Rumors and visas

Azerbaijan doesn't have a free press (the country is #97 on a scale of 100, according to a map I saw at the Newseum this summer). In a country without a free press, people rely on rumors. It's the same way at my school, unfortunately--we hear rumors about things going on in the larger community that affect us personally, but we hear nothing officially.

Azerbaijan has been issuing 30-day tourist visas to visitors at the airport. A rumor went around that the 30 days had been decreased to 7, but the school wouldn't confirm or deny. "It's a rumor," was all we were told.

Well, it's true. And it affected a lot of teachers who were expecting family and friends to visit during fall break. My friend Eileen's parents were coming from Ireland for 9 days. They were forced to leave within a week or pay $600 each to stay the extra two days. It was cheaper for them to pay to change their flights and leave sooner. (and while Eileen may be READY for them to leave after 7 days, it's still a disappointment!) Some friends and family cancelled altogether.

The latest rumor is that Azerbaijan will no longer allow visas to be obtained upon arrival at the airport, no exceptions. No one can come in as a visitor/tourist without an official letter of invitation. This is allegedly because of upcoming elections--the government wants to prevent outside observers from monitoring the elections in November. (In Ukraine, observers regularly come from other countries to monitor elections, and a good thing, after what happened to Yushchenko in 2004.) But...that's another rumor.

Oh, these wacky ex-Soviet countries! Fall break begins on Saturday and I have a flight to Germany at 7 a.m. Because I came in on a now-expired tourist visa and still hadn't received a resident visa, I might not be able to get back to Azerbaijan from Germany after the break. Frankly, I wasn't that worried about getting back IN, it was the getting OUT that concerned me. (I just read an amazing book "The Forsaken", about Americans who believed Soviet propaganda during the depression and emigrated to the USSR, some to work in Henry Ford's plant. They all ended up in the gulag.)

On Monday, the business office took my passport (or "confiscated" it, as I'm now thinking), claiming it was needed to obtain my resident visa. And I would have my passport back, along with the resident visa, by Friday. Friday afternoon at latest. Maybe Friday evening. But before flight Saturday morning. Yes, will have it. Driver will bring to flat. Stay in flat, don't leave.

Okay, whatever you say. The woman in the business office is a lovely person and she's not the one causing the problems--it's systemic.

It was an enormous relief today to receive my passport along with my resident card. I'm now here legally! and I can prove it if a cop stops and questions me! although that's not likely because of my skin color!

So I'm off to Germany on Saturday, should be able to get out and in. No updates on what's really happening with visitors and visas, just rumors.