Visa Extension

Extending your tourist visa to Iran while over here is pretty easy and straightforward.  You just need to have the right documentation and a good explanation as why you need to extend your visa for travel in Iran. The person that primarily will be the decision maker is an Immigration Officer. The office in English is called  “Foreign aliens affairs office” and in Farsi we call it “Edare GozarNameh “. The officer will ask you why you need to extend your visa. A good answer may range as far as :

– I did not think there are so many places that I wanted to see in Iran. I just need more time to see … and …etc. (fill the blank with a city that you have not visited in this trip, that it is a main stream cultural attraction).
– I as planning to see a few main attractions such as Tehran, Isfahan, Yazd and Abyaneh but I ended up spending too much time , lets say in Isfahan and I am short on time to visit, for the sake of argument, Mashhad. Try to chose a city that is not way too far but at the same time not too close.
– I got sick and had to skip this and that highlight but now I feel better and want to make sure to go back and see such and such places.

…etc
You get the picture , yeah?!

Its is a good practice to be as patient as possible and try to answer all the questions that the Immigration office may have to ask you. If all goes well then the officer will accept your extension request then you are good to go.

Remember to bring all the following documentations with you.

Fill out a form which would be included the personal info, extension reasons, place of stay, source of trip payments  … in two copies in Persian and English.

Two passport size pictures . Women preferably with some level of headscarf or hair cover of some sort.

Your passport with at least 6 moths left on its validity.

Passport holder in person should be there and fill out the forms and do the interview.

Copy of the first page of the passport

Receipt of extension fee which is about 345,000 Rials which is like 8 USD . The fee is payable at any nearby bank. So you need to get the deposit paper from the officer and go to the bank, deposit the fee and come back to get the extension stamp in your passport.

Some tips:

·         It is recommend to not try for the extension visa no earlier than two or three days before your current visa is to expire.

·         Tehran visa extension is always busy. Based on feedback we have gotten so far, it appears that  Shiraz Visa Immigration Office is the best place for extending your visa. That said, you can try your luck at any city throughout the country.

·         Go to the visa office in the early morning (about 8:00 in the morning. They are often open around 8 and might close by 1-2pm) and better to not go there in Thursdays (mostly because that is the last working day of the week in Iran before the official weekend day which is Friday). Visa extension offices are close on Fridays.

·         If a travel agency is in charge of the initial entry visa to Iran, then it might be better to go to your travel agency and have them give you a letter of recommendation which you then can file along with your extension request letter.

·         Passenger must have a reasonable excuse to get extension like he ones mentioned above or changing flight schedule….etc.

·         Usually extension you might get on your visa would not be more than one additional month.

·         Extension procedure can take few minutes up to few hours. Better to stay at visa office till get your passport back and make sure all is good before leaving.

·         Make sure to know exactly when is the last day of your visa. That is critical  because you need to do needed arrangements for your return ticket, other booking…etc.