Many countries around the world have special rules and conditions for foreigners entering their borders. They issue visas to deal with the affairs of these people. Like other countries, Iran’s visa has conditions and rules the applicant must follow. In this article, we talk about Iran’s visa. While introducing the types of visas, we give explanations about the conditions of obtaining, how to issue them, and the required documents. Then, we will provide you with the necessary explanations about Iran’s tourist visa in a specialized and detailed manner. To find out the conditions for obtaining an Iran visa, contact Sito travel experts.
Read the most important points you need before traveling to Iran
Iran visa types in terms of travel purpose
Iran visa, like visas from other countries in the world, have different types that are issued according to the purpose of the applicant’s trip. In the following, we introduce the types of Iran visas and provide you with information about each of them.
1- Entry visa (type A)
The entry visa is one of the types of Iran visa. This visa is issued for all types of business, research, sports, business, etc. Applicants for this type of visa include embassies, organizations, government companies, private companies, and people who have valid and reliable invitations and travel for things like signing contracts, negotiations, investments, official meetings, participation in scientific and cultural seminars, sports competitions, etc.
– Prerequisite for receiving a type A visa
- Completing the visa form
- Valid invitation letter from the requesting institution
- Possible interview at the embassy
2- Tourist visa (Type B)
It is the most common type of Iran visa that is requested by tourists for leisure trips. The validity period of a tourist visa is 3 months and the duration of stay in Iran is 45 days. This visa can be extended.
– The documents required to receive a tourist visa are:
- completing the visa form
- Passport scan
- scanned photo
- Travel program
- Hotel reservation voucher
- A round-trip ticket
In the continuation of this article, we have written in detail about the tourist visa of Iran and the necessary conditions for obtaining it.
3- Pilgrimage visa (type C)
Iran is a Muslim country and has many places of pilgrimage. Many Muslims around the world travel to the two pilgrimage cities of Mashhad and Qom just for the purpose of pilgrimage. Iranian pilgrimage visas are issued only to Muslims, and non-Muslims who intend to visit these two cities must apply for a type B visa.
– Prerequisites for receiving a type C visa:
- completing the visa application form
- Possible interview at the embassy
4- Political visa (type D) and service visa (type S)
This type of visa, as the name suggests, is issued to people who enter Iran for political and diplomatic reasons. Applicants for this visa are political representatives, consulates and offices of international organizations residing in Iran. These are foreign diplomats residing in Iran, holders of diplomatic and service passports, ministers, government members and kings of other countries.
– Prerequisites for obtaining type D and S visas:
- Political or service passport
- completing the visa application form
5- Study visa (Type E)
This type of visa is issued to students who intend to study at one of Iran’s prestigious scientific and religious universities and centers. Study visa holders can stay in Iran for at least 6 months.
– Prerequisites for receiving a type E visa:
- Invitation letter from the Ministry of Science and Research, Education and accredited scientific centers
Types of Iran visas in terms of the kind of issuance
Foreign nationals who intend to obtain an Iranian visa can do so in three ways:
1- Attending Iranian embassies
You can get an Iranian visa by going to the Iranian embassy. Fill out the visa application form and submit it to the embassy along with the required documents and wait for the visa to be received. If your visa documents are complete, they will be sent to you by mail.
2- Electronic visa of Iran (EVISA)
Electronic visa is one of the types of Iran visa issuance that is done online. To get this visa, you do not need to be physically present at the embassy and can even send your documents electronically. Just go to the relevant website and scan the documents and upload them. The visa will be sent to you as a PDF file. Make a printout of your visa and take it with you on your trip.
3- Iran airport visa
An airport visa is a type of visa that is issued at the airport of the destination country. The purpose of doing this is to speed up the visa process and improve the tourism industry. Obtaining this type of visa has its own terms and conditions and is done according to the relations between the two countries and the strategy of the destination country. This means that this type of visa may only be allowed for nationals of some countries. Iran’s airport visa is issued to travelers from 185 countries. It is provided to them in the form of a PDF file or a printed version at certain international airports.
To get an airport visa, you need to go to the designated counter at the airport and fill out the visa application form. You may have to wait in line for a while. The documents required to obtain an Iran airport visa are:
- Passport with at least 6 months validity
- A piece of 3×4 photo
- Travel insurance: You can get travel insurance from the airport insurance desk.
- Visa issuance fees are paid in cash.
After submitting the documents, after a few hours (about 1 to 4 hours) the visa file will be sent to your email or will be available in printed form. The cost of obtaining a visa for nationals of different countries is different. Issuance of airport visas in Iran is not done 24 hours a day. Therefore, if you intend to obtain an airport visa, you must arrange your flight so that you can be present at the airport during visa collection hours.
Iran tourist visa
People who travel to Iran for tourism must apply for a tourist visa. Visas can be obtained in two ways: normally and at the airport. Be careful that only citizens of a number of countries can get an Iran visa at the airport. This is because it is not possible to get an airport visa for citizens of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Pakistan, Jordania, and Somalia.
– General documents to get an Iran tourist visa
As you know, to get an Iran visa, you need to prepare documents and deliver them to the embassy or scan them and upload them to the website. These documents differ depending on the type of visa, but some of them are the same for all visas. General documents for all types of visas are:
- Passport with at least 6 months validity
- Personal photo (passport photo) in size 4*6
- Completing the visa application form
In addition to the required documents, depending on the type of visa, you must also prepare other documents. If your documents are complete, the visa will be issued as a sticker in your passport or electronically as soon as possible.
– The conditions for receiving an Iran tourist visa
The conditions for obtaining an Iranian tourist visa for nationals of different countries are different according to the type of relations between the two countries. Iran’s friendly and neighboring countries can often get visas easily. All they have to do is submit their documents in full to get a visa. The conditions for obtaining an Iran visa are different for some countries and are issued in a strict manner. Citizens of Bangladesh and Afghanistan cannot apply for a visa through travel agencies or airlines. Applicants from these two countries must visit the Iranian consulate in their country and submit their applications.
The conditions for obtaining an Iranian tourist visa for nationals of South Africa, Yemen, and countries with weaker economies are also slightly different. They are conducted with much more rigor. Considering Iran’s diplomatic relations with the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, citizens of these three countries also face restrictions and have different conditions for obtaining visas.
– Methods of obtaining an Iran tourist visa
1- Iran tourist visa through a travel agency
Agencies licensed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can apply for Iran visa applicants on the special panel of travel agencies. In this method, because the documents are prepared and reviewed by the agency and the travel agency is introduced as the applicant’s sponsor and host, the possibility of the application being rejected is minimized. The visa agency receives the documents from the visa applicant and after reviewing and resolving possible problems, registers the visa application in the system and obtains a tracking code. According to experience, requests registered by an agency are answered faster than personal requests.
Iran tourist visas of this type involve the agency receiving a fee for visa advice and hosting the applicant. Keep in mind, the agencies are only visa agents and the main authority for issuing Iranian visas is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2- Iran tourist visa through the MFA website
In this way, the applicant can personally apply for a visa through the MFA website. The applicant can register his visa application in the system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by entering the website evisa.mfa.ir. After submitting the application, the applicant must wait for his application to be approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and after the application is accepted and receives an email from the Iranian visa system of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the applicant must go to the Iranian embassy or consulate in the country that chose at the time of submitting the application. And after paying the visa issuance fee, get final approval for the visa. Keep in mind that if there is any small problem with the submitted documents or registered information, there is a possibility that the application will be rejected.
3- Iran tourist visa by VOA method
A visa upon arrival is a type of visa that is issued to travelers when the applicant enters the destination country at one of the land, air or sea borders. This method costs less than the in-advance visa, that is, the pre-arrival visa (the same as the previous 2 types), but because Iran’s sensitivity to issuing visas is high, travelers often do not risk getting a visa upon arrival because if their visa is rejected, the cost of flight and hotel will be to their detriment.
A VOA visa can be obtained by walking to the Visa Issuance counter when one gets off the plane. This is done by waiting in line, registering the application and paying the fee in cash, and then waiting for the visa for a few hours.
– Iran tourist visa validity period
- Validity of stay: in the sense that they have a visa for how many days they can stay in Iran. The validity of an Iran tourist visa is 45 days at most.
- Validity of entry, i.e., after the final approval of the visa, the visa holder (until when) can use that visa to enter Iran. Tourist visas are valid for 3 months or 90 days.
- Iran tourist visa extension: The tourist visa can be extended twice, but the entry validity period cannot be extended.
And finally, we answer the question that who cannot apply for an Iran tourist visa?
- Citizens of occupied Palestine (Israel)
- People who have recently traveled to Israel.
- Afghan nationals who live in Afghanistan.
- Citizens of countries that have a very unfavorable economic situation. (usually African countries only)
- Citizens of high-risk countries in the field of Coronavirus
- People who have had political activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- Indian nationals living in India.
For more information, read FAQ
Final word
During this article, we discussed the Iran visa. We described the types of visas and provided you with information about the conditions of receipt, how they are issued, and what documents are required. If you are not familiar with the process of obtaining an Iran visa, if you have questions about it, or if you cannot apply for an Iran visa yourself for any reason, feel free to contact Sitotravel experts to take all the necessary steps as soon as possible and at the lowest cost to get your visa. And finally, if you are planning to get Iran visa and travel to Iran, but you are not sure to Iran is safe to travel? you can read the article Is it Iran safe to travel?
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