Visa Stuffs
PLEASE NOTE: Do NOT just try to turn up to Myanmar without having sorted out some sort of visa first, you will be lucky if you even make it onto the plane and will be outright refused entry when you arrive.
My experience
As a British national, I got a 28 day visa for the total price of $45 Singapore dollars, and it took less than 24hours. Easy.
In Singapore you do have to make an ‘appointment’ on the Myanmar Embassy in Singapore website before applying for your visa however this appointment time doesn’t really mean much and you will still need to turn up at 8.30am and stand in line to be seen regardless of when your appointment is. Be sure to arrive before 11.30am as they stop taking applications after this time.
I was able to pick up my full passport page visa the same afternoon :).
What you need for a Tourist Visa:…..
2 passport photos
Filled in Tourist Visa application form
Online appointment letter
Passport
Visa Fee of $35 Singapore dollars
Application fee of $10 Singapore dollars
There are many rumours about needing all sorts of documents such as birth certificate, bank statements, business cards etc, I didn’t find this to be true.
It is a good idea to check with each embassy as they may have their own rules, so for example if you are applying for your visa in Bangkok, be sure to do a little bit of pre-research.
Tourist Visa on Arrival
Well la-de-da this is new! What an open and accepting country you are becoming Myanmar. Sarcasm off.
But really, this is no longer just a story, since September 2014 you really CANget a tourist visa on arrival, although it’s slightly more complicated than it sounds and still requires some pre-planning before you arrive.
You must apply online through the official government visa website, evisa.moip.gov.mm. Be warned it can take up to 5 days to process and you do need to wait for an approval letter before you go on your merry way.
The Tourist Visa on Arrival costs $50 US and you need to have the approval letter printed out to show to officials when you arrive.
I personally haven’t used this method before so if it doesn’t work I take no responsibility, just letting you know the options so you can look into it for yourself. My personal opinion would be that if you are somewhere with an Embassy, especially Singapore, then just do it in person, couldn’t be easier!
edit: as of January 2016 it is still not possible to use the eVisa route when entering Myanmar via a land border for example from Thailand. But don’t let that stop you, it’s really easy to get a regular Myanmar Visa before you go from Chiang Mai.
