Embassy report: Iranian visa in Istanbul

[rowanv]

Embassy report for Iranian consulate in Istanbul, applying with Australian passport.

I applied through the eVisa system and my application was rejected with no explanation. I was quite surprised, because I have been to the Iran before. After the rejection, I used the travel agent recommended by Caravanistan and was able to obtain an LOI instead, which I took to the consulate. Visa was ready for collection in 2 days and cost €100. No other documents were required than my passport and a copy of the LOI, not even photographs.

[santerironty]

Applied with a Finnish passport on September 17th 2018 in Istanbul. I had gotten the reference number from Key2Persia. The visa section opens at 14.00 (although a bit late); there were people outside the consulate already at 13.15. I went in from the main door, then was required to leave my bag and phone at the entrance (they have security watching your stuff). I took a waiting number and waited for maybe 15 minutes before leaving my passport and the grant notice of e-visa at the desk (no other documents were asked for). I was told to go sit at the waiting area and waited for maybe 30 minutes until I was called back to the desk by name and nationality. I was given a piece paper with the name of the consulate and their bank account number. The cost for a visa for the next day was 80 euros, same day 120 euros. Surprisingly enough, some Americans I met had their visas for 60 euros for the following day. I chose the same day option and went to the bank opposite the consulate; they give you your passport with you because you need it when you pay for the visa. They only accepted Turkish Lira, cash. I paid and went back to the consulate with the receipt. I went directly to the visa desk with no waiting number and they took my passport and the receipt. They told me to wait and after 15 minutes I got the passport back with the new visa. The whole process took about 1h45min.

[Gone For A Drive.]

Here is our story. Married couple, he with Austrian citizenship, she with a German one. We already traveled to Iran in 2014 and at that time had no difficulties obtaining the visas from the Iranian embassy in Munich.

For this trip we applied mid of November 2018 using the e-visa system with pickup in Istanbul. One week later the status was still "Waiting for verification" but to be sure we still visited the embassy. We were told to wait one more week. When we came back a week later, the status had not changed, but we were told that it was "inofficially" denied. And that we must wait until it becomes official after 30 days.

It took about 10-15 minutes of discussion but then the guy in the embassy changed the status of our application in the online system so that we could apply again. We immediately received an email saying our application was rejected. "Reason for rejection: It is canceled by visa applicant".

Thanks to this "official" rejection we could take another try and immediately contacted Key2Persia. On the third working day in the morning one application (the Austrian one) was granted but the German one was denied again. Zahra from Key2Persia immediately wrote that she will try again and the next day in the morning we received the other approval, too.

Receiving the actual visa in the embassy was straight forward as described here and on Caravanistan. We chose express and payed 75 Euros each because at that time we had already spent almost 3 weeks in Istanbul waiting for these approvals.

[NachoVdB]

I am a Belgian guy, travelling alone by bike. I went to the Consulate on Tuesday. Queuing outside before the opening (14h) does not make sense since not all people will take part of the process, but foremost because the number system inside the consulate is not used (for visa matters). You take a number but after some time you will see that the numbers above the booths do not change. People will just go there and try to get their matters arranged. My advice is to do the same. Try to talk to te guy asap without taking into account the number system. He is very friendly and when it is really chaos he will try to help the easy cases (read: EU citizens) first.

I had the visa authorization code arranged through Zahra from Key2Persia (see form Caravanistan). The RN (grant notice) given by the MFA was actually the only document he needed next to my passport. He will direct you to the bank around the corner (payment in Turkish Lira) to pay for the visa. I took the speed procedure which costs 75 euros and will get you a visa within 24h. Normal procedure costs 50 euros and takes one week. After delevering the prove of payment together with the RN and my passport I could come back to get my visa the next day. 30 day visa valid in the next 90 days. Not stamped in the passport but you get it printed out on an A4. Very friendly guy but second time again chaos in the consulate.

[ArnoAgape]

I am a French guy, hitchhiking from France to Thailand, and I went to the Consulate 15 days ago. It's the same than Nacho but the Express Visa is 48 hours later, and costs 75 €, one week is 50 €. Don't forget your RN! (I did it with Key2Persia, was quick, I recommend it!)

[tomtimmerman]

Two Dutch citizens, applied successfully. Received the RN via Key2Persia (contacted via Caravanistan). Note that the Istanbul Consulate only accepts visa applications on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, although it is stated everywhere (even on the information board right outside the consulate) that it is Monday-Friday. So take note of these days when going there to apply!

[jonabo]

Everything went as mentioned above: no pictures, no passport copy, no insurance. Just your passport and your GN. Regarding GN I made it through Zahra from Key2Persia, everything was fast and easy, just be sure to put an itinerary of 30 days as i put 25 days thinking i'd get 30 but not. The bank only accepts cash (75€ with spanish citizenship) and I got the visa the same day (paper and email).

Just go there at 14h and talk with the guy somehow, no sense taking a number. He is friendly and tell him you want the visa as soon as possible. It worked for me.

[Valentin.vak]

According to person at the entrance and consulate email visa applications now only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 09:00 - 12:00

[Valentin.vak]

Traveler from Ukraine, Tuesday 02.11.21. Waited in queue for 20 min, then got my visa printed for 83 euro in 10 minutes. No questions asked, no docs required

[Jeremie]

French nationality. I went to the iranian consulate in Istanbul Tuesday 22.03.21 with the grant notice obtained with the help of the agency key2persia (it took 1 month to get the grant notice). At the entrance of the consulate I was told to write my phone number on the grant notice and leave it at the consulate.
Six days later, monday 28.03.21, I got a call from the consulate saying that I can come pick up my visa the next day.
I picked up my visa on Tuesday 29.03.21 at 9 a.m. The guy at the entrance checked that my grant notice had been validated before letting me in. It took 20 minutes to get the visa. I only had to shiw my passport, no other documents required. I paid 80€ (1280 tl) by card (mastercard) directly at the counter of the consulate, no need to go to a bank. The visa was printed on a A4 page and I also got it as PDF file per email.
According to the man at the entrance of the consulate, visa are only delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8:30 to 12:30. I think you can still bring your grant notice with your phone number from Monday to Friday. According to the man I had on the phone it would be faster if you give a turkish phone number instead of a foreign phone number as I did.