GlobeQuest

Uzbekistan visas and residency

Who can visit Uzbekistan without a visa, and the 5 long-stay routes that let you actually live there.

Short stay

Visiting Uzbekistan, by passport

How the 198 passports we track get in. A visitor entry is never permission to work, study or settle — that is what the routes further down are for.

United Statese-VisaUnited KingdomVisa-free · 30 daysIndiae-VisaCanadaVisa-free · 30 daysAustraliaVisa-free · 30 daysGermanyVisa-free · 30 daysFranceVisa-free · 30 daysNetherlandsVisa-free · 30 daysIrelandVisa-free · 30 daysSpainVisa-free · 30 daysItalyVisa-free · 30 daysPortugalVisa-free · 30 daysPolandVisa-free · 30 daysSwedenVisa-free · 30 daysSwitzerlandVisa-free · 30 daysSouth AfricaVisa required
Long stay

How you actually move to Uzbekistan

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

IT Visa (three years, no work permit required)

Founders, investors and employees connected to IT Park resident companies, and individual IT specialists who can evidence their income from IT work.

What you need
  • A qualification or specialisation in information technology
  • Either employment by an IT Park resident legal entity in an IT role, or evidence of income from IT activity of at least the equivalent of USD 30,000 over the preceding 12 months
  • Passport and supporting documentation lodged through the government portal
How long it lasts
Up to three years, with free entry and exit throughout.
Path to permanent residence
Yes, and it is deliberately shortened: IT Visa holders can obtain a residence permit by a simplified procedure on purchasing residential real estate, without the value thresholds that apply to the ordinary property route.
Cost
A modest state fee; the substance of the application is evidence, not money.
Processing time
Statutory target of no more than three business days.
Worth knowing
  • The biggest practical benefit is not the visa length. It is that the holder may work in Uzbekistan WITHOUT a work permit, and may live anywhere in the country without re-registering their place of stay every time they move — which sidesteps the three-day registration rule that trips up everyone else.
  • Dependants are covered and get access to public education and healthcare.
  • This is not a digital nomad visa and does not function as one. It is gated on an IT qualification plus either an IT Park employer or a documented USD 30,000 income from IT work.
  • IT Park residency for the COMPANY is a separate application from the IT Visa for the PERSON. The company benefits — 0% corporate income tax, 0% social tax, and 7.5% personal income tax for its employees against the standard 12% — attach to IT Park residency, and are extended (excluding VAT) to 1 January 2040 for qualifying exporters and IT education providers.
  • The IT Park incentives have been tightened, not loosened: payment providers, marketplaces and microfinance organisations lose eligibility from 1 April 2026, and residents must hit rising export-share tests to keep the reduced administration fee. Confirm your business model still qualifies.
Sources:Government of Uzbekistan — IT VisaIT Park Uzbekistan — residency and tax incentivesmy.gov.uz — government services for foreigners (registration, work permits, PINFL)
InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Special tax regime for foreign citizens (Decree UP-180)

High-income individuals with foreign-source income who want Uzbek tax residency without Uzbek tax on that income. Entrepreneurs, investors and capital owners, in the decree's own framing.

What you need
  • A one-off special fee of USD 50,000
  • A bank account with an authorised Uzbek commercial bank, or a wallet on a licensed Uzbek crypto exchange
  • Housing in Uzbekistan, owned or leased
  • Presence in Uzbekistan of more than 30 calendar days in any 12 consecutive months (the threshold at which this regime treats you as tax resident)
How long it lasts
The regime runs from 1 January 2026. It is elective — you opt in by paying the fee — but it is not open-ended: registration under it is granted for a period of up to five years.
Path to permanent residence
Not in itself a residence permit. It does grant registration at place of residence for the payer and their family within one business day of request, which removes the ordinary registration friction, but permanent residence still runs through the property or investment routes.
Cost
USD 50,000, one-time.
Processing time
Registration at place of residence within one business day once the fee is evidenced.
Worth knowing
  • Presidential Decree No. UP-180 of 4 October 2025, in force from 1 January 2026. This is a genuine instrument with a citable number — but read what it exempts. Income from sources OUTSIDE Uzbekistan is exempt from personal income tax. Uzbek-source income is not, and is taxed at the standard flat 12%.
  • The USD 50,000 fee is the regime. Any description that leads with '0% tax' and buries the fee is describing the benefit without the price.
  • The 30-day tax-residency trigger cuts both ways: it is how you access the exemption, but it also means very short annual presence can make you an Uzbek tax resident, with the certificate and treaty consequences that follow. Take advice on how your home jurisdiction will treat that before opting in.
  • It does not remove any immigration requirement. You still need a lawful basis to be in the country.
Sources:my.gov.uz — government services for foreigners (registration, work permits, PINFL)
Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Employer-sponsored work permit and employment visa

Foreign nationals hired by an Uzbek employer outside the IT Park track — energy, mining, construction, finance, manufacturing, education.

What you need
  • The employer first obtains a corporate licence to engage foreign labour, valid for a fixed period and a fixed headcount
  • A local labour-market search demonstrating the role cannot be filled domestically
  • An individual work permit naming the employee
  • An employment-category visa; the confirmation is issued through my.gov.uz
  • PINFL (the Uzbek personal identification number) — needed for payroll, banking and most services
How long it lasts
Typically one year, renewable, with the visa aligned to the permit.
Path to permanent residence
Lawful residence that supports later applications, but Uzbekistan's permanent-residence routes in practice run through property or investment rather than length of employment.
Cost
Corporate licence and per-employee permit fees, both borne by the employer.
Processing time
Weeks, driven by the corporate licence and the labour-market search.
Worth knowing
  • Visa-free entry cannot be converted into work authorisation from inside the country. If you are being hired, the employer must run the permit process and you must enter on the right visa.
  • Registration of place of stay is compulsory within three WORKING days of arrival. Hotels do it automatically through the electronic system, which is exactly why people who move from a hotel into a rented flat miss it — the obligation restarts and the landlord may not know it is theirs. File it yourself on my.gov.uz if in doubt.
  • Around 90 countries — including the US from 1 January 2026, the UK, EU states, Japan, Australia, South Korea and the GCC — have visa-free entry for up to 30 days, with longer terms under some bilateral agreements. Everyone else uses the e-visa at e-visa.gov.uz, typically three to five business days.
  • Standard personal income tax is a flat 12% for residents and non-residents alike, plus a 1% employee pension contribution; employers pay social tax on top at 12% in the private sector.
Sources:my.gov.uz — government services for foreigners (registration, work permits, PINFL)Uzbekistan official e-visa portal
InvestmentLow confidenceVerified August 2026

Residence permit through new-build residential property

Buyers of newly-built residential real estate who want a residence permit rather than repeated visa renewals.

What you need
  • Purchase of new residential property at or above a regional value threshold
  • Thresholds are region-tiered — highest in Tashkent, lower in the historic and regional cities, lowest elsewhere
  • Title registered and the purchase evidenced through the banking system
How long it lasts
Issued as a residence permit and renewed; the permit is tied to continued ownership.
Path to permanent residence
This is the mainstream permanent-residence route in Uzbekistan for people without family ties.
Cost
The property. Published thresholds have run in the region of USD 300,000 in Tashkent, USD 200,000 in Samarkand, Bukhara and several regional centres, and USD 100,000 elsewhere — verify the current figures, they are set by decree and have been revised.
Processing time
Weeks after title registration.
Worth knowing
  • Foreigners can buy property below these thresholds; the thresholds are what buys the RESIDENCE PERMIT, not what buys the flat. Two different rules that get conflated constantly.
  • It is new-build residential stock that qualifies. Secondary-market purchases have historically not counted toward the permit.
  • A separate scheme from 1 June 2025 offers a five-year residence permit for a payment of USD 250,000 to the state, with each accompanying family member — spouse, child or parent — paying a further USD 150,000 for the same status. The per-head charge is the part that gets omitted, and it is what makes this the most expensive way into Uzbekistan for a family. It is distinct from both the property thresholds and the UP-180 tax regime, and the three are frequently merged into one imaginary programme in relocation coverage.
  • Currency rules were substantially liberalised from 2017 and the som is convertible, but large cross-border movements still attract bank documentation requirements. Bring the paper trail for the purchase funds.
Sources:my.gov.uz — government services for foreigners (registration, work permits, PINFL)
StudentMedium confidenceVerified August 2026

Student visa and residence

Students at Uzbek institutions, including the growing set of foreign branch campuses in Tashkent — Westminster, Inha, MDIS, Turin Polytechnic and others.

What you need
  • Admission to an accredited institution or branch campus
  • Institutional invitation supporting the visa application
  • Registration of place of stay through the university
How long it lasts
Aligned to the programme and renewed annually.
Path to permanent residence
Lawful residence, but not a designed route to permanence.
Cost
Visa fee plus tuition, which is low even by regional standards.
Processing time
Weeks after the invitation is issued.
Worth knowing
  • The branch campuses teach in English and are the reason Tashkent's international student population has grown quickly; local universities teach in Uzbek or Russian.
  • A student visa carries no work rights. Graduates who want to stay in tech should look at the IT Visa rather than trying to convert in place.
Sources:Uzbekistan official e-visa portalmy.gov.uz — government services for foreigners (registration, work permits, PINFL)
On the ground

Where you'd land in Uzbekistan

Tashkent

Central Asia's largest city — Soviet boulevards, a metro built as a bomb shelter, and the cheapest capital in the region.

Full Tashkent guide

Uzbekistan at a glance

Capital
Tashkent
Population
37.1M
Languages
Uzbek, Russian
Currency
UZS