VISA REGIMES AND REGULATORY DOCUMENTS AS AN OBSTACLE FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL ASIA - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 241

requirements for movement by citizens from border regions. The intro-
duction of visas significantly complicated the relationship between Kyr-
gyzstan and Uzbekistan and the movement of citizens, particularly in the
Fergana Basin with a number of extraterritorialities, enclaves, etc. This
was reflected in restrictions on movement between the two countries. Au-
tomobiles and busses from Kyrgyzstan, for example, were allowed only
sporadic entry to the country in the Uzbekistan enclave of Soch and had to
go around the enclave using a dusty roadway which prolonged the trip and
made it more expensive. At the same time, intercity busses and minibusses
from Osh to Jalalabad or northern areas of the Fergana Basin which, prior
to that time, had been entered routinely by traveling through Uzbek terri-
tory, now had to be gotten to via a long detour.
As regards Uzbekistan-Tajikistan relationships, this action continued
to deepen the isolation of both countries. By the end of the 1990s, direct
transport connections between the two countries (in terms of direct flights,
railway connections or bus connections) were canceled. The only excep-
tion consisted of some rail transit links (Dushanbe-Moscow, Dushanbe-
Khudzhand) where Tajikistan citizens have no right to step foot on Uzbek
soil.
COMPLICATIONS IN ACQUIRING VISAS FOR CENTRAL ASIA
Since 2008, when Kyrgyzstan unified conditions for the issuance of visas,
virtually all citizens of countries outside the CIS have required a valid visa
for entry into any Central Asian state. With regard to the paucity of direct
connections between Central Asian countries (with a few exceptions) and
the need for transfers at borders with thorough passport checks, it is no
longer a realistic possibility to enter/exit without a visa, even taking cor-
ruption into account.
With the significant current differences in visa issue policies, it is in-
teresting to take a look at shifts in the visa policies of individual Central
Asian countries to see how they correlate with the nature of the regime.
As has been noted, in general terms visa issuance rules have been sta-
bilized, as has their actual implementation at various locations (border
checkpoints, etc.).