Acquiring a tourist visa to Iran is becoming easier and easier. The Iranian government wants to boost tourism and therefore strives to make the visa policy simpler for foreign visitors.All nationalities except Israeli passport holders can apply for an Iranian tourist visa. The process is faster and easier for those who are eligible for a visa on arrival (VOA). Nevertheless, it is good to know the simplest way to get a visa for Iran and be aware of all the requirements.
The length of a visa free stay is different for each country and may change over time. For example, a Turkish citizen can stay for up to 3 months but Malaysians 15 days only. Please contact your local Iranian embassy for updated information.
Armenia 90 days within 180 days
Azerbaijan 30 days
Bolivia 30 days
China 21 days
Egypt 20 days
Georgia 45 days
Hong Kong 21 days
Lebanon 30 days
Macau 21 days
Malaysia 15 days
Oman 30 days
Syria 90 days
Turkey 3 months
Venezuela 15 days
Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Bangladesh, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Canada, Nepal, United Kingdom, Colombia, Pakistan, United States and Yemen.
Afghan and Bengali Citizens must complete applications IN PERSON at the Iranian embassy or consulate in their native country.
There are two ways to get a tourist visa for Iran: 1) you can apply yourself or 2) use a visa/travel agency. Either way you can choose the place you want to collect your visa: at the airport upon arrival or at a particular embassy or consulate. Here both ways are explained:
The following countries are eligible for a 14-to-30-day VOA with no pre-arrangements:
Most European countries, Asia, Persian Gulf, Central Asia, Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and South American countries. (Please contact the Iranian embassy to confirm your eligibility as the rules may change at times). Simply fill out the form at the VOA counter of your arrival airport, submit your documents and get your visa.
Although VOA’s are available at most international Iranian airports, it’s best to fly into Imam Khomeini International Airport, Tehran (IKA) to avoid any issues.
Some travelers choose this way; however, it has some degree of the possibility of rejection (less than 5%). To be on the safe side I recommend you go with the pre-arrival application.
Visa on Arrival is officially only for airports, not for land borders. Therefore, travelers who arrive in Iran overland cannot get a VOA. They need to get their visa at an Iranian embassy/consulate before arrival.
To minimize the visa rejection risk and save time at the airport, you can directly apply on the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) website a few weeks before departure to get your e-visa. The process is pretty simple and straight forward. Here are the steps:
1) Go to e-visa portalof the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
2) Start a Visa Application. Fill out the form and upload the required documents. You need to select the airport or embassy where you want to pick up your visa. Please be careful to choose the right option as it will be a hassle to change the location once you submit the application. You may be asked to confirm your email address while putting in your information.
3) You will get a submission notice with a tracking code.
4) Normally in 5-7 working days you will receive a “Visa Grant Notice” which says your visa is ready to collect. There is a small chance (less than 3%) that your visa application is rejected. But do not lose hope! See option 2 (Get a travel agency to get a visa for you).
5) You should go to the embassy/airport you specified in the application with your printed visa grant notice, passport and cash to pay for the visa fee and pick up your visa.
How long is the grant notice valid for? Please refer to the visa grant validity on your “visa grant notice”. It usually has 3 months validity which means you have to get your visa by that date. Please do not apply for the visa too early, especially if you want to pick it up at the airport. Usually, 4-5 weeks before arrival is a good time to apply.
The visa is usually valid for 3 months from the day you receive it. This means you have to enter the country within 3 months of receiving it. So, you can enter the day before the visa expires, and then still enjoy Iran for as long as your visa duration states.
The Iranian visa is now a separate piece of paper as a proper e-visa has to be. Moreover, they don’t stamp passports anymore. This means that if you want to go to the USA, you’ll face no issues with your US visa application. However, if you decide to do an Iran visa extension, you will get a full-page stamp.
5 to 10 days after your application, it should be approved and you should be able go to the Embassy with your reference number. However, some people don’t get a reply within this time. Nothing is happening, your application is stuck. The worse problem here is that once you have applied through the e-visa system, it is difficult to cancel your application and try again through a tour operator.
To solve this problem, you may:
The other way to get a visa is applying via a travel agency which charges an application fee. You might go with the second option for these reasons:
1) Your own application is rejected because it says you should “apply via a host or agency”.
2) Your application gets stuck.
3) You do not have the time or the patience. Generally, a valid travel agency is faster and has a better chance of getting visas for its clients because it is considered as a reliable sponsor by MFA.
4) Some nationalities have to use an agency because they cannot travel to Iran independently.
In this way you fill out a visa form and send your documents to a travel agency. It submits them to the MFA and after a while the agency sends you your “visa grant notice”, what they call “Authorization Number” or “Visa Code”. The duration of processing this code varies depending on your nationality. Generally, for most nationalities, it will take around 3-5 working days, and for special nationalities such as Americans, British nationals and Canadians, it will take 8-10 weeks. You can then go to the Iranian embassy/airport you specified and receive your visa.
Contrary to what you hear and see in the media, Iran is one of the friendliest and culturally-rich countries you’ll ever visit. And no, the people do not hate Americans, Brits or Canadians. That’s fear-mongering and it is far from reality. However, there are more regulations for travelling to Iran for these citizens, which stem from unfriendly relations between Iran and these countries.
Travelers applying for visas with passports from the United States, Britain and Canada only qualify for a pre-arranged tourist visa. These nationalities cannot travel in Iran on their own; they need to join a group tour or arrange a private tour with a certified guide who should accompany them for the duration of the trip. They also have to provide detailed information regarding their travel, including but not exclusive to itinerary, accommodation, exact dates of arrival and departure and resume.
They need to contact an Iranian travel agency and have them apply for a travel authorization code from the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on their behalf. The visa usually takes between 2 to 3 months to process, and to be honest, there is a certain degree of rejection risk.
Anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport (or exit stamps at the relevant Jordanian or Egyptian border crossings that imply you must have entered Israel) may not get a visa. The visa officials seem to be more lenient in recent years though. I had a client with an Israeli stamp who got a visa. If you have such a stamp, it is necessary to get your visa before arrival.
Submitting your application at the airport (for VOA) also has a small chance of rejection.
Not observing Islamic dress code (Long-sleeved shirts and pants for men and women. Women must wear a headscarf upon arrival). Please see tips to know before travelling to Iran.
There are certain occupations that are exposed to a higher risk of rejection. These include journalists, photographers, filmmakers or anything related to media, government workers, contractors, or anyone connected to a foreign government.
With the exception of ex-Israeli nationality, other previous nationalities won’t usually affect your application.
Your visa on arrival for Iran now lasts for 15 or 30 days, depending on the request. It can be extended for another 15 or 30 days at any immigration office around the country, but it is better to be done in Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Mashhad. The process usually takes one working day and around 1-4 hours. However, if the visa is not renewed at this time, the passport remains in the hands of the foreign police department until the visa is issued. It’s important to note that the extension starts on the day the extension is issued, not from the end of the original visa.
My wife and I flew back to our home from Persia last May where we spent eleven wonderful days! We had an amazing trip by car with our private guide Moein Gholami throughout this vast country filled with a rich culture, ancient architecture, traditional Persian cuisine, unique and colorful bazaars in every city and so much more. We were able to discover a beautiful land of contrasts where the people are very friendly and eager to meet foreign visitors. We were delighted to have our friend guide Moein driving us around and bring us to many of our favorite places and monuments in small towns or big cities and help us with our shopping and choice of menus! He was always very punctual and saluted us with a big smile! MAMMUN Moein!"
My husband and I spent two weeks last September in Iran and we had a fantastic time with Moein. He was our guide/driver and he arranged our trip according to our wishes and our needs. He speaks perfect English so we didn't have any problem understanding each other and he told us a lot of interesting things about the attractions we visited and about Iranian culture and habits. Everything in our trip was great: hotels, restaurants and all arrangements. We had also enough time for visiting everything we desired and we never felt to be in a hurry: so we also had the opportunity to speak with a lot of Iranians and discover their thinking. This is why we strongly recommend Moein and be sure you'll have a great experience in Iran.
My husband and I spent 12 days in Iran between December and January. It was an unplanned trip; on the way to the airport I consulted some forums and came across Moein. He proved to be a very prepared and competent guide who did not bore us with long redundant explanations, drove carefully in the chaos of the cities and introduced the country in a very calm and conscious way. In addition to the fact that Moein speaks perfect English (he was also an English teacher) and has a sense of humor, a special point about him is his perceptiveness; he understood immediately what kind of travelers we are and what things we like best during our trips. In other words, he was very flexible in satisfying our requests and he included some spontaneous unscheduled plans that proved to be the best moments of the trip. If I had to recommend a trip to Iran to friends, I would have no doubt in suggesting Moein, because I am sure that much of the success of the trip was because of him!
We are travellers from Australia and have just spent thirteen days with Moein doing a tailored made route from Tehran to Shiraz with several stops. We spent some time online with him agreeing the detail of the itinerary and accommodation, and always found Moein to be helpful, cooperative, and full of useful advice on how to make the trip and itinerary better. Before committing, we spoke via WhatsApp and found him to be polite, constructive, and responsive to our comments. When we met him in person all those characteristics continued for the journey, and we truly enjoyed his company. He speaks excellent English, is interesting to talk to, and is committed to giving his guests a great experience of Iran. We based our decision to go with Moein largely on Tripadvisor reviews, plus the quality of his responses when we were negotiating a possible itinerary. He exceeded our expectations, as did Iran.
To arrange our trip in Iran we checked a lot of travel reviews, read many touristic guides, books and magazines. We came across some travel reviews referring to a local guide Moein Gholami. We visited his Internet site and sent him a short inquiry mail. His answer was fast and punctual: our itinerary draft and related quotation request soon turned into a travel proposal, very detailed with reference to places to visit, hotels and timings. Moein was immediately available to follow our requests and give us suggestions on eventual alternatives. He brought us to eat in traditional Iranian restaurants, explaining how dishes were made encouraging us to taste a lot of typical dishes that we could not even have been able to know (and to order) without him (dishes on the Menu were written in Farsi). Our trip to Iran turned out to be above our expectations and our friendly guide and driver certainly made a big contribution to a very pleasant trip.
We had the pleasure of a 15-day tour of Iran with Moein in August of this year. I first contacted Moein after reading TripAdvisor reviews and visiting his Persia Passenger website. Between us we organised a very full tour, covering all the usual destinations and a few not so populated locations. Moein is very experienced and knowledgeable on all things Iran, and for us was the perfect choice as our tour driver/guide - he is a very safe driver, a necessity on Iran’s roads! The accommodation he suggested and booked for us was faultless, sometimes amazing (the caravanserai in Marand was exceptional) and always comfortable after a long day of travel and sight-seeing. Moein was always on time and flexible and there was no expectation that we should stick with the plan if something off the itinerary came up. Most of all though, we had some great conversations and Moein’s sharp sense of humour made the tour good fun! We would like to travel to Iran for a second tour to see more of the incredible places that time prevented, and if we are lucky enough to do so we will definitely look to enjoy Moein’s company again. Cheers Moein!
We decided to go to Iran with a local certified tourist guide; almost by chance, we got in contact with Moein Gholami and we could not have made a better choice. He was very helpful and always available to reply to our questions and we decided together the tour stops. When we arrived in Iran, he very well organized everything: the organization of the days, times for car journeys, times for visiting and for have a break and/or lunch. He left nothing to chance. The holels he choose for us were amazing: we slept in caravanserais, in traditional hotels and in an hotel in the rocks (in Kandovan). The service, the cleanliness and the breakfasts of the hotels were always very good. Moein drove for long but he was always a careful and a precise driver. During the time spent in the car we had the chance to talk, asks questions about the country and sometimes to laugh to tears! y look to enjoy Moein’s company again. Cheers Moein!
My brother and I completed an 8 day private tour of Iran from Shiraz to Tehran and fell in love with the country. To anyone that is still not 100% decided on visiting Iran, I urge you to just book it and you will not be disappointed. The people, the food, the culture and sights are amazing. We even tried cancelling our further travels so we could stay in Iran for longer. We did our private tailor made tour with Moein and had the best time. Very knowledgeable, did everything he could to make our time the best possible and helped us to engage with as many local people as possible. It felt like we were travelling with a good friend to which he now is. I cannot recommend Moein anymore, he is by far the best guide I have ever had. For weeks prior to our arrival in Iran, we were in constant communication with Moein about what our interests are so Moein could suggest the appropriate routes and highlights. We are now already planning when we will be able to visit Iran again (hopefully next year) and we will be travelling with Moein again.
We are two females and decided to arrange our own itinerary. We were very fortunate to come across the website of Moeim Gholami. Definitely the best find of our Iran trip. Moein's extensive knowledge and deep love of his country made every site visit a rich experience. He was much more than a driver/guide. He became a friend and went way beyond the remit of a guide to help us out with hotel bookings, advice on routes and Persian cuisine and customs. Moein is a graduate with an English major and speaks English so well he can express his sense of humour with frequent jokes. I recommend Moeim without reservation. He is an excellent example of all the best qualities of the Iranian people and will add quality to your Persian experience.
After reading some reviews on Tripadvisor we found the guide who we think was ideal for us, Moein. We contacted him by e-mail and he answered almost immediately. He's been very kind and helpful to answer all our questions about the trip by email and WhatsApp. We're a couple very interested on history, arts, architecture, culture and lifestyle of every country we visit and we asked to Moein to set us a trip with a focus to these features. He organized for us a wonderful 12 day tour touching the beautiful and different cities of central Iran responding completely to our needs. He managed everything professionally, from hotel bookings to the attraction's entrance and led us to discover Iran explaining everything in a perfect English, moreover he gave us the possibility to customize the plan to our will. Moein with his calm and patience made us feel always at ease, he reflects the character of Iranian people: kindness, politeness and willingness. Thanks to him we learned a lot about Iranian history and lifestyle.
We spent 11 days in central Iran during Easter holidays and our trip has been organized very well by Moein. He took care of everything: transport, hotel, ticket entrance. He is a good driver, a good guide as well, he speaks a very good English, he is absolutely reliable and he is available to satisfy our requests and helped us with his valuable advices. We hope to come back to Iran and to travel with Moein again.
I've spent half of August in Iran with my parents and I'd say it has been a great vacation! Moein brought us not just in famous cities, but also in very peculiar villages and little towns. We enjoyed sharing our culture with our guide and compare Iranian traditions with the Italian ones. The primary concern of Moein is to build a friendship with his clients, not just being your guide. He likes to have lunch or dinner in your company and having nice conversations with you. Iran was a different vacation, I felt very involved in its population, surely I will come back in future.
My husband and I, after listening and reading about the wonders of Iran and its people, decided to leave but not having much time and not loving organized trips, we opted for a private guide / driver. We started last May 4th and returned on May 12th. Reading on the web we also came across the Persia Passenger agency that we contacted. Moein, who is an official guide, responded promptly and with him we agreed on the stages and travel arrangements. Moein, who speaks perfect English has been our driver and guide and was without doubt an added value to this trip. He has booked our hotels, many of them in incredible historical residences and has organized visits to historic cultural and natural sites. Our lunches and dinners have always been real experiences, in typical but never "touristic" places. Moein was always attentive to our needs but never intrusive and introduced us to many aspects of true Iran that we could hardly have learned by traveling independently, he was also a prudent driver even in the chaos of big cities, making us feel safe and secure in his car, we also spent a wonderful evening at his home where we met his family.
My wife and I organized a 13-day trip with Moein between October-November 2019 which proved to be one of the most beautiful of recent times. Iran it is a simply fantastic country and the Iranians are the kindest and most helpful people on average that you can meet. Although traveling to Iran on your own is feasible, however relying on a guide makes life much, much easier. Moein arranged everything especially booking all the hotels and the domestic flight which is kind of difficult to do before arrival. The tour was discussed and agreed with various emails and WhatsApp messages and the price was reasonable in relation to what he offered. Moein’s guiding was exemplary; he knows the places perfectly and explains them to you in remarkable English. He also drives in a very prudent and careful way, which is essential in Iranian cities where if I drove I would crash after 10 minutes! All in all, we are really happy to have chosen this solution. Moein proved to be a nice, helpful, reliable and flexible guide and also our good photographer who portrayed us in all poses.
We stayed in Iran 7 days right at the beginning of the year. I had contacted Moein via email at the end of October and I discussed our itinerary with him to discover this wonderful country. The choice proved to be a winning one, he immediately proved very helpful and prepared. The hotels in which we stayed turned to be above our expectations and also the local restaurants that we tried! Thanks to his support, we were able to plan the tour quickly (from Tehran to Shiraz with several stops) which were quite difficult given limited time we had. The merit of a tailor made tour is having a guide who is so prepared and kind to follow you every day especially if the time is short considering the long distances. I highly recommend anyone to visit this country, it is definitely worth the trip. Obviously you should do it with Moein, a highly recommended guide.