It seems the visa for Iran is a problem for many people.

This is what we did twice (in 2002) and all worked fine and sort-of-fast.

We had ourselves invited by an Iranian travel agency, who the does the proper application to Tehran. That's a PAID service of course.
How does it work :
- you fill in the application form on the Internet. "Name of father" and such things is also there. You also have to fill in in which Embassy you will apply for your visas (Delhi, Islamabad, etc.).
- you go home/tent and wait for some days (one took 3 days, another took 5, on the website they say 5-7 days)
- they send you a VISA REFERENCE NUMBER to your e-mail address, and that's THE most vital piece of information. This number is assigned by their Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or some simular institution). It is then sent (by this institution or by the agency) to the embassy of your choice. You go to the this embassy and fill in the visa application forms, ADDING this number somewhere clearly, so they can match this number with the number they have received.
It then takes just two or three days to get the visas !! How about that !?
Visa cost was 60 U$ pp.

We applied once from Belgium, the second time from Islamabad, both times with the above procedure. Twice we got tourist visas for one month. (well... the last time (in PAK) we made a little mistake and got "only" 25 days as a result : we filled in "one month" on the forms never thinking we were in an Islamic country and "one month" equals 25 days in their calendar ! Another lesson learned.)

We also heard that the Iranians in Delhi were crap. The ones in Islamabad are more or less o.k. though. If you go up the KKH, that's surely an option. Else, it's 'just' a do-able one day 300 kms along the GT road from Lahore.
You will have to sit and wait for a few hours each time though, but in the end, the system worked. No idea how much has changed since last February, but my guess is "not much".

The websites of the agencies :
http://www.iranparadise.com (27 U$ pp in 2002 for the visa arrangement)
http://www.key2persia.com (30 U$ pp in 2002 for the visa arrangement)

The first is based in Tehran, the second in Shiraz. I'd say : take the one Shiraz because it means you can go and pay these guys in cash (I suppose no-one voluntarily goes to Tehran ?). They are on Zand Boulevard, main street in Shiraz. Have a look on their website - all is explained there clearly as well.
(else --like we had to do-- you have to transfer the money by international money transfer. Not only it's difficult (let alone from --say-- India to Iran) but we had a hard time finding all their necessary bank details and the money came back twice. First time because we did it in dollars and there's a boycot on dollars into Iran, then we did it in euro's which worked fine but the bank data were insufficient to trace the man. It took a month each time before we got it all back...)
They will no doubt try to make you book some tour with them, and their English is not always very "clear". One refused to arrange the visa reference number without booking a tour, then all of a sudden, after we went to the other, the first DID send us the number...
But we did pay (we're honest girls you see), and hopefully they recieved the money and will still send you a number without advance payments as they did with us.

VERY VERY IMPORTANT : since these guys trusted us for paying up AFTER receiving the number, I hope they will do so in future too, for everyone. PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF THE PEOPLE COMING BEHIND YOU : PAY YOUR DEBTS TO THE AGENCY !

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IMPORTANT too : the "using time" of a tourist visa is 3 months which starts to run on the day you apply for your visas in the embassy. You have to ENTER the country within these 3 months, but you can EXIT after the last date - as long as you don't overstay the total visa time of course.
It means if you get a 30 day visa valid from 15/02 till 14/05/2003, you have to enter at the latest on 13/5/2003 and then you can stay your 30 days.
This is different from what is commonly used for visas in other countries, and it causes confusion even within Iran amongst police chekcpoints and hotel staff. But don't let anyone tell you differently : we stayed twice long after our last date (e.g. 13/05) and had no problem whatsoever leaving the country. Friends of us did the same by the way.

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The hole-in-the-wall treatment seems to be common amongst quite a few Embassies outside "the western world", as is treating you like shit. Doesn't mean you don't get what you need. Used to fend off "annoying customers" I'd say Friendly smiles help (usually). As does a neat headscarf for women and a suit for the men

The "sending to Tehran for processing" is also common practice for Irani visas. Anywhere any time, even back in 1999. It's a sort of "checking out if you are a reliable guest" (and not a possible spy) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Hope this helps many people out there.
If you need any more information on this paperwork, please feel free to contact us.
Happy traveling in this friendly country.


Trui

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Iris and Trui
2 belgian women, often travelling on motorbikes (now on DR650SE's)
2nd overland from home to Northern India and back, April-October 2002

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Iris and Trui
2 belgian women, often travelling on motorbikes (now on DR650SE\'s)
2nd overland from home to Northern India and back, April-October 2002