Syria Travel Guide
Visa summary
This guide is complete, but Syria does not yet have passport-by-status visa data in the live visa_rules dataset. The written guide and border notes below remain the best current source for this destination.
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Guide
Syria requires an entry visa for essentially all foreign and Arab visitors, arriving by air or overland, with one specific and short list of exceptions, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen, who can bypass visa application fees and requirements entirely. Everyone else needs prior entry approval before arriving at Damascus International Airport, taking 3 days to a week for non-restricted nationalities, and up to a full month for a long list of restricted nationalities that includes India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Nepal, Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Libya, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Ghana, Chad, Guinea, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Russia, and North Korea. Visa fees, ranging roughly from 25 to 400 US dollars depending on nationality, duration, and number of entries, are paid in cash on arrival, under rules in force since 6 July 2025.
Two nationalities face an outright ban regardless of any application, Iranian and Israeli citizens are not permitted to enter Syria at all, and any passport carrying a stamp showing a visit to Israel results in rejection for anyone, not just those two nationalities. Given how recently Syria's political situation has shifted, this guide's sources did not provide a current, comprehensive security advisory picture, and given how quickly conditions can change here, check your own government's latest guidance directly rather than relying on any secondhand summary, including this one.
Border crossings
- Damascus International Airport
The main entry point, where prior entry approval, processed in advance and taking anywhere from 3 days to a month depending on nationality, is checked alongside the cash visa fee.
Transit routes
- Apply for entry approval well ahead if your nationality is on the restricted list
Up to a month of processing time, a genuinely long lead time compared to most countries in this guide.
- Bring cash in the right currency and amount for your specific nationality's fee
The 25 to 400 dollar range depends on several factors, confirm your own figure rather than assuming the low end.
Entry point notes
- Iranian and Israeli citizens cannot enter under any circumstances
A flat prohibition, not something a visa application can work around.
- Check your government's current advisory directly
The political situation here has changed rapidly and recently, treat any secondhand security summary, this one included, as a starting point rather than the final word.