An Asian country may open up for visa-free travel for Americans
A presidential decree orders government to create a visa-free travel period.
While most countries making up the European Union have been offering American tourists visa-free entry for decades, many Asian countries take a stricter approach to who gets to cross their borders.
Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia are among the nations that allow Americans to come for short visits bearing only a passport. And China recently relaxed its visa rules to no longer require prebooked flights and accommodations and to expand its "72/144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy" commonly used by cruise visitors. All of this is part of a tourism-boosting pilot program that gives citizens of many European countries 30 days of entirely visa-free access.
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Wanted to visit Uzbekistan? New visa changes could soon make it much easier
The latest country to weigh easing its visa rules for Americans is the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan.
With a population of just under 36 million, the country, prior to 1991, was under the Soviet Union. Uzbekistan has always been a popular destination for visitors from nearby countries but has lately seen a spike in faraway visitors. Statistics from its government show a record 10.2 million international visitors in 2024.
Related: China latest to warn citizens of U.S. travel
In a May 15 decree, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered his parliamentary lawmakers to develop a framework in which American citizens can come to the country for 30 days without a visa.
The Uzbek government had granted American citizens over the age of 55 30 days of a visa-free period in 2021, but everyone else needs to apply for a tourist visa at an embassy or consulate. Image source: Shutterstock
'A critical sphere in the country's economic development'
"In the goals of bringing about further development of the tourism industry as a critical sphere in the country's economic development, a radical increase in tourists, and the creation of new tourist sites and business opportunities, I decree [government] to determine key target indicators for the tourism sector by the end of 2025," Mirziyoyev's decree reads in translation.
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Other points in the order instruct the Uzbek government to aim to bring the total number of international visitors to 15.8 million and construct 108 new hotels and 375 guest houses in different regions of the country.
As citizens of Western nations like the UK, Canada, and most EU countries are already granted a 30-day visa-free period for visiting Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev specifically singled out the United States as a country he wants to see added to the list.
Middle Eastern nations Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman will be granted visa-free entry from June 1, while lawmakers have also been ordered to create a pathway for citizens of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Russia to be able to come as tourists with just their national ID cards rather than passports.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall begin negotiations within three months and, based on their results, make proposals on the introduction of a visa-free entry regime into the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan for citizens of the United States of America for a period of 30 days, as well as on the easing of visa requirements for entry of citizens," the document reads.
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