When my husband, my son and I planned our trip to Azerbaijan, we decided that it would be a good idea to combine it with Georgia and Armenia, as they were near each other and the travel time between them wasn’t substantial. The plan was to spend 4 nights in Baku, then move closer to the Balakan-Lagodekhi border and spend 2 nights in Sheki, after which we would cross over to Georgia and spend 6 nights there. From Georgia, we would do a day trip to Armenia, as well as other local day trips.
Most people in Azerbaijan that we discussed our plan with told us that the land border was closed. However, I had been reading related blog posts and social media posts and was aware that people were allowed to cross into Georgia from Azerbaijan via land, but not vice-versa.
Azerbaijan border
We booked a taxi from Sheki to the border for 80 AZN. We probably overpaid but we wanted the comfort and peace of mind, even though cheaper options, like minibuses were available too. We left at 8 am and got to the border at 09:40 just behind a large Chinese tour group. They were sent through the gates then the guard asked us for our passports, Azerbaijani and Georgian visas (we didn’t need these) and Georgia hotel booking. He looked at them for a while then said we could go through.
We walked up a corridor, with our heavy bags then into an area where our bags were scanned. Again, they asked us for the same documents, then eventually stamped our passports and told us to go through. This took a while.
Thereafter, we had to walk up another long corridor in no man’s land between the two countries, then into the Georgian office where they looked at our passports and told us to stand aside while they allowed other tour groups to go through.
The officers approached us and asked us tons of questions. They wanted to see our Azerbaijani visas, Georgian visas (they didn’t know that South Africans didn’t need these), hotel bookings, tour bookings, travel insurance, cash on hand and even our bank accounts. They even asked to speak to the taxi driver on the Georgian side who we had booked through Gotrip. It was as if they were looking for a reason to deny us entry.
No-man's land
After a long while they called us to the counter, and asked us to look into their cameras, made us sit again for a while then called us back again. Note that the officers did not speak English, and most communication was done through Google Translate.
One of the officers spoke into his phone and showed us the translation, which said that we had been denied entry into Georgia. We asked why and he just responded that we could appeal without telling us why. It was clear that they were just being difficult.
We were shocked. I had been to 50 countries, my husband 46, and my son 31. We had several approved Schengen visas, and US visas and this was the first time that we had ever been denied entry into any country. Georgia and Armenia would have been Countries No. 51 and 52 for me. We could not go directly to Armenia as they do not have diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan, and the land borders are closed. There are no direct flights between the two either.
Gerogia Border
While waiting for our passports, we Googled to see if there was a South African embassy in Georgia. There wasn’t. I found a Georgian embassy in South Africa and emailed them. They haven’t bothered to reply until now. It was clear that this was not going anywhere so I cancelled our Booking.com hotel bookings and tours, which were fortunately also cancellable. The driver who had been waiting for us on the Georgian side for 2 hours, had to be cancelled too.
They gave us some documents that said that we were denied entry for “Unspecified Reasons” and told us to go back to Azerbaijan. We walked back down the corridor and came out on the other side. The whole process took 3.5 hours.
We sat down for a few minutes on the roadside to think about our next steps and decided to stay in Balakan –the nearest town to the border – for the night. There was no accommodation on Booking.com for Balakan, but we found something in Zaqatala, the next town.
Once we settled down at the hotel, we had to change our Emirates tickets to leave from Baku at an additional cost of R4800. We hadn’t lost money on the hotel and tour bookings but we did lose money on our Armenia visas as well as travelling to the border and back to Baku. Weeks of researching Georgia and Armenia and planning an itinerary had also gone down the drain.
I still feel angry every time I think about it. The border post was quite busy and there were bus loads of tourists going through. Only we were sent back. It would have helped if we knew why our visas were denied. I suspect that it may have been a case of racial profiling.
Fortunately, Azerbaijan welcomed us back again. However, I am so disappointed in Georgia.
Have you ever been denied entry into a country? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
Sara Essop is a travel blogger and writer based in South Africa. She writes about family travel and experiences around the world. Although she has been to 50 countries thus far, she especially loves showcasing her beautiful country and is a certified South Africa Specialist.
I recently visited Georgia, and my visa was too rejected the first time I applied without any specific reason. I reapplied and got the visa. But, all my bookings in Azerbaijan and Georgia had to be canceled and postponed. It was a pain in the ass.
My husband and I had a similar experience on Sept 21, 2024. We flew into Yerevan for a week, and had arranged for a Gotrip transfer to Tbilisi. When we got to the Georgia side of the border we were given a very hard time. We had everything printed. Banking statements, accommodation and vehicle rental, onward flights, insurance etc etc. They asked how many USD we had, so we said our that currency is ZAR not USD. They wanted to know how much cash we have on us, so we said we can only draw Lari once we enter Georgia. All very bizarre. We were each made to stand in a corner a few meters apart. No communication as to what the problem was. We had waited for about an hour when suddenly the one lady called me, stamped my passport and let me through. Then shortly after my husband was also let through. While we were waiting plenty of people were let through with no issue. When we flew back from Tbilisi on Oct 8,we were also treated very strangely at airport security. Once again they split us up. I was pat down all over, my bag scanned an searched. My husband was also made to wait for some time before he could take his bag. At passport control the lady also glared at the screen for a long time before she stamped us out. No one else had the same treatment while we were at security. We are regular mom and pop travelers in our mid 50s. We could not comprehend why we would be profiled like that. Especially not when leaving the country. I am sorry that you were denied entry. Now I know how close we came. Laura Myburgh
I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I wonder if they have something against South Africans in general.
Goodness, that sounds stressful and so very inconvenient. Thank you for sharing your story so that others are able to find information if they run into similar problems in the future!
This sounds really awful! Never knew that would happen when entering Georgia, found the land borders in Georgia very uncomplicated. For similar reasons, I did not visit Artsakh when In Armenia, although I would have absolutely loved to... I knew Azerbaijan and Armenia aren't exactly on speaking terms but I was under the impression that Georgia's borders were pretty easy. Did you ever find out why? Did you try flying into Georgia after this?
We also thought it was uncomplicated until this happened to us. We never found out why and probably never will. It appears that they do this often according to Google. And we didn't try flying in because we would have risked losing even more money.
Wow, what an experience. It's hard to fathom that they couldn't give you a reason.
Ugh, what an unfortunate and frustrating experience! It is always harder when things happen without a clear reason. Good to flag for future travelers.
Wow, how stressful! It's crazy that they could just deny you without a specific reason. I'm sorry that happened, I would be angry too! Luckily I've never been denied entry, although I've had quite a lot of stressful visa obtaining situations which made me lose money (like having to miss a flight into Vietnam because my visa didn't arrive in time).
Sorry they denied you entry; it sounds like a miserable experience, made all the worse by not even knowing why they denied you entry.