David Lee
Guest
I hope this may be of interest to anyone trying a loop around the Mediterranean.
Just back from a business trip to Tripoli and had a bit of a run around getting a visa.
The problem stems from the 'tit for tat' nature between countries when it comes to letting their Nationals visit.
UK seems to have introduced some hurdles for Libyan nationals to jump over and therefore Libya has reciprocated.
End result is that there are new formalities that you only find out the hard way when you have queued up at the Libyan Embassy for a couple of hours and as the Embassy only accepts visa applications between 10.00 & 11.00 Mon.Tue & Wed it can cause a lot of delays and wasted time.
What I found out is:
You need an Arabic translation of your passport. This is done by means of a stamp on a full blank page which then has your passport details written in on it in Arabic. There is a pleasant bloke who hangs around the queue offering this service for a fee. Take advantage of him or get it done locally before applying. I also had a translation company give me an A4 translation as well. This was not acceptable at the Embassy but was very useful when I emailed it to the company that I wanted to visit in Libya.
You need a current bank statement. They keep this ! I got away with just one month but my colleague gave over 3 months worth and they kept all of his.
You MUST go in person as they do a face photo/retina scan and fingerprint you at the time of application.
You need 4 passport size photo's.
The official website for the Embassy : http://www.libyan-embassy.co.uk/
shows the standard info they require and you can download the application form from here.
The staff at the Embassy are very polite and quite helpfull.Go in with a positive attitude and be patient.
I already had the company I wanted to visit register me with the authorities in Tripoli and issue an Immegration number, this is a 6 number reference which I then stated on the visa application form.
Hope this helps anyone trying to get into Libya. It's a great place once you are there. Very safe, very nice polite people and very interesting.
Make the effort, you will be well rewarded for it.
Regards Dave
Just back from a business trip to Tripoli and had a bit of a run around getting a visa.
The problem stems from the 'tit for tat' nature between countries when it comes to letting their Nationals visit.
UK seems to have introduced some hurdles for Libyan nationals to jump over and therefore Libya has reciprocated.
End result is that there are new formalities that you only find out the hard way when you have queued up at the Libyan Embassy for a couple of hours and as the Embassy only accepts visa applications between 10.00 & 11.00 Mon.Tue & Wed it can cause a lot of delays and wasted time.
What I found out is:
You need an Arabic translation of your passport. This is done by means of a stamp on a full blank page which then has your passport details written in on it in Arabic. There is a pleasant bloke who hangs around the queue offering this service for a fee. Take advantage of him or get it done locally before applying. I also had a translation company give me an A4 translation as well. This was not acceptable at the Embassy but was very useful when I emailed it to the company that I wanted to visit in Libya.
You need a current bank statement. They keep this ! I got away with just one month but my colleague gave over 3 months worth and they kept all of his.
You MUST go in person as they do a face photo/retina scan and fingerprint you at the time of application.
You need 4 passport size photo's.
The official website for the Embassy : http://www.libyan-embassy.co.uk/
shows the standard info they require and you can download the application form from here.
The staff at the Embassy are very polite and quite helpfull.Go in with a positive attitude and be patient.
I already had the company I wanted to visit register me with the authorities in Tripoli and issue an Immegration number, this is a 6 number reference which I then stated on the visa application form.
Hope this helps anyone trying to get into Libya. It's a great place once you are there. Very safe, very nice polite people and very interesting.
Make the effort, you will be well rewarded for it.
Regards Dave
