Iran Visa

There are two ways to get a tourist visa.

• Do It Yourself You can go directly through a consulate, which saves an agency fee but takes at least three weeks and often longer. In theory, you download and fill out the application form from the Iran consulate in your home country; you then take or send the forms and your passport, photos, money, and proof of your travel insurance to the embassy and they will send your details to Tehran for approval. Several weeks later you might, if you’re lucky, be contacted with the result. Otherwise you’ll need to contact them, which is not always easy. If all goes to plan, you will eventually either pick up the visa in person (some embassies require women to cover their hair), or have your passport returned in a registered-mail envelope. Exceptions abound. In rare cases this method can take just a few days. However, we’ve also heard of cases where weeks after submission the consul has directed applicants to a visa agency to get the visa authorisation number. With so much uncertainty, if you choose this option, give yourself six weeks or longer to be sure.
• Use an Agency Visa agencies charge from €30 to UK£120 to get you an authorisation number. In most cases you fill out an electronic form with details of your itinerary and where you’d like to collect your visa, attach digital copies of photo and passport, and the agency sends this to Tehran. The MFA claims that for most nationalities it takes between five and 10 working days to assess the application. When it does take longer, the visa agency often won’t know why, which might explain (if not excuse) the agency being slow to reply to your follow-up emails. There is no refund if your application fails, but few are rejected. Once the authorisation number is received, the agency will forward it to you and your nominated Iranian embassy/consulate. You then need to go through the application process as a formality, and in most consulates the visa is issued on the spot.

If you’re British, Canadian or American, expect both methods to be slower, more costly and more arduous. When it’s open, the Iranian Embassy in London will often request an interview and requires fingerprints from British applicants. For US citizens, allow three months to be safe.

First the good news: there is usually little difficulty in extending a 30-day tourist visa to 60 days. It’s possible, but harder, to extend again, up to a maximum of 90 days. The following summary of how the extension process works is notoriously prone to change.

If you want a long extension it’s worth planning your itinerary to be somewhere friendly when the extension is needed. In general, cities familiar with tourists are best: Shiraz has for years been the city of choice, with Esfahan also getting positive reports. Second-string options include Kerman, Yazd and Tabriz, but these don’t always issue the full 30-day extension. Tehran, Mashhad and other cities are less reliable.

Head for the Police Department of Aliens Affairs (edareh gozannameh). Note that the office might have changed name to the Passport & Immigration Police by the time you arrive. You’ll need:

• your passport and two or three mug shots;
• two photocopies of the picture page of your passport, your current visa, entry stamp and any other extensions you’ve had (most offices have a photocopy service);
• fee for the extension (check the current fee with the office in question, but IR500,000 at the time of research), plus small notes for forms.

Pay for two copies of the appropriate forms. You’ll then be directed to a Bank Melli branch to deposit the cash – just say ‘visa’ and the bank staff will fill in the forms for you. Return with your bank receipt and the visa extension will be issued within an hour or two, though in some cases (hello Tehran) it can take several days.

In theory, you can only apply for an extension two or three days before your existing visa is due to expire, and your extension starts on the day it’s issued, not the end of your original visa. Cross-check the Persian calendar dates so you know exactly when your visa expires.

If things go awry, a doctor’s note on official stationery stating you were unwell might act as a quasi-extension at the border, or be used for a short extension in the nearest Aliens Bureau. But don’t rely on this.

If you do overstay, even by a few hours, expect to be detained.