It says people who have relinquished Afghan citizenship are treated as foreign nationals for visa issuance.
For an illustrative case, a traveller born outside Afghanistan whose foreign passport does not identify an Afghan birthplace would need to examine the alternative-document route rather than rely on family origin alone. The page does not establish that a parent’s document automatically substitutes for the traveller’s own accepted identity evidence. Ask exactly which record is required for that person, particularly for children, name changes or an older identity document whose details differ from the current passport.
Family-entry visa guidance does not read consistently
The ministry’s English Entry Visa page describes a three-month validity, one-month stay and a 100 US dollar fee. Alongside invited company personnel, it refers to Afghans holding foreign passports who are married to foreign nationals, have a valid marriage or relationship certificate and have not renounced Afghan citizenship. That description appears difficult to reconcile with the broader visa exemption for people proving Afghan identity. The page does not explain when this visa is needed instead of the exemption.
Applicants should not resolve that conflict by assuming the foreign spouse shares the Afghan traveller’s exemption. Establish the immigration category of each family member separately. Ask the receiving mission whether the Afghan-origin traveller can use the exemption, whether the spouse needs a family-entry visa and which identity and marriage evidence establishes each position. A marriage certificate can establish a relationship without establishing that both spouses have Afghan nationality or the same entry entitlement.
Check the receiving mission’s family checklist and charge
The official embassy-domain visa-services page identifies itself as serving UAE residents applying there. Its family-entry table gives multiple entry, one month to one year of validity and stay, and a 10 dollar standard fee. Yet its introduction says visas are single entry for a one-month stay except business visas. This internal conflict is additional to the ministry’s different 100 dollar Entry Visa description. The family checklist includes the form, passport and copy, two white-background photos, national identity copy, Tazkira or marriage certificate and bank statement.
These are materially different category and fee descriptions, not amounts to combine into a single assumed charge. Before paying, ask the UAE mission which category applies to the actual family relationship and nationality, the number of entries, permitted stay and fee. The page publishes +971 2 447 2666 for its visa section. This is a contact route readers can use; no direct clarification was obtained for this article. No guaranteed family-visa decision time was established by the compared pages.
Prepare a visa file only after the exemption question is settled
The ministry’s e-consulate instructions say an under-18 visa request requires a written request from a parent or guardian or court permission and require evidence of relationship where the applicant is the mother. They also describe printing the completed application and taking it with the original passport to the designated representation for payment instructions. These requirements concern a visa application; they do not establish that every child of Afghan origin must obtain a visa.
If a visa is required, complete the form consistently with the identity and family records and retain the printed application and payment instruction. Do not omit another nationality to fit an assumed category. Check the issued visa’s entries and stay before relying on the proposed itinerary. Public pages do not settle how the receiving mission applies the overlapping identity-exemption and family-entry instructions to a particular household.
