Citizens of 180 countries can obtain ‘Airport Visa’ at Urmia airport

on January 24, 2022 | 10:00:11

An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said on Sunday that nationals of 180 countries can obtain a visa upon arrival at the Urmia International Airport.

‘electronic visas will be issued to all passengers from 180 countries upon arrival at the Urmia International Airport within only five minutes’, Irna quoted Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular and Parliamentary Affairs Hassan Qashqavi as saying.

According to Qashqavi, citizens from all countries, except for those from the United States, Britain, Canada, Jordan, Somalia, Colombia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, could travel to Iran and receive their visas at the airport.

‘Urmia is the big fourth Iranian city where foreign travelers could obtain e-visas upon arrival at the city,’ he said.

Visa on Arrival (VOAs), at present, are issued at nine airports including IKIA (Tehran), Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Bandar Abbas, Larestan, Kish and Qeshm.

Iran earlier said it plans to extend airport visa validity from one month to 90 days in order to meet a great demand of foreign tourists, especially from Muslim and Arab states.

Visa validity for foreign tourists arriving to Iran has already been 30 days and could be extended to another 15 days in case passengers wish to stay more, on arrival at the some Iranian airports.

According to earlier reports, the Citizens of Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Egypt, Georgia, Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria can travel to Iran visa-free for the period of maximum 90 days.

Following the election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian president in 2013, Iran has sought reciprocal visa waiver programmes with some countries as part of its bid to boost tourism.

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