Turkmenistan is introducing an electronic visa (e-Visa) system that is expected to significantly ease entry procedures for foreign nationals and encourage more tourism and business travel, as reported by State Migration Service of Turkmenistan on Thursday.

Yusup Odeyev, deputy head of the education department at the State Migration Service of Turkmenistan, made the announcement at the international forum “Peace, Sustainable Development, and Migration,” held in Ashgabat. He said the new system was part of recent amendments to the country’s migration law adopted in April.

Under the changes, an e-Visa is defined as a document issued electronically via the State Migration Service’s digital platform, according to a report by the Agency for Transport and Communications under the Cabinet of Ministers published Saturday.

“The introduction of electronic visas will be an important step in simplifying visa procedures and modernizing the country’s migration system,” Odeyev said during his remarks at the conference.

He also noted that Turkmenistan is exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and next-generation analytics platforms to further improve its migration system.

According to Odeyev, AI could enhance the country’s capabilities in automatic migration flow analysis, facial recognition, biometric data processing, and risk assessment based on big data.

The event gathered representatives of government migration agencies from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Experts from countries with advanced regional migration practices — including Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, and Türkiye — as well as international organizations also attended.