Afghanistan

Government advisories

• ☐ United States: level 4/4 — Level 4: Do Not Travel
• ☐ United Kingdom: level 4/4
• ☐ Canada: level 4/4 — Avoid all travel

Health notices

• ☐ Global Polio (level 2)
• ☐ Global Measles (level 1)

Entry requirements

☐ Citizens of all countries require a travel visa to visit Afghanistan. The only case allowing visa free access to ordinary passport holders is if the traveler was born in Afghanistan or to Afghan parents, including those born to at least one Afghan citizen parent or whose parent was born in Afghanistan. Since 2026, however, citizens of almost all countries of the world can obtain a visitor e-Visa online, with some exceptions.

Practical

• ☐ Plug type C/F, 220V — bring an adapter if yours differs
• ☐ Drives on the right
• ☐ Emergency (police): 119
• ☐ Emergency (ambulance): 112
• ☐ Emergency (fire): 119
• ☐ SIM: Mobile numbers in Afghanistan must always be dialled with all digits (10 digits, including a "0" prefixing the "70n" within Afghanistan), no matter where they are being called from. The 70n is a mobile prefix, not an "area code", as such and the third digit (the n part) denotes the original mobile network assigned. An example mobile number looks like <code>+93 700-202-496</code>.
• ☐ Money: The Afghani (AFN) is the currency of Afghanistan, denoted by the symbol "Afs" or "؋" (ISO code: AFN). The current version of the afghani was introduced in 2002, with 1 afghani equal to 1,000 of the previous afghanis.

Laws that could get a tourist arrested

• ☐ Public dress code for women — It is illegal for women to show their faces in public. Women are required to wear a niqab or burqa in all public places.
• ☐ Travel restrictions for women — Traveling without a mahram is considered risky and is possibly illegal.
• ☐ Homosexual activity — Any homosexual activity is punishable by harsh penalties, including death, under Afghan law.

Before you go

General trip-prep, not specific to Afghanistan — the same short list applies anywhere.

• ☐ Register with your embassy's traveler program if one exists
• ☐ Check your passport's validity and blank-page requirements on your destination's official entry-rules page
• ☐ Photograph/screenshot your passport, visa, and travel insurance documents
• ☐ Download offline maps for your destination
• ☐ Confirm your bank/card issuer knows you're traveling
• ☐ Check whether your phone plan needs a travel add-on or a local SIM