Myanmar (aka Burma), back at the beginnig of September, launched an eVisa program!  At the beginning of October extended the number of eligible countries.

To apply for your Myanmar Tourist Visa you simply go to official Myanmar eVisa website.   Make sure you read the Notice to Tourists page which has all the info you need to know, including which countries are eligible.

So what do you need to apply?

• A passport with 6 months validity
• A recent colour photo (passport style) – needs to be smaller than 2MB
• A credit card to make payment of $US50

The process.  Seems simple but a few wee gotchas and this will depend on your personal situation.  First item I got caught on was place of birth.  I am a New Zealand citizen but I was born in the UK – simple right, just pick UK from the list but thats the problem – there six choices for the United Kingdom.  I think United Kingdom National (Overseas) sounds most likely.

Next question I got stuck on was address in Myanmar – we are on a guided tour and start and end at the same hotel so maybe that address?

Then, Are you travelling with a package tour?  Well yes we are… they want the Agency Name & Contact Number – not sure if I put the travel agency I book through or the tour company – I guess the later but I can’t find an overseas contact number for them.

Emailed our travel agent for some hints…

So once we got the answers to all of the above, it was fairly straight forward.  One thing to note – be sure to check the form carefully before continuing through to hte payment – it switched my place of birth back to New Zealand at some point so I had to edit it and go back and reselect my country of birth (I went with UK National – Overseas).

Payment was quick and the email confirmation arrived before I had closed the windows following the process.   It could take up to 5 working days so fingers crossed!

** Quick update on the above, the confirmation email came back within 3 working days.  You need to print the confirmation to take with you to Burma.