How to Get an Iran Visa Yourself – No Agency Required

 I visited Iran in the summer of 2024. 

 I stayed in Iran for 3 months, visited many beautiful places during my travels, and was able to connect with wonderful people. 

 I would like to share everything I experienced while staying in Iran, but I think the post would become too long. When I first visited Iran, applying for a visa felt quite unfamiliar - probably because most people reading this have never applied for a visa before or have only applied for visas online. 

To obtain an Iranian visa, visiting an embassy is essential, and it's true that visa issuance is somewhat more stringent compared to other countries. 

 When I first applied for an Iranian visa, I analyzed resources from both domestic and international sources one by one, but I remember there weren't many materials that provided clear answers and certainty. 

 Among them, there was a page with good information that helped me a lot, but I spent quite an anxious time until the moment my visa was confirmed. 

I will try to write with unnecessary content minimized as much as possible. To apply for an Iranian visa, you must first visit https://evisa.mfa.ir/

It's on the main screen. You can find it easily.

Please select the INDIVIDUAL AND TRAVELLERS option here. Then select Start a Visa Application at the bottom

 Press start a Visa Application!

 Visa type = Tourist

For Visa Type, select Tourist For Nationality, select the applicant's nationality For Type of passport, select Ordinary For Place of Issue, select the place where you will receive the visa. Since I am Korean, if I enter Seoul, the Iranian embassy in Seoul will appear

 Please check the file size of your personal photo carefully. The face in the photo must be clearly visible. I hope you don't experience the unfortunate situation of having to take a new photo because it was taken incorrectly

You can fill in all the applicable information. I think the above content will not be difficult. For Occupation, enter your workplace name, and if you don't have a job, enter that you don't have one. For Personal Photo, take a photo of your passport photo, crop just the face part, save it, and then attach it.

Step2 Contact Information 

 "When you scroll down, you will see the second information entry screen. There shouldn't be any issues here either. The problematic parts here are: Residence address Phone Number in Iran Address in Iran.

You probably don't have a Phone Number at the moment. If you look at the paragraph on the left that says 'Please provide your Accommodation details in Iran including address and phone number,' you'll understand quickly. For Residence address, enter your current address. 

For Phone Number in Iran, it's best to enter the number of someone you know in Iran, or alternatively, contact the accommodation where you'll be staying, explain the issue, and write down their phone number. 

Of course, if you've recently visited Iran and have a Usim, it would be best to write that number, but this won't apply to most people. 

For Address in Iran, write the address of the accommodation where you'll be staying. Due to the sanctions currently imposed on Iran, it's not easy to book accommodations in Iran online from Korea, but the methods I can suggest are as follows:

1. Install the Snapp app (not available on Play Store, you need to go to https://snapp.ir/  separately), install the app, find accommodations, and enter their number and address. There's the inconvenience of needing to know a bit of Persian, but if you have enough time, you can take screenshots of the page and use Google Translate or AI apps like GPT or Claude to translate the images while navigating the page, which shouldn't take too long. However, you won't be able to get a hotel reservation confirmation, so it might be difficult to explain this part later. 

Therefore, select the hotel you want, copy the hotel's name, search for it on Google, and send a message through the hotel's Instagram or messenger that appears, make a reservation, and request a reservation confirmation online. If you would like more information about this app, please click this link - What is Snapp app?

From what I've verified, most sizable hotels have messenger addresses like Instagram or Telegram."

2. Search for the name of the city where you want to stay and the word 'accommodation' in Persian using Google Translate, then contact the hotel owner to get their number and address. 

I highly recommend this method. This is because later, among the documents you will submit to the Iranian embassy, they will require hotel accommodation information. I had plans to stay in Shiraz, and after finding hotel information for Shiraz on Google, I contacted the hotel owner via email to request a reservation confirmation, received it online, and submitted it to the embassy.

I will not write the address of that hotel to prevent potential misuse by those who might have no actual intention of visiting the hotel.

 This is the hotel reservation confirmation that I received online

On the third page, you can fill in your passport information. For Passport Copy, scan and print the page with your photo and passport number.

Finally, this is Step 4. For Duration (day), select the period you will stay in Iran. It's possible for up to 90 days, and I received 80 days, but to get this, you need to specify in great detail when and where you will stay, and there's a high possibility of rejection. 

I think I was able to get 90 days because I submitted information about which transportation I would use to go where and how for each schedule on a daily basis. 

 Even if you want to stay for 90 days, you can first select 30 days, then apply for a visa extension at a government office after arriving in Iran, so please don't overdo it and enter the exact dates you'll be staying. 

Due to international situation issues, your departure schedule might change urgently due to flight cancellations, etc., so it would be better to add about 3-4 days and explain those additional days later. 

If Residence Card is not applicable to you, you don't need to attach it. ID card is your identification card. 

For Approximate arrival date, it's best to enter it according to your booked flight date. Since you'll obviously book a return flight as well, you can enter the departure date accordingly. 

Since I planned to enter via land from Azerbaijan, I wrote an approximate date and also explained this in the attached documents.

Once the online application is complete, you will receive instructions at the email address you submitted

After that, search for the 'embassy you will visit' that you submitted, and send your flight ticket, hotel reservation confirmation, travel itinerary, and passport photo to that embassy's email address. 

If you have difficulty finding the embassy's email address, try contacting the embassy directly by phone. Embassy addresses and emails differ depending on the country where you reside, so you need to search carefully.

This is the information for the Korean embassy. If your nationality is different, 
search for the Iranian embassy information in your country

We need to send a final email to the Iranian embassy for our visa application.

This is the email I sent, and the attachments are my Iran travel itinerary, hotel reservation confirmation, passport photo, and a copy of the flight ticket. 

It's best to apply at least one month before your departure. 

For inquiries about the progress, you can contact the Iranian embassy by phone at their address to receive quick feedback, so check the Iranian embassy's working hours and contact them accordingly.

Once all procedures are completed, call the embassy and ask for a meeting date.

I Got about 80days Visa

I applied about a month before my trip and received my Iranian visa about two weeks before departure. I hope you have wonderful experiences while traveling in Iran.😊

-Please note that electronic cigarettes will be confiscated when entering Iran.

-Other exchange rate information: Currancy Exchange Rate of Iran(unofficial) Each city has currency exchange offices or streets. You can exchange at slightly higher rates than the unofficial rate, but it's much better than exchanging at banks. 

Be careful of scams when exchanging currency, and ask several money changers how much they will exchange for you, then exchange with the person offering the best rate.

When I visited in 2024, the unofficial exchange rate was 58,000 tomans to 1 dollar, and I exchanged at 56,000:1 dollar with money changers under the condition of receiving cash (better rates are available for bank transfers, but you likely won't have an account, and there's a method of receiving through a local friend's card account, but they attempted to scam me once, perhaps because I looked naive. My friend immediately checked and alerted me, so I complained and got all my money back). 

Currently, the exchange rate has risen to around 110,000 tomans per dollar. I expect about 107,000-108,000 tomans per dollar when exchanging on the street.

-You can also receive packages sent from Korea, but it takes a long time. I sent about 10 15kg through the post office, which cost around 200,000-300,000 won ($140-$210). Due to the conflict with Israel during my stay, a German airline refused shipment, so it came back to Korea once and was then sent via Qatar Airways, taking over a month to receive.

-Land entry is possible through Astara, Azerbaijan (prior visa issuance is required). It seems possible to enter by land from other regions as well, but it's difficult to give a definitive answer.

-If you stay for more than 30 days, you need to register your phone to use a SIM card. After 30 days, SIM card usage becomes impossible. This registration fee is very expensive. You can either bring a separate cheap phone or purchase a new one locally.

-I brought a Galaxy Fold 3, but since the registration fee was several hundred thousand won, I just bought the cheapest Galaxy model for about 80,000 won and used it for the remaining period.

-When buying a SIM card locally, please ask for VPN installation even if you have to pay a tip. Without a VPN, using the internet is very difficult. I tried both free and paid VPNs, and in terms of speed and stability, paid VPNs are overwhelmingly more convenient. Tell the staff you'll pay a tip and fee, then use a paid VPN. It costs just a few dollar.