You can extend your Iranian visa by its original duration at least twice, though we have not heard of anyone getting a third extension. This means a 30-day visa with 2 extensions gives you 90 days in Iran.
If you got a shorter visa of eg. 14 days, several reports have come in of travelers who got a 30-day extension on their original 14-day visa. A difference from before, when this was not possible.
It has been reported that a visa on arrival can only be extended in Tehran, but this is not true. We know of at least one person who extended their VOA in Yazd, and afterwards extended a second time in Hamedan. YMMV.
Extensions can be issued from the day you turn up at the visa renewal office, or after the end date of your visa, depending on the official. The extension is often issued in 1 day, but it can also take longer. Visa extension offices are often chaotic affairs. It pays to come with a local helper.
The cost of a visa renewal is 375 000 rials. You need your passport, 2 photocopies of the photo page, of the current Iran visa, and of the entry stamp.
Bandar-e Abbas
March 2017: 30 days from the expiry date of the current visa, 2 days turnaround, Czech passports. Came 7 days before the expiry but in the remaining days there were some holidays too.
The police station is on the Emam Khomeini avenue near: 27.19106 56.32976. It’s on the right side of the street if you are arriving from the city center. You can get there by bus from the downtown (in front of the Citycenter mall).
Needed: 2 photos, a copy of the passports (front page and the stamp page), 375 000 Rials paid in the Melli bank (0,5 km back to the city center on the right) and a business card of a hotel. They were nice and very much willing to give us the extension even though it was clear to them we weren’t staying in hotels. If you don’t stay in hotels or stay in cheap ones, just bring a random business card of one of the fancy hotels in the town. Do bring a business card, not just an address on a piece of paper and especially not in Latin alphabet.
Bushehr
Immigration office is difficult to find (Gmap). Copy of your passport page, copy of first visa + entry stamp and if it is the second extension you need a copy of the first visa extension. This office requested 3 ID pictures instead of 2, women have to give pictures with the head scarf. You should arrive at 08:00 opening time so that you have time to go the banks and come back to the office to complete procedure. On the whole 4-5 hours are necessary.
Note that in Iran banks close at 13:30.
October 2017: very kind staff, good English. Recommended not to mention if you are hosted by Iranian, either you are free camping in a city park or have a hotel (for hotel always be prepared to show up evidence). Payment takes time as you first have to go to Meli Bank to pay the visa fees (345,000 rials) then you have to go to another bank called Ghavamin Bank to pay the administration fees (10,000 rials).
October 2015: Need to pay for the extension in 2 banks far away from the office. They told me to come back in 3 hours. When I came back that was it, another extension. They were suspicious and thought I came to Bushehr just to extend, which was true, and I believe I was lucky to meet rich local Iranians supporting my application. Not sure how much it impacted the outcome though…
Esfahan
The police office for foreigners is located on Rudaki Street. North side of the street, 460m west from the junction with Vahid street (map)[GPS: 32.6300, 51.6327]. Updates collected here.
Esfahan is crowded, and reactions range from “they’re super-friendly there” to “arrogant and unfriendly.” All depends who you have in front of you. Some can get the extension 2 weeks before their visa runs out, others just the day itself. What definitely works is the personal approach. Insist you need your extension now, chat about football, start crying, all valid tactics used by travelers in the past to get their extension in Esfahan. Get there early (7am) to avoid the crowds.
Gorgan
Migration office located at: N 36.84145 E 054.44446/36°50’29.1″N 54°26’39.9″E. You have to pay the fee at the Melli bank which is nearby at N 36.84273 E 054.44390. Address is Bezehti 4th alley, street going right just after Melli bank is Bezehti street. All updates here.
Bring two pictures, a photocopy of your passport as well as of your visa and the entry stamp. Pay the fee. (You can find a copy shop near Melli Bank).
February 2016: There is currently an English speaking guy doing military service there. He was extremely helpful.
Even though I still had 12 days left on my previous extension after some explaining I got an extension of 30 days from the last day of my previous visa. Everything done in an hour, they filled in the paperwork for me however I needed 3 photographs but no photocopy of my passport.
July 2015: Succesful. However, in the office in Gorgan, nobody speaks a word of English. And it is very busy, so go there early. Luckily the Hotel Manager of the hotel we stayed in was extremely supportive and drove us through the city and arranged everything for us. We definitely recommend a local to help with the visa extension. Some forms have to be filled and they are only in Farsi. But it is definitely possible to extend the Iran visa in Gorgan. We had still 5 days left on our visa and got another 25 days.
June 2015: 3 days before the expiry. 9 a.m already very crowded. We told him we wanted an extension for 30 days, but we finally got 31 days on top of our first 30 days. We could probably have asked for more. After paying 350.000 Rial each at the Melli Bank we were allowed to go back into the office right away. The man even filled both our forms for us, we only had to sign them. Due to his bad English we didn’t have to answer any interrogating questions and after getting two more stamps at the office of the “Big Boss”, who didn’t speak much to us either, we had our extensions done in less than 75 minutes.
Hamedan
Updates collected here. Correct GPS coordinates are: 34.792712, 48.509632 (Gmaps). Several Melli Banks are close, eg. here.
June 2018: Original Visa was Visa on Arrival, but I extended for first time in Yazd with no issues. Apparently a French female hitchhiker was not extended in Hamedan some time ago having visa on arrival. She went with her host. I think it’s better to go on your own.
March 2017: My visa was only 14 days valid, but the extension (first one) went very smooth and took about one hour. A very nice place to extend the visa.
Kashan
The building is in this street : coord 33.980195 51.462377. You can’t miss the police building. When you are in front of the main entrance, go left and turn around the building. You will see another open door. If you’re lost, ask for “jandarmari”. All updates here.
June 2015: possible to extend there too. Though they can’t do it on-site and have to send your documents and passport in Tehran. Would have taken 3-4 days.
Kerman
July 2017: very easy and straightforward in Kerman. 1 month extension, even though it was still valid for another 8 days or so (30 days after the expiration date of the original visa). Price is 34’500 T (French and Swiss passports) and it takes about 2 hours including a round trip to the bank to pay and to the photographer to make photos with hijab ! yes, if you’re female, you need to provide 2 photos wearing a headscarf (the guy apologized to us about this).
Everybody was helpful and welcoming, there was even a woman and a guy speaking a few words of English.
Coords:
Visa office : 30° 17.383’N 57° 4.388’E (close to Ganjali bazaar)
Melli bank : 30° 17.439’N 57° 4.428’E
Photo and photocopy : 30° 17.371’N 57° 4.466’E
Office is open in the morning, from 7 or 8 AM (?). First go to the photographer if you need it (you need also photocopies of the first page and visa page of your passport). He also has copies of the forms to fill out.
Then go to the office, somebody will lead you to the correct office (No 9). Fill out the forms (in English), 2 copies per person, then they will give you a piece of paper for the bank. Go around the corner in the main street to the Melli bank office, take a number and give the piece of paper to the clerk and 345’000 Rials, they will know what to do. Get back to the office with the receipt, leave your passport and return 1 1/2 h later to pick it up with a new stamp : easy.
Kermanshah
Updates collected here. The Immigration office is on Bent-ol-Hoda (map).The department takes up a whole city block, the entrance for visa extensions is in the southeastern corner at 34°19’32.8″N 47°04’48.8”E.
Go as early as you can: they open at 8 AM. Make sure you have photocopies of your passport, your Iranian visa, and your existing visa extension, if you have one. Have a couple of passport photos on hand.
In 2018, it was reported to be very difficult and took 5 hours. Before, Kermanshah was reported as easy, extension in 1 hour.
Khorramabad
March 2017: I successfully got a one-month extension in Khorramabad, Lorestan, last fall.
Mashad
The correct directions are: south from Shahid Kaveh Subway Station, get to the Kaveh St – Pirouzi Blvd crossroad, and walk 100 m south-east down the Pirouzi Blvd. Afterwards, turn right and after another 50 m, you can see the name of the office written in English on the right side. GPS: 36.28192, 59.55088, they are also on Google.
The place is a bit chaotic, be there early as many local Afghan and Pakistani people come there for their residence permit extensions as well. Updates collected here.
January 2018: Extensions no longer granted.
July 2015: At 11:00 a.m., I saw that no newcomers were allowed in. The price for visa extension was 345000 rials, payable at the nearby Melli Bank close to the subway station. If the workers try to convince you that it’s too early to extend your visa (I had 5 days left on mine, but there were national holidays coming on the way), be persistent, and eventually someone will help you. I was done with everything within 3 hours from my arrival – but I also met a very friendly, French-speaking guy called Esfan, who helped me a lot.
If he’s still there (as his military service was coming to an end), try to talk to him – he’ll surely help you. Honestly, a fantastic guy, patient and quick in taking my case straight to the colonel in charge of the office without me asking for it. They offered me a 30 day extension themselves, though I was fine with 15 days, to show some humbleness. There’s a copy shop available at the office.
Sari
N 36.55531 E 053.03728. There is a gas station next to Emam Square and on the other side of the street is the immigration office, where it is possible to extend the visa. It opens at 8 am.
July 2015: Officers in Sari are very friendly. Only the boss seems to be a bit crumpy. We got rejected, because we still had 8 days left on our visa. But in general it seems to be possible. Maybe with some help of a local.
Shiraz
The police office for foreigners is on a side street off Modares Boulevard (شاهیجان is transliterated as Shahijan, don’t trust Google maps here) near Valiye-asr Square, a 20 minute walk from central Shiraz. GPS 29.60554°N 52.56170°E (Gmap). Entrance after a green wall on the street connecting Modarres Boulevard on east pavement side.
It opens at 7am and you should be there by 10am at the latest. To complete your application, you’ll need to make a payment at a nearby Melli Bank. The officials may direct you to the main Melli Bank near the citadel but you can make your payment at a smaller branch near Valiye-asr Square.
Summing up experiences from 2014 until the present, there is 1 constant: you can only apply in Shiraz on the last day before expiry. Some people manage to apply and get it a few days earlier, but most are sent away. Most people get 30 days, but in the past, Shiraz has also sometimes given just 14 days. In short, Shiraz has historically not been the best place to apply.
Tabriz
They gave us 15 days. They said 15 days because our visa was originally for 15 days. We did it at the Foreign affairs police section of Tabriz. Direction is Saeb Tabriz Street (between Lalehzar Street and Barg-e Lameh Seyidlar Street )
The clerks don’t speak English. It was 350 000r to be paid by credit card. So, we found an Iranian willing to help us, to pay for us by card and we gave him the cash.
Tehran
2 different offices extend visas in Tehran: one deals with embassy visas, the other with visas on arrival.
Central Police Department of Immigration and Passports – embassy visas
The Central Police Department of Immigration and Passports can only extend visas given out by Iranian embassies. It is no longer near Tehran Pars. Now it is much closer to the center, close to the “Shahid Mofatteh” metro station (Line 1, red). When you leave the metro follow the “Motahari Ave” to the west (about 300 to 400 meters) until you reach the corner with “Kooh e Noor St”. The Department is in that corner, you can’t miss it as it looks like all official buildings in Iran, some flags, walls and fences.
GPS coordinates of the new location: 35.72441,51.42283
The office is on Parvin Blvd (GPS coordinates: N 35.72812 E 051.53182), a 5 minute walk south of Tehran Pars metro station.
You will need – 2 copies of passport; 2 copies of Iranian visa; 2 passport-sized pictures, 375000IRR to be paid at Bank Melli, 5000IRR to be paid for forms which you get in the office and fill out.
Opening hours: Saturday-Wednesday 7h30-13h45, Thursday 7h30-11h45. Friday closed. Do have a look at the latest forum updates, reports oscillate between very easy and very hectic and confusing.
May 2018: Applied for 30 days, only got 21 days.
April 2018: One person did not get an extension but instead an immediate exit visa, after being told she would get an extension the previous day. Advice: try to get your passport back the same day.
February-March 2018: No problem getting an extension.
January 2018: Extensions no longer granted.
Migration Police Department – Visa on arrival
If you have a visa on arrival, you need to go to a different office for your extension (map). It’s near Meydan-e Jahad metro station.
So far, all reports have been very positive. Visa on arrival extension reports collected here.
Urumiyeh
They would only give us 7 days. It’s harder there because it’s close to the Turkish border.
Yazd
The immigration office is far from the city centre in the southern part of town approximately 75 metres north of Abozar Square on the west side of Kashani Road (no English indication). The building is behind a huge yellow brick wall and it is accessed via a small green gate. Coordinates: 31.844846, 54.385791.
Opening hours are 7 – ?, closed on Fridays. Thursdays it closes at lunchtime.
Bank Melli at Abozar Square coordinates: 31.844846, 54.385791. The photography shop near the square (marked in Open Street Maps and visible in Maps with Me) was open at 8:00. Price for 6 pictures 3×4: 120000 IRR All updates here.
It’s very easy to extend in Yazd, even if your visa is not running out for another week or 2. Get there early. Later on, the office is full of Afghans and the staff gets cranky. 90 days extension is possible according to one poster.
It’s also possible to extend visa on arrival in Yazd.
