Just a few days to make your dreamed Iran trip come true 

Entering to the majority of counties in the world requires obtaining different types of visa. But to enter each country with a tourism purpose, tourist visa is the one and only solution. This fact is the same for Iran. It is required for the entire nationalities who intends to travel to Iran except Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Georgia, Malaysia, Syria, and Venezuela. Although Iranian government declared unilateral visa waiver for 33 nationalities more than the above mentioned ones on December 2023, but this rule is not yet applied properly. 

Let’s get into the main point and stick with the most important begging step of traveling to Iran, application submission through the following points: 

How to apply and how it works? 

There are two major ways to apply the visa while intending to visit Iran, the first is to refer to the official website of the MFA and submit a free visa request. Or to refer to a travel agency who is in Iran or has a registered branch in Iran and apply through that agency, just like Vaytrip. 

Applying through the official website of the MFA is free but with lots of hassles. There’s no guarantee on the visa authorization letter issuance, no specific high chance of acceptance, no support no online and accurate tracking possibility and the worst case scenario, lots of rejections with no reasons. 

Why? As there’s no supporter for those application forms and the Iranian government is not going to take any serious and specific risks, they need a supporter which should be a registered and licensed travel agency in Iran. 

Applying through a travel agency, specifically pointing to Vaytrip’s service, is all about the numerous advantages. Just up to 5 working days authorization letter issuance process, 95% chance of acceptance, guarantee on the visa rejection refund with visa guarantee service, 24/7 support, online and easy to access tracking possibility and so on. 

What we do is to check your documentations and provide you with advises to resolve any probable points which will cause of rejection. Vaytrip is all about more than 5 years of experience in this service and reputation through the MFA’s community, so both our team and credit will do their best to reduce the number of rejections and we’re so proud and happy in this regard. 

Iran tourist visa requirements

A travel itinerary:

It means to provide us with a list of the cities you’ll visit. If you haven’t decided yet or you’re not sure about the best settlement, please feel free to contact our trip planners to provide you with an itinerary which fits your requirements in a couple of minuets and this service will be all free even if you don’t apply any visas on our platform. 

An accepted pattern of a flawless itinerary: 

[the name of the city to stay] / [the name of the hotel to stay] / [the period of time to stay] 

Example : 

[Tehran] / [Espinas Palace Hotel] / [April 2nd to 4th]

[Shiraz] / [Zandiyeh Hotel] / [April 4th to 6th]

[Isfahan] / [Abbasi Hotel] / [ April 6th to 8th] 

[Kasha] / [Sarayeh Ameriha Hotel] / [April 8th to 9th]

[Tehran] / [IKA airport hotel, Remis] / [April 9th to 10th]

Passport scan : 

A colorful scan of your passport’s first page in pdf format (the page which embraces your photo) which is including every single inch of that page. Please kindly make sure the scan you submitted is not covered with any shadows, any hologram effects and no specific part with specific data is cropped. The last point to mention is that the best scans are those which have been done with a scanner machine or if you’re doing to scan it using your smartphone, office lenses is the best option. Just be careful your fingers to hold the page is not covering any important part of the page. 

Personal Photo : 

An individual colorful personal photo, with a white background and both ears should be obvious. Please kindly make sure that the photo is not possessing any shadows if you’re take the photo at home.

Social Medias Links : 

The Iranian government recently asked the agencies who are active in obtaining the visa to ask the users of their websites to submit the link of those social medias which they are active in. You might get surprised and ask why? What are they going to check. Honestly, there’s no specific clue in this matter. But if you’re taking care of your privacy there, you can turn your pages to a private type for the period of time ( the 5 working days before the authorization letter issuance). 

All you need to know about the fees to pay

There are two main services Vaytrip is offering at the moment. The first one is a regular application process with application fee of 18€. The other one is a type with a rejection guarantee refund. It means just with paying 3€ more, your 18€ application fee will be refunded in case of rejection. 

Collection fee based on nationality

The last step of the procedure is to collect your final visa paper at the specific collection point you kindly chosen while filling the an entirely user friendly form. So based on where you’re going to collect your visa and also based on your nationality, collection point can be from 30 to 150€ as the following table :  

Iran Visa fee for different passport holders to enter Iran : 

Although the Iranian government announced unilateral visa waiver for 33 nationalities, but the rule is not yet fully applied and the only passport holders who are able to enter Iran in without a visa are as following: 

• 90 days. Turkey, Armenia, Syria
• 45 days. Georgia
• 45 days. Oman, Bolivia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon
• 20 days. China(visa for Chinese), Hong Kong, Macao, Egypt
• 15 days. Malaysia(Iran visa for Malaysian), Venezuela

Which nationalities are obliged to obtain in advance visa: 

Due to some restrictions, there are two major kinds of of counties in terms of Iran visa. The first one if the passport holders of USA, UK & Canada. The process for these nationalities are quite different than the others and there are more specific steps than the other nationalities for them which will be explained in the following sections. The other kind of nationalities are the passport holders of those countries who are in recent political conflicts with Iranian government.

The visa steps for these nationalities will take more than 15 working days and possesses higher chance of rejection than the others. Here are the second kind of nationalities: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Jordan, Libia, Nepal, Somalia, Tajikistan, Yemen

Iran tourist visa for nationalities, USA, UK and Canada passport holders:

Traveling to Iran holding an American, British or Canadian passport is all about some more steps than the other nationalities, but no hassles or specific limitations. Here are the most highlighted differences of the above mentioned nationalities in comparison to the others: 

1. It’ll take 45 to 50 working days for the MFA to issue these nationalities’ visa.
2. A prefixed itinerary with full details of tours and sightseeing should be submitted to through the MFA application form.
3. A licensed tour guide should accompany you as an American, British or Canadian passport holder.

It means that from the begging of the trip till the last spot at the airport to leave the country, you need to be accompanied by a licensed tour guide who is qualified to accompany special nationalities by the Tourism Ministry in Iran. The guide is all about a facilitator during the trip and not a hassle. He/she will help you to conduct the trip in a more flawless zone.

4. Travel history for the last 10 years.

It should be including those countries you visited in the last 10 years along side with the travel purpose. For example you need to provide us with a pattern like:

[France/ Paris] / [August 2020] / [Travel purpose: tourism]

5. Work Resume for the last 10 years

It should be a short resume including the entire job positions any passport holders of these countries had.

The most important points in this matter is as follows :

[The name of the company] / [Company field of Activity] / [Job position] / [Period of Time working There]

6. Education history

Any traveler of these nationalities needs to inform the MFA about their education history during the past 5 years. The best example and template is as follows:

[Name of the college or university] / [Studied Major] / [Obtained Degree in the end] / [ Starting and Ending Date]

More important notes about Iran tourist visa for American, British and Canadian passport holders:

1. There’s no possibility of collecting visa for these nationalities upon arrival in any Iran international airports
2. There’s no possibility of receiving the final visa paper with no referring to any embassies or consulates of Iran outside country.
3. There are limited number of collection point in these three countries to collect the final Iranian visa paper due to the political restrictions between Iran and these countries.

Visa collection points: 

The last step to receive the final visa paper is to refer to one of the Iran embassies or consulates or any of Iran international airports to pay for the governmental visa fee. The following airports are among those airport which can be chosen as the collection point for the final visa paper: 

• Tehran – Imam Khomeini International Airport
• Mashhad – Mashhad International Airport
• Isfahan – Isfahan International Airport
• Shiraz – Shiraz International Airport
• Kish Island – Kish International Airport
• Qeshm Island – Qeshm International Airport
• Tabriz – Tabriz International Airport
• Urmia – Urmia Airport
• Ahvaz – Ahvaz International Airport
• Kerman – Kerman Airport
• Lar – Larestan International Airport
• Bandar Abbas – Bandar Abbas International Airport

Visa on arrival most important notes: 

The other way to obtain obtain Iran tourist visa is to refer to any of the above mentioned airports of Iran and start the visa process all there. Passport holders of Countries including Algeria, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Bosnia, Brunei, Croatia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia, and Venezuela can refer to the international airports of Iran and ask for an on arrival visa very easily. 

Although this process  quite simple, but there are some specific hassles in this regard which will make it entirely risky and inappropriate. 

• The majority of airlines won’t board the passengers who is not possessing the final visa paper. Just imagine your fully ready to travel, paid for the tickets and the airline will stop you at the airport as they should be responsible for your return in case of rejection. So taking this risk is quite impossible for them. 
• Once you arrive in Iran, specifically means foot into an Iran airport, You need to apply for iran visa as a foreign nationals and then, stand in visa lines for hours and wait for a long time to receive a visa based on visa policy of Iran ,So it’ll be so so disappointing. 
• There is always 5% of rejection chance, so in case of rejection while you’re at any of these airports, a misery will happen to you as returning with the first available with any possible ticket fee will be a MUST. 
• There’s no possibility of extending your visa while it’s been obtained in an on arrival basis.

Note: Instead of all these hassles, apply for your visa in advance and collect it at any of the mentioned airports and avoid any extra challenges at the begging of the trip. 

Israel passport holders are about to get rejected:

Not only Israel passport holders, but also those who have any signs of traveling to Israel will be definitely rejected. So if you’ve travelled to Israel before, it’s a wise decision to change your passport and provide the MFA in Iran with a white passport.   

What steps should I take?

To apply for an Iran visa, you need to follow a few steps. First, complete the online form. You can find this form on the website of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After submitting the form, they will send you an authorization code. You can then use this code to pay the fee and collect your visa.

Can I get an Iran visa on arrival or should I apply in advance?

Applying for a visa on arrival is possible, but it is recommended that you do so in advance. If you do decide on getting it when you arrive there, you need all of your necessary documents and cash to pay for it.

Is there any other visa visa types available ? 

If you’re looking to get your visa or a visa approval on a business visa basis , transit visa basis or medical Iran visa to travel to Iran for medical purposes, we’re so sorry to help you as we’re a travel agency and just able to apply for tourist visa for Iran. You can get Iran visa and check status your application for everyone needs a visa. You can easily submit your Iran visa application online and go through visa application process, then get your Iran trip come true. Visa processing time will be less than 5 working days and you can collect your visa upon arrival as an Iran airport visa as well.