Hi. I am wanting to go on a tour to Iran in April next year, have wanted to go there for years. I have been met, not surprisingly, with continuous visa hurdles, but the extent astonishes me. The agency that issues visa authorizations for the tour company says, understandably, that they will not issue a visa authorization without me being able to tell them which embassy I am going through. Thing is, they also won't apply for the auth any sooner than ten weeks before the tour and are saying it often takes five weeks just for the letter to come through. Why is that? Also, I am a new Zealand national in Canada. There is no Iran consulate here and I don't want to send my passport all the way back to new Zealand with the timeframe the agency has given me. Would an Iranian consulate/embassy/interest section in the states, Ankara or Muscat process a tourist visa application for a NZ passport if I had the authorization number? If they would, how long would it take? Anything I would have to watch? Thanks so much.
Kiwis get visa on arrival at an airport in Iran. If you have a New Zealand passport, there are no hoops to jump through. Just get the visa when you land.
Kiwis get visa on arrival at an airport in Iran. If you have a New Zealand passport, there are no hoops to jump through. Just get the visa when you land.
Yeah, I have looked at the visa on arrival. I don't really want to do that as it is only valid for 2 weeks which is barely enough time for the tour and I wouldn't have time to go renew it. Also, there have been people who have been turned away at the airport, so this would be my last option. Could anyone answer my question about the embassies please?
Visa On Arrival is now valid for 30 days, as far as I know.
Your authorisation number has an expiry timeframe, which is why they won't apply any sooner than 10 weeks before. The authorisation number and the visa both have time limits for each.
This visa is painful to get, which is why a Visa on Arrival would be by far the best option for you.
@mariwilson --
I don't see your problem. Have you done any other research on this? If you so, you should realise that there is no Iranian diplomatic representation in the US, either.
The process is quick straightforward -- when applying for an authorisation number just nominate a consulate for collecting the visa and notify the agency. If you are going to Turkey before Iran collect it there. Simple.
The five weeks processing time is probably for a Canadian passport, because of the recent prickly relationship between the countries, or else the agency is giving itself a generous margin for delivery. For anyone not travelling on a US, Canadian or UK passport the processing time is likely to be five to 10 days. I have an Australian passport and the last time I applied for an authorisation number it was ready in three days.
But pick your visa agency carefully. Some of them are duds and cheats, and some have mixed success rates. There is a multi-page whole thread devoted to this topic. I suggest you begin with the last page of that and read backwards.
If you will be in Iran in late March you will encounter Nowruz. But you already know about that from your research, right?
Actually, there is an Iranian diplomatic presence in Washington dc. They do not have a formal consulate BUT they do have an interest section at Pakistan's embassy which can issue visas. My problem - the agency that is linked to my tour group and issues our visa auths is clueless. they tried telling me I could definitely go through Ottawa, that they definitely couldn't apply for the visa auth until 10 to 8 weeks before the tour (I wasn't told that at the time I booked) and that it could take 5 weeks to process the auth alone. They couldn't even tell me whether or not it was ok to nominate an alternative consulate to new Zealand where I am from. I am very very annoyed. And yes, I am very well aware of nowruz.
I have not actually paid yet, and won't unless and until they can issue a visa auth. The tour is scheduled mid april but apparently they cannot issue the visa auth till around march 10 to 15, ie bang on nowruz. The flight centre came up with the tour company so I figured they would be ok. They are British and do respond to the flight centre agent, but everything they are telling her is just oh my god. I tried ringing the embassy in the united Arab emirates yesterday and they weren't helpful either.
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