We crossed the Georgia Azerbaijan border towards Azerbaijan at the Lagodekhi crossing on August 28th 2016. This is the smaller of the two border crossings between Georgia and Azerbaijan. We had Azerbaijan visa from the embassy in Tbilisi.
Georgian side
Border and customs clearance went smoothly. Could stay in the car. Friendly officers wished us a good onward journey. Did not take a look at the vehicle.
loading map - please wait...
Azerbaijani side
They issued a small piece of paper for our vehicle at the gate right behind the river. Then we drove down to the main buildings. We stopped the car in one of the two control lanes. An officer immediately took our passport and the vehicle documents. A customs officer checked the vehicle quickly. Then he told us to go to the border police window. Up to here very friendly.
A grumpy officer went through all the passports he got from his colleague. He called our names, we approached, a photo was taken and our visa stamped. So far so good.
We approached the window on the left side of the door because that is what everybody else was doing. We could see our vehicle documents on the desk. After finishing the man in front of us, the young officer takes a long look at our documents. He says that our vehicle cannot enter the country since it does not comply with Euro 4 exhaust gas norms. The only option is paying a deposit of US$ 10,000, which we refuse. He would not give us a 72 hour permit either, since this is only for transit purposes and we did not have an onward visa. We asked repeatedly if there was any other option. He denied. AT least corruption does not seem to be a problem here!
Leaving the vehicle behind
We decided to visit Azerbaijan without our Landcruiser, Willie. But they would not allow us to park it at the border building, instead we should park it back in Georgia. The problem was, that our visa were already stamped and they could not give us an exit stamp, as this would have made our visa invalid. They came up with the solution that one of us has to stay there and the other one should go to Georgia and park the car. So we packed our backpack and Heiner left for Georgia, where he parked Willie right beyond the Georgian checkpoint. There are residential buildings, a shop and a cafe on the opposite side of the street. It appeared to be safe. Entering Georgia was, once again, hassle free. So was entering Azerbaijan on foot. After 4 hours at the border, we finally arrived in Azerbaijan.
One week later
Crossing from the other side went smoothly. Willie was waiting for us unscathed.
We had heard of that ridiculous import rule, but we had also read contradictory statements whether it was still in place. At least at the Lagodekhi border, this rule is rigorously enforced. If you were lucky and they allowed you to enter with a less-than-Euro-4 vehicle on any border in Azerbaijan, please leave a comment!
I entered Azerbaijan in 2010 from Iran at Astara, in 2014 from Iran at Jolfa and in 2015 from Georgia at Shixli, in a Euro 0 Toyota 4×4 (which, for example, I can’t drive into many German cities because of ridiculous eco rules). I never heard about any issue regarding eco regulations in Azerbaijan, so I guess perhaps it is new. In 2010 and 2014 I had no onward visa because my next country for transit was respectively Georgia and Turkey. In 2015 I did have an onward visa for Russia.
Perhaps they are trying to stop people using transit visas when they are not actually transiting the country. Did you tell them your intention was to return to Georgia? If so, this was a mistake, as you are then violating the principle of a transit visa.
Will be interesting to see if this new rule is really enforced at all borders.
Hey,
were you always just transiting? 72 hours for transit is definitely always possible. But we were on a tourist visa and wanted to stay for more than 72 hours.
I think, the rule is in place since 2012. But the enforcement seems to be random to a certain degree. Just heard of a German couple in a VW T3 that made it into Azerbaijan without issues. Some people are lucky, but you cannot count on that and should have a plan B ready..
Cheers
We arrived the November the 3rd 2016. Coming from Iran. No problem at all, read my blogpost for details:
http://www.edvervanzijnbed.nl/en/europe/azerbaijan/driving-through-azerbaijan/
Wow, lucky you! Obviously, we just entered too early before the new regulations were released. 🙁
We hope, you enjoy the caucasus as much as we did!
Thanks for the info and update from your post!
May 2019
I had a driver from Tbilsi take me to the border (200GEL). I walked across – no problem as I had Az-Visa which I got on-line before leaving USA. There are steps going downhill into Azerbaijan but there is a ramp if you have rolling luggage.
BUT AZ customs confiscated a CD with Armenian church music and an empty shopping bag with logo of Armenian brandy. Georgian purchases were OK. My AZ driver met me as planned and had a great 4 days in Azerbaijan.
Thanks for sharing your recent experience, Ernest!