visa for Iran
 

We will be setting of overland for Nepal in August and as yet have not got a visa for Iran. We have heard rumour that it is quicker to obtain a visa at the boarder with Turkey than to apply in advance. Does anyone have any info on this. If this is not an option what is the best way to get a visa for Iran in Holland, eg agency. I am British, my girlfriend is Dutch, we live in Amsterdam.

Hi,

I'm in the process of getting an Iranian visa myself and as far as I can tell it is absolutely necessary to get a visa in advance. In order to get one you should get a visa for the country you are going to after Iran first. In your case thats Pakistan I assume. My Pakistan visa gives me 45 days in Pakistan within 6 months of the date of issue.

Most likely you will only be issued with a transit visa that will allow you about 10 days in Iran within 3 months from the date of issue. Allow plenty of time for the application. The website for the Iranian embassy in London says applicants should allow 28 days. What the embassy does is sends your application to Tehran to get authority to issue the visa. If Tehran responds favourably the embassy should be able to issue the visa in a few days. I'm applying in Bangkok and have been told Tehran should respond within a couple of weeks.

As your girlfriend is Dutch she may get her visa faster. The Dutch aren't as close to the Great Satan as us Brits!

Good luck!
Stephan

Hi, Did you manage to get your Visa for Iran at the Turkish Border ??

Cliff & Jenny

Getting a Visa at the border is not possible.
In Turkey you should be able to get one in Erzurum or Ankara, but best thing is to get it before you leave. If you use an agency it will go quicker. We used iranparadise (45 us dollar pp) and key2persia (30 us pp), have a look at their websites. They will give you a refrence number and with that number you go to the embassy and normaly you will have your visa without any problem.

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Iris and Trui
2 belgian women, usually travelling on bikes (now on DR650SE's)