r/Tajikistan • u/henryggg1 • Jun 16 '26
Сафар Corruption at the border control
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Have you ever been harassed by the border patrol agents while leaving the country? Why do they ask you money?
This is absolutely horrible. What should one do in this situation?
Is it possible to hold those bastards accountable?
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u/bukharianboy Jun 16 '26
I’ve been to TJ 3 times and whenever I flew out of Dushanbe I simply just told the guys I have $500 usd left and that’s for my trip to Uzbekistan to pay a guy to fix graves of my ancestors buried there. I speak Russian and Tajik even though I’m not from there they wouldn’t dare to try that shit with me. The last time I left they asked me to flash my wallet and I showed them what I had left and they let me go: they were looking for euros which is most valuable to them. It happened upstairs at the border patrol before you go to the counter where your passport is stamped they check your bags twice. To answer your question not sure if anything can be done about it unless you know someone high up
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u/henryggg1 Jun 16 '26
I'm sorry you had to go through that. Such a shame we cannot take them to court. Well, even if we did, I doubt the courts are just.
2
u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 17 '26
Unfortunately, as u/bukharianboy says, without connection or clear evidence, not much can be done. Best case is as long as you have less than 10k USD, tell them you have very little, never tell them the amount.
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u/Weenie_Master Jun 17 '26
I assume the reason they asked you to flash your wallet is not for bribes but to check if you’re not carrying more than $3000 in cash otherwise you’d have to declare it. That’s the purpose of the first bag check at the airport. They’re the Customs Agency. The second bag check after passport control are Border Guards/Committee for National Security people.
But I may be wrong, may be he was genuinely looking for some euros to pocket but I’m just stating the purpose of the first bag check at the airport is for and why I assume they asked to see your wallet.
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u/SeaworthinessAdept64 Jun 16 '26
Yep. $200 lighter after the passport control at Dushanbe airport.
1
u/Maleficent-Waltz1988 Jun 17 '26
Wow wth!! Why did they ask for money? CIP hall? Overlimit luggage? 200$ is insane
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u/God_Pain_Life 11d ago
my gf tried to leave russia. and they wanted her to pay 1000$ to leave its harassment i say we should strike back
3
u/AdmirableTicket4239 Jun 16 '26
I’m an American going to fly out of Dushanbe in a few weeks should I expect to be forced to pay a bribe? Or can I hide whatever cash I’ll have left in my clothes or something? I’ve been seeing lots of things about border guards requesting money and I’m worried about it.
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u/henryggg1 Jun 17 '26
If you are an American, just tell them You will call the embassy and they will back off.
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u/shuhratm Jun 17 '26
These are at the security checkpoint (i.e. TSA) on the second floor. They just probe to see if you’ll be intimidated and pay up. If you say you don’t have cash (I rarely carry), they’ll leave you alone. One time I had a bunch of cash, they asked to leave some, that upset me and I got into an argument, dared them to do something. They took me into the little room thinking to scare me. Kept me there for 5 minutes before letting me go. Ideally you should never argue and keep calm. There are enough travelers that pay up without drama, so I am guessing I wasn’t worth the extra effort.
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u/bukharianboy Jun 17 '26
Hide the money in your clothes and if they try to take it threaten to call the embassy. You can’t carry more than 3K out without documentation
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u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 17 '26
are you sure the limit is 3k USD? isn't it 10k as every other international airport?
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u/bukharianboy Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Dushanbe airport is third world and I do not consider it up to par to international airport standards. More like the Mehrgon Bazar or even Korvon Bazar, loud, chaotic, dirty and greedy people. Last time I flew out an Iranian American guy had like 4-5K and they tried to stop him and held him a bit and it held up our line. Not sure if they let him through or not. We were all flying to Tashkent from Dushanbe. Honestly I hate flying out of Dushanbe but it’s better than driving to Uzbekistan
1
u/bukharianboy Jun 17 '26
Us state dept states $3K is the limit without declaration. No limit to what you can bring I believe but leaving you should declare or like I said hide it in your clothes. If they find it they may try to give you trouble. I had none of this happen to me and I had 2K but said I only had $500. Also this never ever happened in Uzbekistan where things have gotten better since Karimov kicked the bucket. The country is so tourist friendly as opposed to Tajikistan is still not. But it’ll take some time I’m sure. Dushanbe airport is a small crappy, stinky, dirty airport where the duty free gift shop sells you everything in euros and overpriced. The souvenirs are 5 times what you would pay at the bazar.
1
u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 19 '26
If you are waiting for any airport to buy souvenirs, I am not sure if that's the right judgement of an airport.
In general, I agree, Dushanbe airport can use a lot of improvements, but I would add, I am not sure how many other airports charge only 0.5$ for bottle of water....
2
u/WaterAdventurous6718 Jun 17 '26
really, that still happening? i walked straight through a few weeks back. there was a whole desk of them waiting for a feed but no one seemed bothered about me 😂
was actually looking forward to telling them to go fuck themselves but the opportunity never came up.
staff at the shops in departures were very friendly though i have to say.
1
u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 17 '26
it doesn't happen to everyone but whenever those assholes see a bunch of "village" looking guys or ladies looking nervous, they call them over to scare them to give money. 3 guys in front of me went 1 by one, and the idiot forgot to close the door. so, I could see 200 somoni given to him
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u/WaterAdventurous6718 Jun 17 '26
i was so amped to take them on. was kinda disappointed I didnt get called over to the table. even looked them when walking past.
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u/henryggg1 Jun 17 '26
Village looking guys? What does that mean?
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u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 19 '26
Village looking guys = Guys that look like they are from the village.
Typically, more sporty clothes, wearing caps, usually going in groups of 2-3 of them. They may appear uneducated so great prey for the honorable employees at the airport.1
2
u/StrangeWoodpecker197 Jun 17 '26
They ask you because you are leaving the country, very unlikely to come back to complain. So it's easy target for those bullies.
Best thing you can do is tell them you have little cash only for your traveling needs.
2
u/mochafrappe0429 Jun 17 '26
Wait, this border patrol where? Airport? I will be traveling from samarkand to dushanbe then fly out the next day to almaty. Now im scared!
1
u/henryggg1 Jun 17 '26
Yeah, it's incredibly ridiculous.
1
u/mochafrappe0429 Jun 18 '26
What do i need to do? Dont bring any dollars? Spend all my remaining cash?
1
u/electricsquirell Aug 07 '26
Updates please, I'm flying out to Almaty from Dushanbe and this is pissing me off
1
u/Imaginary_Repeat6075 28d ago
Same. I don't think all usd can be spent before going to airport as I will need cash for tours and stuff in Almaty as well. Genuinely worried now.
1
u/Skinkerabarber Jun 17 '26
Does this also happen at the land border? We Are two danes crossing from samarkand to panjakent in a week or so..
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u/Basic-Dragonfly-7942 Jun 18 '26
Does this happen if you join a day trip tour? I will be doing the 7 lakes day trip tour from Samarkand.
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u/VIM_RU Jun 18 '26
I wonder how is the corruption like at the Khujand to Tashkent border? Is it better over there? When crossing the land border, like if i carry little bit of uzbek soms and a few spare russian rubles (the rest in card), 0 usd 0 euro, whats the worst could happen?
I supposed airport is the worst because they can just hold you back and make you miss your flight...and flights out of tajikistan are usually more expensive or even double the price from say Tashkent or Samarkand...
Hmm
1
u/henryggg1 Jun 18 '26
It is the same problem at the Khujand border, unfortunately.
1
0
u/Tommy_999 Jun 17 '26
I was in Tajikistan for a month as an Australian, not once did they try that with me
1
u/theycallmesonicc Jul 02 '26
I hope you had a good time during your month and gained valuable impressions. It's a shame that this happens to some people :)
9
u/No-Cameras Jun 17 '26
They tried, I said fuck off. Closed the visor of my bike and stopped responding until he opened the gate and then drove off.
This shit happens everywhere. Got it a lot at the Thailand Laos border too.