LIBYA

Visas, Embassies and Borders

When entering the country you get green stamp in Arabic in the passport that says that you have to register at the immigration office within 7 days. Immigration offices can be found in all bigger cities throughout Libya. Registration costs 5LD and usually your hotel can do this for a small fee.

Officially only two border crossing points are open to non Arabs. These are the coastal border posts to Tunisia and Egypt. But, reportedly, it is possible to cross into Niger and Chad when you have your own vehicle and the required visas. There is a tourist office in Qatroon which can arrange the trip and the obligatory guide, but it's not cheap.

From Egypt to Libya there are collect taxis from Marsa Matruh up to the border crossing point of Amsaad, 12 km on from Sallum for 13 EP. At Amsaad there are a few basic eateries and kiosks where you can spend your last Egyptian money. Also, there are plenty of moneychangers here and in front of the Egyptian immigration office. After getting your exit stamp and passing customs, you have to pay the Egyptian exit tax of 20 EP or 20 LD before reaching the collect taxis. They do the trip to Libyan crossing point for 2.5 LD. At the Libyan immigration, you have to hand over your green visa application form and fill in an Arabic entry form. After customs , collect taxis wait for the trip to Tobruk for 7 LD. There is no Libyan entry tax. The whole border crossing is no problem at all and takes about 1 1/2 hour.

It is really no problem to cross the border into Tunisia. It is the best to take a collect taxi which is doing the whole trip to one of the bigger Tunisian cities. There is no Libyan exit or Tunisian entry tax. German citizens only need a passport to enter Tunisian. Along the road from the border to Medenine are many money changers waiting to do business.
Kolja & Ralf - Germany (Mar 98)

The best Libyan consulate that I'm aware of is the one in Copenhagen. They are really helpful and you can even phone them and ask questions. The address is : Rosenvaengets Solvej 4, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark (tel 45 35 263611) and they are open Monday to Friday from 10 to 12.

You could also try the Libyan consulate in Tunis, Tunisia at Avenue Mohamed 5, open all days except on Fridays ( and maybe Saturdays). The handling of the visa can be a bit difficult, tourists are not really welcome, but if you're lucky you can get the visa the same day or the next.

You can try to travel to the Libyan border (between Tunisia and Libya). Take a taxi to the border and ask the taxi driver to help you. In Djerba airport you can sometimes find a Libyan taxi (black and white, with green sin on the roof) that can take you over the border. Maybe one of the hotels can help you to order a Libyan taxi. A tourist visa is possible to get at the border (if you try hard and don't give in).
Anna Norman (Mar 98)

It is forbidden to take in US dollars, but do so anyway and don't tell anyone (US$ notes). If you come as a tourist you might have to change some dollars into Dinars to keep them happy, but make sure that you keep receipts of all dollars you change in the bank, as the border will write it into your passport and then compare the remaining dollars on your way out. The hidden dollars (that you change) are for all costs except hotels, where you have to pay in dollars. The official exchange rate is 1LYD = US$3 so it's very expensive if you live on the official rate.

Keep the dollars hidden (preferably on you). In Libya you change the dollars into Libyan Dinar on the black market. You have to be very careful doing so, as a lot of security police work under cover to catch black market dealers.
Anna Norman (Mar 98)