That is our plan now. We are going to spend a nice couple of days in LA and visit the consulate. We spoke to a man there yesterday and we are convinced that it may be the only safe way to go. It would have been nice to do an e-visa but it is more important that it go well. Our contact said we could bring in everything Monday, get it back Friday (think we will actually be home by then but will supply the prepaid envelope). The good thing is that we can plunk down our photos, etc and they can say right there whether they are acceptable or not. If not, we can go get photos and come back. Everything else is in order. The man laughed at some of the issues raised by the agency guy in AZ. We are staying at JW Marriott Baku and have their stamped reservation for us. Ta da...more later. Not any more expensive than the visa for Brazil.

We are looking forward to the new experience though most of our friends think we are nuts. But then, they have not laid eyes on the oldest uncovered temple in the world in eastern Turkey where we went on our own last May. Gobekli Tepe. As in Kurdestan. Five miles from the border with Syria...:-:

FWIW, I and many other friends went to the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku in 2012, all from different countries, and we were all told different things about what was required, and some embassies/consulates required a whole lot of documentation and others required barely any, so there is zero consistency in requirements from embassy to embassy.

Just pick which consulate/embassy you're going to go to (which it seems you have anyway) and do as they say.

Just thought I'd post this in case anyone looks back at this thread as well!

This is a "to be continued" story. We just got back from Los Angeles and the AZ consulate. On Monday (only open M, W, F from 10 am to 1 pm), we got all our paperwork together and laid it out for the only person who does visas, Nahid. He said it was all fine. Took only one of our photos, accepted our printed e-visa application from their website and did not have us sign it. We offered to fill out the manual form but no. When we left, he led us to believe that we might be able to pick it up Wednesday. We called Tuesday but no one answered. We decided to stay over an extra day on the chance that the visas would be there Wednesday. We called again Wed am but again no one answered. We even called a little after 10. No answer, no answering machine. We considered ourselves lucky at the building because Nahid actually answered for them (caller id???). However, the guards said that often people show up DURING office hours and no one picks up the phone. The guards will not allow you into the elevator for any floor unless someone in the business or consulate (lots in that bldg) gives the OK. So, you could drive to Wilshire and Centinela and end up not being able to see anyone.

At any rate, the visas were not ready. Nahid submits all the info by email to the Minister of Immigration and waits for a reply. Nahib was pretty sure that he would have a response by Thursday or Friday and would send the passports and visas by overnight in our prepaid envelope. Hope so...

We met a nice young man from AZ while we were there who said that he was working with the consulate for his own AZ passport and found the process challenging also.

We also saw Endeavour at the California Science Center and Calder's mobiles set up by Frank Gehrey at the LA County Museum of Art so our time was otherwise well spent!

to be continued...

Talked our new best friend in the LA consulate 10:30 am and he said he mailed the passports with visas yesterday in our prepaid overnight express envelope. Still early in the day.

If this works, Chollie, then I suggest you make Nahid your new best friend when you are ready to go. Even if it is only over the phone.

To be continued...

Tracking number tells me it is due here at 3 pm because it was actually picked up Friday....

Nobody I know who has been to Azerbaijan for work or pleasure has had that experience (and usually business visas are more difficult than tourist visas)

Perhaps it has to do with country of origin? My Azeri visas were some of the easiest, and certainly far easier than the US visa process.

Ta Da!! Visa in hand. Picked it up at our local post office. My husband was paranoid about the whole thing and did not even trust the post office to deliver it! Nice looking piece in our passports with our smiling faces copied from our photos onto the visa.

The one tour company in Baku that wrote back and forth with me was Billur Tur and the one and only employee gave me some bad advice about my photo needing to be redone with a somber face. So, rather than trust these folks who want almost as much as the government, I suggest you contact the consulate and make friends with Nahid who is the only one that processes visas in Los Angeles. His English is excellent and he came through with his original promise of sending it out by Friday. When we asked questions, he gave us consistent information and was correct on all counts. He will work with you so that your application is accepted and you do not waste your $160 each. Most of the time, they do answer phones! Now that we have the visas, notice how much more upbeat I am!!

The other caution is that there is a LOT of old, bad info on the internet so you really need to consult either with Nahid and pull up information directly from the consulate website. Azerbaijan does not offer visas at the border or airport anymore. Those were the good old days. Their own e-visas can be copied like we did and sent in but cannot be sent by email yet. Nahid even corrected one mistake I could not get off my e-visa application. Toward the end where it asks who will accompany you, they really mean minor children, not your spouse. Once I put down spouse, it would not allow me to remove it. Nahid did it, however, with his magic. He is not easily rattled and is pleasant to work with. Also, he set up our visa so it begins the day BEFORE we arrive and is good for several weeks afterward. There are tales of people getting there and the immigration team at the airport wants the visa to extend to the day after you leave. Nahid took care of that.

Be sure to fill in your address on your prepaid envelope as Nahid does not like to do that. Press down hard as our address came out so light it was a wonder the post office could read it. He processed our request as a pair so we only needed one return envelope. Shoot, I worried about that too!

I am happy to answer any questions anyone has. Despite our being internet friends at Flyertalk, we almost always are very reliable. Wonderful people here have helped me a lot in the past and I have never been misled.

And, lastly, I have absolutely no doubt that the US puts applicants through the wringer. This one was challenging enough. I am sure that business applicants sail through the AZ process as their companies hire oufits who do the work for you. I do know that it would have been cheaper to hire one than drive to LA but we made a holiday of it AND we were right there to make any corrections had they been needed. We were under the gun for time. We are not at all sorry we made the trip.

Again perhaps for Americans or perhaps it is a tit for tat situation but I know many who have had pleasure as well as business visa with no issue. I always did mine on my own with no issue

I meant that we have to do a very rigorous process to enter the U S which you as an American may not realise

I have no idea if your experience is common to most Americans applying for an Azeri visa, but I want to ensure that anyone reading this thread knows that it isn't the norm for everyone applying for an Azeri visa. (And see the post upthread from another non-American poster)

It is most certainly a tit for tat. That is why the price is so high - a match to what we charge. Brazil does the same with their visa for us but without the hassle and misinformation, just the fee.

Karen2, thanks so much for coming back to post a full (and very informative!) update on this thread!

Karen, thanks so much for the info! I plan on doing a solo trip to the Caucasus this summer, and visas are one of the bigger issues to figure out. Were you able to just book a couple nights in Baku and go from there for the hotel booking/letter invite? I'm lucky in that I live in LA (just back from the Chinese embassy earlier today). Good to know the process over on Wilshire.

I am so jealous you were in Kurdistan! Amazing music there.

We booked 4 nights in the Marriott, they sent us by email a signed and certified copy of the reservation, and that was all we needed. I had to get their email address by phoning Marriott here. Just make sure the hotel you book is one you can communicate with. We do not plan to stay longer than the 4 days even though our man on Wilshire set us up for a month.

The parking lot on Wilshire (Chase Bank is in the bldg) costs a lot. The street meters are cheaper but if you go south to the end of the block, there are no meters.

Visas for Georgia and Armenia are sold at the border or in the airport. No worries there.

Georgia doesn't require a visa for most Western countries. Armenia has an e-visa process online, but I think you can buy at the border (but is more expensive).

And many of us no longer require a visa for Armenia. (Again this thread shows the importance of officially verifying one's personal visa requirements and not relying on FT or other discussion sites)

We are now in Baku. We are the ONLY tourists in the JW Marriott! A parade of Marriott suits, inc the GM, came into the lounge to greet us. If you want to come also as a tourist it is the cheapest, best Marriott deal I know of. It is only a 3 level hotel for points and costs bottom of the line-up $300 per night! We did the Stay 2, Get 1 promo with Marriott and are staying free. We matched with our United Gold so are Gold members. We were upgraded to a corner studio king suite which has a water and flame towers view and lounge access. Thank you, Flyertalk, for all the good advice over the years! Food is excellent with many local dishes, esp at evening snack time. Not crowded at all and definitely dinner. Of course, being international, there is free wine. We love this oasis. City is amazing, clean and full of Armani, Tiffany's and the like stores. What oil can buy. After doing all the tourist stuff, I have concluded that we may be the only tourists in the whole city. I highly recommend a visit as it has a nice old town plus many 19th century classic buildings as well as dramatic new edifices, unlike the Gulf States with all new. Tomorrow we plan to take a trip out of the city to an area with amazing, very old, petraglyphs and an excellent new museum. I wish we had time to take in the countryside more. Only thing lacking is good public bathrooms. Restaurants are not required to have them! Yesterday, we used the ones in the Four Seasons as it was near our old town restaurant. I am really happy we tacked this stay onto our trip to Iran. You can get here on Lufthansa.

Oh, and for those of you going through the visa process, I spoke to a fellow traveler who also went to LA to see the consulate guy in person. When her visa was delayed and she was in a crunch, he actually came in on a Saturday to give her her visa in the passport. Now, that amazed me! Kudos to Nahid!