Visa Authorization Code Service

No — and mixing them up is the most common visa mistake travelers make. The authorization code is a pre-approval reference issued by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) after your application is filed. It is not the visa. With the code in hand, you still collect the actual visa: at the international airport when you arrive by air, or at an Iranian embassy or consulate beforehand if you plan to enter by land. Think of it as step one of two — the code alone does not get you across the border.

Yes. EU passport holders — and most other nationalities — need no guide and can travel independently once inside Iran. The mandatory-guide rule applies specifically to US, UK and Canadian citizens. What EU travelers still can't skip is the visa route: applications go through a licensed Iranian agency, because direct online applications are often rejected or left unanswered. If you hold an EU passport alongside a US, UK or Canadian one, see our dual-citizenship guide — the passport you enter on decides which set of rules applies to you.

You can try applying on your own, but direct applications are very often rejected or simply left unanswered — usually without explanation, a frustration the forums are full of. In practice, tourist visas go through a licensed Iranian agency, which lodges your application with the MFA and sends you the authorization code once approved. Apply several weeks before your trip. US, UK and Canadian citizens have an extra requirement: their visa is tied to a pre-arranged guided tour with an MFA-approved itinerary. We handle the full agency filing and your authorization code if you book with us.

It depends on how you enter. Flying in: bring your authorization code and collect the visa at the international airport on arrival — the standard route for most nationalities. Entering overland: you must collect the visa at an Iranian embassy or consulate before you reach the border, because no visas are issued at land crossings. Decide your entry route before you apply, so you and your agency know where the visa will be collected.

Not at a land border — no tourist visa is issued at land crossings, whether you arrive from Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan or elsewhere, so overland travelers must collect their visa at an Iranian embassy or consulate first. At international airports the picture is different: a visa on arrival does exist for many nationalities — though never for US, UK or Canadian citizens, who must arrange everything in advance, and a number of other nationalities are excluded too. Even where it is available, turning up without paperwork means queues, an on-the-spot fee and a small but real risk of refusal, and eligibility rules can tighten without warning. The dependable route is the same for everyone: get the authorization code in advance through an agency, then collect the visa at the airport (air arrival) or at an embassy before the border (land arrival).

The authorization code doesn't last forever — typically one to three months, depending on where you collect the visa: codes for embassy collection expire sooner, codes for airport collection last longer. So timing matters: apply several weeks before your trip, but not many months in advance, or the code may lapse before you travel. Once collected, the tourist visa allows most nationalities a stay of up to 30 days, and extensions are usually possible inside Iran. If your code does expire, the fix is simply a fresh application — but that costs you the waiting period again, so plan the application window around your travel dates from the start.

Rejections happen, and Iran rarely gives a reason — sometimes nothing more than a terse 'you will return.' US passport holders are refused most often. The good news from travelers who have been through it: a rejection is not necessarily final. Re-applying through a different licensed agency often succeeds where the first attempt failed, since agencies vary in their track record with the MFA. Two practical rules: never book non-refundable flights before your authorization code is confirmed, and if you are refused, change the agency, not just the paperwork.

The portal is genuine — it is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' official e-visa system — but you are not imagining the confusion; the forums are full of travelers stuck on it. The key thing to understand: submitting your own application is exactly the do-it-yourself route that often stalls or ends in rejection. The route that works is the same application filed by a licensed agency on your behalf, after which you receive your authorization code. If the site seems broken, stalls, or your direct application sits unanswered, that is the normal experience — go through an agency instead.