Iran Visa Collection From Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (AUG 2015)
The Iranian embassy is located at N 42° 52.181’ E 74° 36.221’
Opening hours are Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 3pm-5pm- the embassy is even open during official holidays in Iran but check as they have a lot of holidays!
Our Iranian visa application took several weeks, so this report is simply based on collecting the visa once you have been issued a reference number by an agent/inviting organisation etc.
The man who works here was helpful and friendly and spoke good English- the first morning we arrived our reference number had not been sent through to the embassy (he explained probably due to a holiday that day in Iran) he took our phone number and called us later in the day to say it had arrived and we could come the following morning at 9am. We were given additional forms to fill out.
Opening hours are Mon-Fri 9am-1pm and 3pm-5pm- the embassy is even open during official holidays in Iran but check as they have a lot of holidays!
Our Iranian visa application took several weeks, so this report is simply based on collecting the visa once you have been issued a reference number by an agent/inviting organisation etc.
The man who works here was helpful and friendly and spoke good English- the first morning we arrived our reference number had not been sent through to the embassy (he explained probably due to a holiday that day in Iran) he took our phone number and called us later in the day to say it had arrived and we could come the following morning at 9am. We were given additional forms to fill out.
To complete your application you need to take;
You are issued a ticket to take to the Bank of Pakistan located at N 42° 52.141’ E 74° 36.737’ (about a 10 minute walk). The cost was a very steep €200 each (British passports!) but the bank accepts dollars or local currency. The fee is much less if you are not British, American or Canadian. You are then given visa payment receipts which you take back to the embassy. You submit your payment receipt and passport and return the following day to collect the visa.
- Passport and passport copy (they keep this until the following day)
- Completed additional application form from the embassy (they give this to you when you arrive)
- 2 passport photographs (women need to be wearing a headscarf)
- Copy of your personal travel insurance
You are issued a ticket to take to the Bank of Pakistan located at N 42° 52.141’ E 74° 36.737’ (about a 10 minute walk). The cost was a very steep €200 each (British passports!) but the bank accepts dollars or local currency. The fee is much less if you are not British, American or Canadian. You are then given visa payment receipts which you take back to the embassy. You submit your payment receipt and passport and return the following day to collect the visa.
Turkmenistan To Iran, Sarakhs (SEP 2015)
Leaving Turkmenistan
- Find the customs officer (sat at a table on the right of the main hall opposite counter) who fills out your Customs Declaration forms
- At the counter opposite, a guy on the right filled out all our vehicle and passport details into a big ledger book
- You can then go to passport control section of the counter where they stamp the exit stamp into your passport
- We were directed upstairs to a ‘medical room’ where they didn’t do any kind of examinations but did stamp a post-it note which was stuck in our passports
- Also upstairs, we had to show the car paperwork with the route map on- kept receipt from this
- We then handed our car form receipt back to the customs guy at the table in the main hall
- We were asked several questions at the customs table including how long we had been married?!?
- Outside, customs had a very quick look at the car and asked several questions “Guns?”... “No”... “OK, go!”.
- Drove to a final barrier and showed exit stamp in passport
- Final (final) check of passports before crossing River Bridge and exiting Turkmenistan.
- The whole procedure took about 1.5 hours, although it seems chaotic when you arrive (there are many truck drivers who generally let us go to the front of queues) there is a system and with patience you are correctly pointed from one desk to another.
Entering Iran
- At the Iranian end of the river bridge there was a military check and a passport check, no problems
- Parked outside the ‘passenger hall’ on the left side, took our passports inside to the passport control kiosk
- We were taken inside a police office where we filled out a police registration form (including a scars/physical marks section!) and our fingerprints were taken
- From this point we were met by our guide and everything was done quickly and in Farsi, they didn’t check the car at all. Our Carnet was stamped as was our passport with an entry stamp. Without our guide facilitating the border process this would have taken much longer, for example we found out afterwards that customs initially wanted us to remove everything from the car and pass it through the baggage scanner!
This information is about our experience applying for visas and crossing borders. Obviously please try and find the most recent information you can as visa application and border information changes daily. If you have any questions please feel free to email us.