Iran Visa for Canadian Citizens
A step by step guide explaining how Canadian citizens can get Iranian visa
How to Travel to Iran as a Canadian?
Traveling to Iran has become much more accessible during recent years. People from various countries can quickly get a visa for visiting Iran and enjoy their trip to this ancient country. Most of the tourists can even get a visa on arrival. But, there are some exceptions as well. One of the exceptions is the Iran visa for Canadian citizens. Iran doesn’t have an embassy in Canada, and Canada doesn’t have an embassy in Iran. Canadian citizens cannot get a visa on arrival. Also, they can’t travel Iran on their own, and a guide should always accompany them. Following, we will explain how to travel to Iran as a Canadian step by step.
Steps For Getting Iran Visa for Canadian Citizens
Step 1
Choosing An Iranian Travel Agency
The first thing Canadian citizens should do for getting a visa is choosing an Iranian travel agency (like Alibabatrek). Canadians have to book an Iran tour before traveling to Iran. They have to do it because of two reasons; First, you need the tour company to apply for a travel authorization number. Getting the travel authorization number is necessary for obtaining a visa. Furthermore, you should choose a specific tour and set the dates of your travel. Showing the particular details of your trip is very important in the process of getting the visa.
Second, a guide has to accompany you during your time in Iran. It doesn’t mean that you cannot go anywhere without your guide. But, your guide has to know where you are.
Step 2
Sending Your Documents To The Travel Agency
In this step, you should obtain an authorization code for traveling to Iran. You should send the documents that are required to the Iranian travel agency you have chosen. The process of getting this code happens in Iran. Also, it takes almost 40 days (about two months) to receive your authorization code. Therefore, you should make sure that you have enough time for this process. In other words, you cannot plan for coming to Iran next month when you don’t have an authorization number. Your tour company will receive the code and then sends It to you.
Following, you can see the requirements for getting an authorization number/ visa grant:
- You should fill the form your tour company sends you, Apply Online for Iran Visa
- A scan of the first page of your passport ( with high quality)
- Your official photo with high quality ( you should be looking at the front in your picture, and the background should be one-colored)
- Your working and educational resume in the last ten years in a Word file
Step 3
Sending Authorization Visa Application To The Embassy
You can now apply for getting a visa after getting your authorization code. All you need to do is posting/ taking your application form and authorization code to the embassy. But, as we mentioned above, Iran doesn’t have an embassy in Canada. So, the nearest place to you for sending your documents is the Iranian interest section of the Pakistani embassy in Washington. Here, you can see the documents you will need for applying for a visa:
- Your passport
- Your authorization code
- Passport photo
- 120$ USD if you are posting your documents/ 90$ USD if you are taking the documents to the embassy
- Return envelope
Step 4
Getting The Visa
This step in the final step for getting your visa. Also, the process of issuing your permit takes 2-3 weeks. After that, you can receive your visa at your mailbox. After receiving your visa, you will have only three months to start your travel to Iran. You can only stay in Iran for a month, but you can also renew your visa. Your visa renewal will give you 30 extra days in Iran. But, you can only renew your visa during your stay in Iran and only in Tehran.
Tips
Some Tips You Should Know
- The Canadian-Iranians who are traveling with their Canadian passport will need to do all the steps above. But, none of the steps above is necessary if you are traveling with your Iranian passport.
- The process of getting a visa with American or British passports is as same as a Canadian passport. So, using your other American or British passport will not make the process easier for you.
- The whole process of getting a visa for a Canadian citizen takes almost three months. Including two months for an authorization number and 2-3 weeks for receiving your visa from Pakistani embassy in Washington.
- In case you have the passport of another country, we recommend you to use it for getting your visa. This way, you can avoid the complications of getting a visa with your Canadian passport. You can get your visa from the Pakistani embassy in Washington or get a visa on arrival. To get a visa on arrival, your travel agency gives you an authorization code. So, you can get your visa at Imam Khomeini airport.
An Experience of Canadians Who Traveled Iran
You can learn a lot about the Iran visa for Canadian citizens by reading about the experience of other travelers. Following is what one of the Canadian citizens about getting his Iranian visa:
“My tour agency told me that it takes 30 days to receive my visa code from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But one month passed, and no visa code appeared. Then after 14 more days, my travel agency told me that they had received my visa code. What I highly recommend is making sure you do the process soon enough. Because the process of getting the visa code might take too long and you don’t want the stress and rush.”
Another Candian citizen who applied for an Iranian visa said:” It wasn’t as hard as it seemed at first. You should just be patient and let your travel agency do the work.”
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