Iran Visa

The citizens of the following countries don’t need a visa to visit Iran:

90 days: Armenia, Oman, Turkey, Syria (only by direct flights from Damascus),

45 days: Georgia 

30 days: Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Bolivia

21 days: China, Hong Kong, Macao

20 days: Egypt

15 days (every 6 months, not extendable):

Malaysia, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Mauritania, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles, Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Belarus, India (only by air)

E-Visa is an electronic visa application system, launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in 2017. You can submit for an E-Visa on MFA website or any eligible tourist agency.

First page of passport scan:

• In color

• In .jpg or .jpeg file format.

• Less than 500 kilobytes

• Scan should be clear and all characters must be readable

Photo ID:

• In color

• In .jpg or .jpeg file format

• Less than 500 kilobytes

• In a rectangular aspect ratio (height must be greater than width)

• Do not wear a hat, eyeglasses or head covering

• Photos digitally scanned from driver’s licenses or other official documents are not acceptable

• Wearing headscarf is not a must

Note: It should be a headshot photo in front of a plain white or off-white background taken in full-face view directly facing the camera. 

The average time needed to get Iran visa Grant Notice is about 4 to 7 working days.

(Except Holidays)

Date Day Holiday

11 Feb Thu Anniversary of the Islamic Revolution

13 Mar Sun Martyrdom of Hazrat Fatemah

19 Mar Sat Oil Nationalization Day

20 Mar Sun Nowruz (Iranian New Year)

21 Mar Mon Nowruz

22 Mar Tue Nowruz

23 Mar Wed Nowruz

31 Mar Thu Islamic Republic Day

1 Apr Fri Sizdehbedar (Nature Day)

21 Apr Thu Imam Ali's Birthday

5 May Thu The Prophet's Acension

22 May Sun Imam Mahdi's Birthday

3 Jun Fri Demise of Imam Khomeini

4 Jun Sat Khordad National Uprising (1963)

27 Jun Mon Martyrdom of Imam Ali

6 Jul Wed Eid Al-Fitr

7 Jul Thu Eid Al-Fitr

30 Jul Sat Martyrdom of Imam Sadeq

12 Sep Mon Eid Al-Adha

20 Sep Tue Eid Al-Ghadir

11 Oct Tue Tassoua

12 Oct Wed Ashura

20 Nov Sun Arbaeen

28 Nov Mon Demise of Prohpet Muhammad

30 Nov Wed Martyrdom of Imam Reza

10 Dec Sat Birthday of Muhammad

If you are not a citizen of the US, the UK or Canada, you are advised to apply for your Iran visa at least 4-7 weeks before your intended date of travel.

We charge you 30 euros for the cost of service (sending invitation letter to MFA and other processes). You need to pay the visa fee either in the embassy or at the airport.

Simply fill out the Iran visa request form and attach a scan of your passport as well as your photo. Once you started your online visa application, you must fill out the forms for each applicant. This means personal information, photo and passport scans, and place of visa issue, approximate arrival and departure times and so on. For US, UK and Canadian citizens, an extra step requires a fully detailed CV or Resume. After filling the forms, you will pay the amount online and once the E-visa will be prepared, Visa Grant Notice will be emailed to the representative email.

The visa grant notice is a confirmation letter sent by the ministry of foreign affairs, showing that the visa request has been approved. Once you received your visa grant notice, you need to either submit your passport to the embassy/consulate you had chosen as the place of your visa issuance in the visa application form, or to obtain the Iran visa at the airport. It is obligatory to submit your passport to your chosen place of visa issue personally.

You should pay a nonrefundable visa stamp fee at the embassy/airport. The visa fee is determined by the type of visa you are granted.

As the term may suggest, visas-on-arrival are issued when the visitor ‘arrives’ in a country. The process of issuing the visa is initiated, and completed, at the port of entry, where government authorities generally examine the visitor’s passport, collect the relevant visa payment, and ultimately issue the visa.

An on arrival Iran visa refers to a class of tourist visa which most travelers can simply apply for, at an Iranian airport. Citizens of most countries can apply for an Iran Visa upon arrival. The process usually takes about an hour assuming the line is not too long. Visa on Arrival is the most common option for getting Iran visa. In this case, there is a small chance of rejection, and that might make things complicated.

• You should fill the visa forms out.

• Six months’ validity on your passport.

• Two passport size pictures. They should be in color with a white background. Women don’t need to wear scarf to apply for an Iran visa upon arrival.

• Having a return ticket is not a must but might ease the process of Iran visa upon arrival; therefore, if you know exactly how long you are willing to stay in Iran, book your return in advance.

• A valid travel insurance that covers Iran is also needed. If you are using international insurance, make sure that covering travel to Iran is mentioned in it. The term “Worldwide” wouldn’t make the insurance acceptable at Iran airports. We suggest you to get your travel insurance from a local insurance provider. Pars Tourist Agency is always ready to help you buy your travel insurance from a local provider.

• It is essential to have an invitation letter from a local tourist agency or a friend. Your first/arrival night accommodation's address is also required.

• You need to have enough cash (Euro) in order to pay the visa fee. The amount is different for each nationality. 

Here is the list of the countries that their citizens are eligible to apply for an on arrival Iran visa:

New Zealand ,Australia ,Sierra Leone، Chile ,UAE, Uganda, Chad, Vietnam ,China, Taiwan ,Angola, Serbia ,South Africa, Ukraine, Brazil, Hong Kong ,Germany, Austria, Spain ,Italy, Bulgaria, Greece ,Poland, Hungary, Belgium ,Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal ,Netherlands, Romania, Denmark ,Thailand, Singapore, Oman ,France, Finland, Cyprus ,Iceland, Slovenia, Estonia, Slovakia ,Czech Republic, Latvia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta, Norway ,Ghana, Qatar, Cuba, Gabon, Guinea ,Russia, Uzbekistan, Argentina ,Zambia, Mongolia, Moldova ,Japan, Turkmenistan, Guyana ,Cameroon, Peru, Kenya, Kuwait, Tanzania ,Madagascar, Malawi, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Panama, Fiji, Nigeria ,South Korea, Croatia, India ,Macedonia ,Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Senegal ,Mauritania, Indonesia, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Niger, Venezuela, Palestine ,Ecuador, Penal, Yemen, Eritrea, Belarus, Tajikistan, Algeria, Bhutan, Morocco, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Armenia, Bahrain, Malaysia.

Depends on the nationality the cost is different. You may get to know a list of nationality/prices.

Airport  visa prices of different countries

If you have a passport from the above-mentioned countries, you are eligible for a visa on arrival, but there are some exceptions.

• Citizens of the USA, Canada, the UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan should not apply for an on arrival Iran visa since the application might get rejected. The best option is to plan a trip to Iran via a travel agency.

• Journalists and reporters might have some difficulties in getting an on arrival Iran visa.

• An on arrival Iran visa is issued only at Iran airports. It is not possible to get an on arrival Iran visa at land borders if you plan to visit Iran overland.

Once you arrive at the airport, you need to apply for a visa on arrival. There is a section in the main hall of the airport which issues the visas. Ask the officer for an on arrival Iran visa application. You should fill out two forms, requiring your personal information such as nationality, occupation, and the address. At some stage, you need to pay the visa fee, hand your Passport out to the officer and wait for a while to be called. This process usually takes an hour but sometimes might take longer, so you’d better to be prepared and patient.

• Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran

• Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran

• Shahid Hashemi Nejad International Airport in Mashhad

• Shahid Dastgheyb International Airport in Shiraz

• Shahid Beheshti International Airport in Isfahan

• Shahid Madani International Airport in Tabriz

• Kish International Airport

• Larestan International Airport

• Ahwaz International Airport

• Bandar Abbas International Airport

• Bushehr International Airport

• Qeshm International Airport

• Hashemi Rafsanjani International Airport in Kerman

• Urmia International Airport

• Bandar Abbas (Shahid Bahonar) Port

Getting an on arrival Iran visa is not an option for citizens of the US, UK and Canada.

They must apply a tour through a local travel agency and have a prearranged itinerary and tour guide throughout the trip. Required documents are same as other nationalities except that a CV is also required.

The CV needs to be in Doc or PDF format (not too short) about education, current and previous work history in detail. The file size should not be more than 1 megabyte.

* Of course, people who were born on Asian countries or were citizenship of there, can get a visa like other nationalities and do not need to get a tour or tour guide.

Since the process of visa issuance takes about 45 to 70 days, it is advised to apply for their Iran visa at least 3 months in advance.

It is 2 months if you are going to collect your Iran visa in an Iranian embassy/consulate.

It is 3 months if you will obtain your Iran visa upon arrival.

Depends on your requested length of time it can be 1 to 30 days. While in Iran, you can extend your visa up to 90 days if you’d applied for less initially. All you need to do is to go to the Police Immigration Office to do the process.

Depends on the nationality the cost is different. You may get to know a list of nationality/prices. 

As mentioned above, you can extend your visa up to 90 days if you’d applied for fewer days initially. To extend the visa, the applicant should go in person to the Police Immigration Office in major cities like Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd…. 

• Qom

• Address: Qom, Shahid Lavasani St

• Phone: 025 3772 3838

• Yazd

• Bahonar boulevard, Valieasr Alley

• Phone: 035 1724 4055

• Mashhad

• Address: Razavi Khorasan Province, Mashhad, District 9

• Phone: 051 3822 5280

• Shiraz

• Address: Fars Province, Shiraz, Modaress boulevard

• Phone: 071 3725 0028

• Tehran

• Address: Tehran Province, Tehran, Shahr Ara Street

• Phone: 021 6693 5058

• Isfahan

• Address: Isfahan Province, Isfahan, Rudaki Bypass

• Phone: 031 3218 4547

The coast for extension is about 10 euros

You can request for Iran Visa extension only once if you got your Iran Visa at the airport "Iran Visa on Arrival". In theory, you can be able to extend your Iran Visa for 30 supplementary days, which means double your original Iran Visa (from 30 to 60 days).

In practice, you can see your demand getting denied or to see yourself given less than the duration you asked for. Iran Visa extension refusal is still random, and can only depend on the mood of the agent which is present at the office.

Nevertheless, it seems much easier to extend your Iran Visa if you had previously obtained it prior to your arrival in Iran, meaning the original 30 days Iran Visa that you can get from your embassy, can be extended once or twice, which means a 30 days Iran Visa can become a 90 days Iran Visa thanks to 2 extensions. 

You will need:

- Two identity photos 

- A photocopy of your passport identity page, a photocopy of your original Iran   Visa. 

Most of the time, you can photocopy your passport on the office against a fee.

There are no general rules as it depends where you apply for this extension. It can be done during the same day or a couple of days’ maximum. We advise you to extend your Iran Visa 3 or 4 days before the end of your current Iran Visa, as it is nearly impossible to extend if you have too many days left on your Iran Visa.

If your previous E-visa request has been rejected, you have to wait one day from the day you have received the rejection letter before you can re-apply. In case that your previous visa has been accepted, you have to wait at least two weeks before re-applying for your new visa.

Based on our records, fewer than 5% of applications are typically rejected. 

The approval rate is especially high—around 97%—for citizens of European countries (excluding the UK), as well as Australia and New Zealand. For applicants from the United States and the United Kingdom, the approval rate is slightly lower, at approximately 90%.

However, certain professions—such as journalism and politically related fields—tend to face a higher risk of rejection compared to others.

Kish and Qeshm are two beautiful islands with glorious nature, modern shopping centers, and hospitable people. Citizens of most countries can visit these free-trade zones for 14 days without visa. There is the option of extending your visa up to 6 months but you should submit your request before the 10th day of your stay. Of course to be able to leave the free-trade zone towards the mainland you need to obtain an Iran Visa in the Foreign Affairs Representative Offices.

Iran ministry of foreign affairs only issues single entry Iran visas

Happily, since 14th December 2023, Indians don’t need visa for up to 15 days. But more than 15 days, they should apply for it.

Those who have already applied for their Iran visa through another agency, cannot apply with us unless they ask the embassy to cancel their first request. We can re-apply for their Iran visa one day after the rejection.

Driving around Iran is a great way to see its diverse landscapes and to discover its cities, towns and villages. What’s more, an extensive network of country roads, motorways and express ways make travelling around the country straightforward, allowing you to make the most of your time in Iran.

All you need is to have is a valid driving license, international driving permit, travel insurance, Carnet de Passages documents and Iranian visa to enter the country. Drop us a line and get more info.

Some nationalities (including the US, UK, and Canada) are not allowed to bring vehicles into Iran

Applicants holding passports from Afghanistan or Bangladesh are required to submit their visa applications and receive their visas directly through the Iranian embassies or consulates located in their home countries.