Iranian & Pakistan Visa in Ankara
 

Hi has anyone applied for visas in Ankara ?

We are British and would like to get the Iranian & Pakistan visas in London but by the time we get ot each country they would have ran out. So would like to apply in Ankara then travel around Turkey collecting them later on. We are in no rush so time not a problem.

Yep, got my Iranian visa in Ankara. No problems, the guys were freindly and helpful. However, I got a transit visa only valid for ten days, which only takes a day to process. If you get a tourist visa valid for up to a month it takes longer, possibly three weeks from memory, although somebody should be able to confirm or refute this.

Matt :)

Iran has consulates in Istanbul, Erzurum and Trabzon, if I remember correctly. In theory, you can apply at one place and collect in another. I'm a German and applied in Istanbul, told them I want to pick it up in Ankara. (Erzurum apparently wasn't possible.) They said it takes ten days. It took 12 days in the end, but yes, they were very friendly.

Pakistan turned out to be a big problem. I had two visas from Germany, but they expired when I got to TR. Wanted to apply in Ankara and they demanded the infamous letter of non-objection from my embassy. They refused. I had to go to Abu Dhabi to get my visa, and even there it was a hassle and they only gave me two weeks in the end. Easily extended in the country, however.

So, if you want to apply outside your home country, make sure your embassy will in fact deliver this letter to you or you are stuck. Last I heard Pak visas are easier to get in Tehran, but I don't know whether you can rely on that.

Alternatively, get a 2nd passport, prepare all the forms and get your folks back home to pay the fee and post it to the embassy, then send it to you.

As a side note: the enforced detour to the Arabian Peninsula was the best that could have happened to me! See my website.

hi there,

i have an iranian friend here in Ankara. He is doing his final year of his PhD and has good realtions with the Iranian embassy here. He told that he may help to get the Iranian visas for you within a couple of days without any problem. But will cost you something. you may e-mail him for details:

mehrdad.atabak [at] gmail.com

hope this helps.

Thanks Ozhanu,

Will drop him a line.

Istanbul? We got our Pak visas in Istanbul - three month ones, happily given, done in a few days. That was a few years ago mind you.

Simon

i heard from several travelers that erzurum is the easiest place in turkey to obtain an iranian visa. usually it takes less than two days to get a full visa, as opposed to up to two weeks in ankara, but i'm not sure about british passport holders given that the uk and iran are not on friendly terms.

as for pak visa, you can wait til you get to zahedan, which is the easiest place to get a pak visa in iran (also one-two days process time). applying in tehran is not easy from what i heard. however i applied for my pak visa in ankara and it took two days for them to issue--this was in june last year. the consulate there was pretty empty when i applied, so i respectfully asked for a 30 day visa but was given a 45 day one instead! so be sure to ask for a longer visa while there.

I have read here that about a year ago they stopped issuing Pak visas in Zahedan altogether and several bikers were forced to return to TR.

Did the Pakis ask you for a letter from your embassy? They did and my embassy told me "your trip finishes here"!

Pete,

Contemplating getting the Iranian and Pakistan visas whilst here in london then if they run out they would be easier to apply in another country if they had already been granted.

Anyone am I right or wrong? ortalking complete B***t lol

I was in Zahedan last year and can confirm it is hard, if not impossible, to get a visa for Pak there. I called the Pak consulate in Ottawa (I'm Canadian) and a visa for year after explaining my situation around the timing etc. Iran was not possible on a Canadian visa (current diplomatic spat) and I used my Belgian passport in Damascus. There is a way to speed up the process. Drop me a line via www.nohorizons.net

Hi,

if you are British, would strongly suggest to get your Pak visa in London as it's alot easier then in any other country!!
Very easy and 6 months valid from date of issue. Iran we got in Istanbul afer waiting for 10 days.

Have fun.

Roel
www.popadd.com/overlandy2006

This used to be the case for Iran some years ago, but I don't think it is any more. Definitely not for Pak. I was in that situation.

From what I heard, an expired Iranian visa will shortcut subsequent application processes. It did last year for people I traveled with. Also, if you are going to India after Pak, better to get a 6 month multiple entry visa prior to Islamabad. They seems to be very picky there as to who they hand out 3 month or more visas out to these days...