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Iran or not? Iran or not?
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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
Photo by Ulrike Hahnel, Rock Formations on the Lagune Route, Bolivia

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Ulrike Hahnel,
Rock Formations on the
Lagune Route, Bolivia



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  #1  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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Iran or not?
Right, bit of background.
I have a British passport, but I could get an Irish one.
Bike is registered in UK
Licence is from UK.
Planning and overland trip from UK to SE Asia. Iran is a massive headache- I really want to go, but Brits are unable to travel independently.
My plan is to get an Irish passport, and then I will be able to travel alone, but the bike will have UK plates. Has anyone got any experience travelling with a vehicle from a different country to them?
Or do I just admit defeat and go around?
I'm leaving in 5 months and I really need to finalise my route!
Thanks for your help!
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  #2  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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Go if you can it will be one of the highlights of your trip. And welcome!
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  #3  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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I'm in a similar situation, with both UK and German passports. Twice last year I entered Iran with my German passport, UK registered car and UK driving license, no problem at all.

The issue is only in issuing a visa, at the border, if you have a visa, they don't care where you are from. You won't have any issues.

And I would strongly recommend a visit to Iran, it's quite unlike anywhere else.

It's been said a lot on this site, but just to re-iterate, do not tell the agency which gets you your visa reference number (aka visa invitation) that you plan to enter in a private vehicle, or they will tell you that a guide is required. Just be a good tourist and say you're flying in and out but want a visa ahead of time for peace of mind.

Good luck
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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.
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  #4  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bonnie25 View Post
Right, bit of background.
I have a British passport, but I could get an Irish one.
Bike is registered in UK
Licence is from UK.
Planning and overland trip from UK to SE Asia. Iran is a massive headache- I really want to go, but Brits are unable to travel independently.
My plan is to get an Irish passport, and then I will be able to travel alone, but the bike will have UK plates. Has anyone got any experience travelling with a vehicle from a different country to them?
Or do I just admit defeat and go around?
I'm leaving in 5 months and I really need to finalise my route!
Thanks for your help!

I'm not going to be much help because I'm in exactly the same situation - dual UK / Irish passports and looking at a trip to Iran in (autumn) 2016 on a UK plated bike using the Irish passport. So far I've done nothing other than look up the address of the Iranian embassy in Dublin.

I've done a couple of bike trips so far - one in Europe and one in the US - using the Irish passport and my UK driving licence and not had any problems but that was partly because nobody asked to see both of them at the same time.

If you don't have your Irish passport yet it's probably not a bad idea to start the application process sooner rather than later. You'll need a paper trail of birth certificates to prove the connection, a bunch of utility bills to prove your residency and they took my UK passport as proof of identity. Once I had the paperwork it took about six weeks for the process to go through.
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  #5  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by backofbeyond View Post
I'm not going to be much help because I'm in exactly the same situation - dual UK / Irish passports and looking at a trip to Iran in (autumn) 2016 on a UK plated bike using the Irish passport. So far I've done nothing other than look up the address of the Iranian embassy in Dublin.

I've done a couple of bike trips so far - one in Europe and one in the US - using the Irish passport and my UK driving licence and not had any problems but that was partly because nobody asked to see both of them at the same time.

If you don't have your Irish passport yet it's probably not a bad idea to start the application process sooner rather than later. You'll need a paper trail of birth certificates to prove the connection, a bunch of utility bills to prove your residency and they took my UK passport as proof of identity. Once I had the paperwork it took about six weeks for the process to go through.

Thanks guys - this is really helpful. I suppose they are both EU and look very similar- and i bet they don't see many EU vehicles / licences anyway.
Better get applying
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  #6  
Old 13 Dec 2015
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 79
Quote:
Originally Posted by eurasiaoverland View Post
I'm in a similar situation, with both UK and German passports. Twice last year I entered Iran with my German passport, UK registered car and UK driving license, no problem at all.

The issue is only in issuing a visa, at the border, if you have a visa, they don't care where you are from. You won't have any issues.

And I would strongly recommend a visit to Iran, it's quite unlike anywhere else.

It's been said a lot on this site, but just to re-iterate, do not tell the agency which gets you your visa reference number (aka visa invitation) that you plan to enter in a private vehicle, or they will tell you that a guide is required. Just be a good tourist and say you're flying in and out but want a visa ahead of time for peace of mind.

Good luck
Your journey looks fantastic! Been reading your blog for the last hour!
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