If you’re 55 or over, Uzbekistan is happy to have you

Uzbekistan has announced it will grant visa-free travel for citizens of 27 countries. But there’s a catch — for 12 of those countries, you must be 55 or over to qualify.

If you’re a citizen of Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, the USA or Vietnam (and China if travelling in a group) and fancy having a Silk Road adventure during your golden years, you’re in luck. Quite why Uzbekistan’s officials have such a predilection for the slightly more mature holidaymaker is at this point anyone’s guess.

Good news for younger explorers from Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain and Switzerland — tourists from these countries will be able to stay in Uzbekistan for 30 days without a visa, regardless of age.

The new rules, which were agreed on Tuesday, will come into effect on 1 April 2017. In an official statement, the Uzbek government affirmed that visa-free travel was being introduced “in order to create favourable economic and institutional conditions for intensive development of tourism”.

Source: Telegraph