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Is it true that conductors (meaning train staff, NOT border police) on the Tajik train from Moscow to Dushanbe (which I'm going to take to Kazakhstan) check if you have the proper visa for the destination? According to the RZD Website, Russian conductors don't have the authority, but this is a Tajik-operated train.

I've heard that many conductors assume any non-CIS national needs a visa.

If they do check, I know I need to print out official info in Russian stating that I don't need a visa for Kazakhstan.

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    I really believe you are not the first ever passanger to use that train from Russia to Kazakhstan without a visa (Russian citizens do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan), so I think that conductors will not have anything against you not having visa.
    – Petr
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 13:52
  • Unless the Tajik government puts an obligation on the rail operator to ensure passengers have the appropriate visa (as the USA does with airlines), then I doubt they'd bother.
    – jacoman891
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 14:39
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    Can't say anything else rather than in other your question. Conductors still can ask you for a visa just to save themselves from a troubles on border. They have no authority to check the visa validity, but they still will ask about it to clarify, are you sure that you have rights to travel in different country.
    – VMAtm
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 15:01
  • @Petr From what I've heard many conductors tend to assume any non-CIS national (in other words passport that they're not used to) Needs a visa
    – Crazydre
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 16:20
  • @Crazydre would you mind converting this comment of yours to an answer, I think it would be extremely useful for others as an answer in itself, I fear as a comment it would be buried and overlooked by many.
    – mts
    Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 13:31

2 Answers 2

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Here I am. Probably too late now for you, but perhaps useful for others. Print out the official confirmation that you do not need a visa, and you can explain it to them.

For the record, I had someone going Dushanbe-Moscow and nobody could figure out if he needed the Turkmen transit visa. He gambled and went without, nobody stopped him getting in, but at the Turkmen border, he got kicked off the train.

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    Hi Steven, didn't know you were active here as well :D Well, I forgot to bring it. The Tajik staff didn't care at all, whereas the Russian conductor did ask for a Kazakh visa, I simply said, in Russian "Swedish passport, 15 days maximum, no Kazakh visa", whereby he eventually got tired of me and left me in peace. The Russian border guards didn't care either - they were more focused on grilling me US-style (using a Kazakh girl as an Interpreter) in regards to where I was going, why I was making this trip, if I was going to ISIS land (basically), how I could afford this trip, etc.
    – Crazydre
    Commented Aug 28, 2016 at 13:55
  • I see..good to know! Blackbird invited me back here, so here I am, but it seems you have already cleaned up here, so no more questions to answer! I will just stick to Caravanistan and leave this bit of internet up to you :-)
    – Caravanistan
    Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 5:36
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    @Caravanistan please stick around, while some of us (including me) did answer some questions here (at least me mostly citing your site), you are still the #1 source of knowledge and it would be great to have your valuable answers around, also when you are not the first to answer. Cheers and +1 in any case :)
    – mts
    Commented Aug 30, 2016 at 13:29
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UPDATE:

I forgot to bring the confirmation. The Tajik staff didn't care at all, whereas the Russian conductor (who entered my compartment about 4 hours into the trip) did ask for a Kazakh visa, I simply kept saying, in the little Russian I know "Swedish passport, 15 days maximum, no Kazakh visa", whereby he eventually got tired of me and left me in peace.

The Russian border guards didn't care either - they were more focused on grilling me US-style (using a Kazakh girl as an Interpreter) in regards to where I was going, why I was making this trip, if I was going to ISIS land (basically), how I could afford this trip, etc.

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