visa on arrival

[B_o_G_A]

I was wondering if anyone has had any recent experience with attaining a visa to enter Tunisia at chartage airport.

Basically the situation is im travelling to Tunisia (i hold both tunisian and australian passport) however i have a friend who will be visiting for 10 days while im over there and she only holds an Australian passport. she is abit anxious about the idea of getting a visa at the airport mainly because its the first time she will travel alone and she has never been to tunisia plus she doesnt speak french or arabic.

so if anyone could let me know how long it takes to get the visa? whether its easy to communicate with the staff? the cost?


any information would be greatly appreciated

[pej]

Hi, another member on site, the Big Burp, is also Australian and described her visa situation in a post under General Discussion - Is there a Tunisian Community in Australia? or something similar is the name of that thread. She says she must always apply for visa in the airport in Tunisia. She has not mentioned the cost, only that they want payment in Tunisian dinars and that it does take about 1,5 hours... why don't you post a question for her?

[B_o_G_A]

hi pej,

thanks for the reply. i actually responded to big burps post but some how totally missed that she mentioned her experience... wooops

thanks for pointing that out hopefully big burp might be able to give me some insight

kind regards.

[the big burp]

hi boga...havent been online for a while.
ive been to tunisia many times and got a visa on arrival with no problem.
ive just gone to the stand with the sign saying visa and asked in english for a visa...but be prepared to wait a looooonnnngggg time...every time its taken me about 1 to 1.5 hrs to get a visa on arrival (ive been 3 or 4 times)
unfortunately they only accept tunisian dinar for the visa and price is now 35 dinar for a 1 month visa (price rose from 3 dinar about 2 yrs ago so as far as i know from the last time i went to tunisia, ca. 1 yr ago, it was 35 dinar).
i always brought enough tunisian cash with me to pay for the visa but the first time i went to tunisia i didnt have any tunisian cash. the border control/immigration officer let me through passport control to the money changer where i changed my euros for tunisian dinar (no idea if they accept aussie $$, ive only ever taken euros or usd to tunisia) he did follow me there and waited for me and led me back in where i paid and waited. but dont worry the tunisians are pretty laid back so just be prepared to sit and wait, you may find some nice ppl waiting for visas too, but all will be done much quicker than the aussie visa *sigh* (theyre arabs who just needs some basic visa stamp and dont need to pay).

[B_o_G_A]

hey thx for the info

iv never had to deal with the visa issue when i go back so the info was very helpful. i think i wll just try and arrange my friends visa before she leaves australia..lol 1.5 hours that is a long wait!

[the big burp]

yes getting the visa beforehand would be best...dunno where you can get that done tho.
yes 1.5hrs is a looong wait, my hubby brought a friend along the last time i went to tunisia and his friend was saying to my hubby... is she coming...are you sure shes really coming, lol.
when are you off to tunisia? what part are you going to? do you speak fluent arabic? or just french being a first generation aussie tunisian. would you have any tips for my hubby when he eventually get his visa for aus to help him settle into life here better?

[B_o_G_A]

im going to try via tokyo.

im heading off in 6 weeks and im orginally form down south however i wont be there the whole time as im going to try and give my friend a tour of tunisia plus we are going to do some travelling through europe cant wait!

i actually cant speak french but im fluent in arabic. as for advice its kind of hard as i have lived here all my life so his experience will be totally different.
i would say try and find some good tunisian people so at least he wont be too home sick. but all in all im sure he will love it here and will fit in ok. tunisians are resilient and can adapt pretty well

p.s

i sent u a PM