IRAN Visa On Arrival

IRAN Visa On Arrival(VOA)

a foreign person who have been in iran told:

"I've just come back from Iran and this was the current status of VOAs:

They're now valid for 30 days and costs are 12 euro for compulsory health insurance (this you buy before doing the visa process) and 100 euro for the visa (possible to pay in USD as well). It cost US$136 total for one VOA. The guy at the desk required either a sponsor or a list of all the hotels we stayed in - we gave him a list with phone numbers as he called each to confirm - and did not need our passport photos as he just photocopied our passport face pages. We had to fill out a brief form giving our passport details, address, father's name, and job.

The guy didn't care about the old US visas that were in our passports; we were New Zealanders and Australians. One friend who came in separately said he'd been quizzed about why he was visiting, where he was coming from and what he did for a living (he did not tell the truth on that last question).

You can get an authentication code if you go through a travel agent in Iran, which costs 50 euro, and this will take 10 days and must be picked up at the embassy or airport in your departure city before you go. The VOA then still costs 50 euro at the airport. We found they weren't necessary, but may have sped the process at the airport up a little"

some of the another foreign people experience about IRAN visa on arrival:

1

Iran has quite recently introduced visa on arrival, which is great news, however, just as with many bureaucracies, this one raises a whole bunch of questions, so here is my experience from 2017 February with EU passport. Note, that it differs from country to country and places you have been to (like Israel and Iran do not get along well).Since making a visa in an embassy or consulate was too complicated (nearest consulate is in another country and the procedure is quite absurd), I had to take my chances with the visa on arrival. Spoiler alert – I got the visa, but frankly, I am still not completely sure what one needs in order to obtain it.So here is the summary of what I’ve gathered before my trip and what actually happened at the border.

Iran has been my dream, so I was equipped to enter: passport (valid for more than 6 month and with an empty page for the new visa), insurance claiming being valid in the whole world including Iran, yes, it is the same as with Russia, whole world concept does not include them, it must be specified separately (my insurance wouldn’t not do that, it stated simply Asia). I had fake-booked hotelsto cover all my travel period in Iran, as without train tickets and specific plan I could not know for sure where & when I will be.

Booking accommodation in Iran: As booking.com has literally 3 options for accommodation and as you can’t really pay a deposit without an Iranian account, the booking confirmation is a simple e-mail (so obscure that one property kindly asked me to remind them a month before about my arrival, yes, remind them that I booked a room!).

I read on Trip Advisor that they might call up the property to verify your booking (one guy claimed it has actually happened to him), so if you book or fake book make sure the confirmation indicates dates, address and phone number.

And of course I had my outbound flight ticket and exactly 75 euro in cash

Imam Khomeini International Airport, almost midnight, we two and some 10 others are lining up at the visa on arrival window. An unpleasant guy is angrily shouting something through the window (he was the first and the most unpleasant guy I met throughout the whole trip!) and all the foreigners so lost and confused forming that instant desperate friendship with one another.

We are handed out forms, that we fill in while standing and moving with the line, and my turn comes before I’m done with mine. I start flashing all my homework, but the guy could not care less for all my papers. He grabs my passport, half-filled form and asks if we have insurance. From us two, he takes only one form, the half filled one with my name and my data, somehow it covers us both. Don’t ask. We are handed a piece of paper with hand written 2×75 (for nationals of Lithuania visa is 75 euro per person), we pay at a nearby window and that is it. I carefully ask the main guy what’s next, and he says ‘wait’ and smiles. And so we do.

My friend took his insurance to the 3rd window to get it stamped, as advised. It was a world wide credit card insurance, so it did not state being valid in Iran, but it did indicate not being valid in Israel, which the official found pretty funny and he stamped it and added it being valid for both of us (or at least that’s what we think he wrote).

Some 20 minutes and they start calling us by names and giving back our passports with the pretty fresh visas in themIt does somewhat feel like a no man’s land there, so my advice, keep polite, do not get irritated, do not question the system and you should be fine. And if you behave, a guard may give you saffron ice cream!

PS. At this point Visa on Arrival is available only at Imam Khomeini International airport.

PS2. One cannot enter Iran if in the past 12 months has been to Israel. I went to Iran a bit more than a year after I had been to Israel. However, I did not get my passport stamped in Israel, I was issued little cards upon arrival and upon departure, so judging by my passport there was no way to tell I had ever been to Israel. Nor I was asked about it or had to mark it in the form I was given at the airport, so am not sure how much it actually applies.

2

Hi there, I'm Australian and arrive in Tehran on Friday (in the wee hours - 3:30am). I know a couple of recent posts say that the passport photos and accom details weren't needed, but in favour of being safer than sorry I wanted to have it all in order just in case. Can anyone confirm whether the passport photos require a headscarf? Also, do you need to wear hijab during the flight or only on arrival? 
Would love any advice on how people booked accommodation for Tehran (solo backpacker)..? 
Thanks in advance!

3

Anne karel:"Hello, too bad I read this topic too late. I filled in the form at iranianvisa.com, because I thought this was the official website (stupid!) to arrange the VOA. I tried to cancel the application, but now they send me a couple of emails with the following message back:

"The applications can not be cancelled from the foreign ministry after submission. Your details have already registered at the foreign ministry’s system.
And whether you want to use it or not, in both cases you need to pay the service fee you requested us.
If you do not know the visa processing and what you requested from us, this is your fault.
Please notice that the applications are registered automatically upon receipt of the applications on our system. According to our website’s terms of service which you have accepted by submitting your application on our website, you need to pay the service fee for the application you submitted and cancellation is not an option.
Also you can not apply again because, whenever you arrive at the airport and have an uncompleted application at the MFA’s system , you can not have a new application and double one at the same time and they will check your consular file and can not enter Iran."

Does anyone else experienced this problem with this agency or has advise what to do?
I already contacted the Iranian embassy to ask if we can apply again at the airport, but the guy wasn't very helpfull and said we just have to cancel the application and it will be allright at the airport.
But this isn't an option..."

4

Kalyaran:"I am just back from Iran and what I saw was so many people getting Visa on Arrival. Most were Europeans and they just showed invitation letter and passport or hotels booking, air ticket and so on. The staff give you a paper to go to the bank next to the immigration desk to pay in Euro (as I am Brazilian citizen, I paid 80 Euros, but each nationality has its own price) and also a paper to go to the "insurance desk", which costs about 12 Euros. Surely you can see the staff dont act with good will and there are lots of people around, nobody queuing... It´s something crazy. You have to skip the line so that someone can draw attention to you.

As I have no European passport, I contacted a travell agency first (http://www.iranianvisa.com) and paid them 68 Pounds, but they are nothing professional. If you wanna use a travel agency, I´d better recommend this one: http://www.irantravelingcenter.com/visa-iran-visa/, although I observed none had trouble in getting Visa in Iran at the Airport even they were not Europeans.
The Air Company asked me for Visa before departing in Rome, but I told them my nationality does not require in advance. The Check in lady said she knows, but If I had, would be better, so, it is up to you if you want to board withouth giving explanations or if you want to board with the number of authorization the agency give you before departing and just show it to the airline withouth speaking too much.
Good luck!"

5

Kiwidave:"I used the Tehran Grand:

http://booking.com/5f301e85cd264b9cc

Not cheap at around £100 a night, and far more extravagant than the sorts of place I'd prefer to stay in (small family-run hotels, B&Bs, or similar). Despite its grand appearance, there wasn't much character to the place and it seems mostly aimed at businessmen. But the location is decent, as are the rooms and facilities.

The further north you go in Tehran the more interesting things are and, as you can probably see, booking.com has all of 4 hotels registered in all of Tehran. Tripadvisor appears to have a larger selection.

Given sanctions, you'll find all hotels in Tehran are in need of some renovation and while the 4* or 5* ranking of the hotels was probably once fair, they are generally more than a little bit worn out now. So don't expect anything amazing.

No idea how much this one costs, but looking at the location and reviews "Sepehr Apartment Hotel" may be a better bet"

"I don't think a visa on arrival is available with a UK passport. At least that was the case in July 2016.

The price on a NZ passport is about US$150. I got the impression this was slightly variable and dependent on who you were handing the cash over to. A European passport is about half that price - I have no idea what the NZ govt has done to annoy Iran but clearly we aren't on their favourite list"

6

"My wife and I (HK passport) entered Iran through Tehran International Airport today. The process was easy and fast.

When we approached the Visa counter, we were immediately directed to prchase insurance (euro 14 / person). After that, the official just took a glance at the passport and requested a local contact prrson (first night hotel confirmaion and contacts) and directed us to the bank next door to pay euro 100 / person. After 30 minutes, the visa was ready!!

No photo needed
No itinerary needed
No forms to fill in
No question about my job and family (actually did not ask me anything)
I got an 2011 Israeli stamp on my passport and was no problem at all

The hotel confirmation was the only document submitted

Hotel we stayed in: Asia Hotel (usd35 for a double room with private bathroom, breakfast, wifi) outside Mellat Metro Station"