thundercracker76

I'm at the planning stage of my first trip to Iran, i'm aware of the tedious visa process that goes with my citizenship( Canadian) in order to visit. I touched base with an Iranian travel agency and they will assist me in securing an authorization code which in turn I would have to present at their embassy, which we don't have here ( but there is a special interest section c/o the Pakistan embassy in DC). I don't feel like flying there, BUT I had this idea that maybe I can pick them up on my way at an embassy in Europe a few days before I touchdown in Iran, The only thing i'm seeking insights for is: Will the check-in counter at the airport allow me to board even I don't have the official Visa on hand? Example: Flying a multi city with a few days stop in Vienna ( to pick up my Visa) enroute to Iran,,,

Anyone had been through this before?
thanks in advance

JamesKidd

Most airlines will use TIMATIC and rely on what it says. You can check for yourself https://www.united.com/web/en-us/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC

Often1

The details matter here.

As noted above, you should review TIMATIC for your specific situation. What you see is what the carrier agent will see at check-in or boarding.

If you are flying Canada-Austria-Iran, at your initial departure, from Canada, the carrier will want to be assured that you have the proper documents for both Austria and Iran as Austrian border control may want to assure that you hold onwards travel out of Austria and that onwards travel is only valid with proper documents.

If you lack required documents, you should consider it close to a certainty that you will be denied boarding.

thundercracker76

Ditto

The alternative of course, is to book separate tickets Canada-Austria and Austria-Iran.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

Even though I qualify for visa-on-arrival, when I went to Iran I got a visa ahead of time. I got a visa code by getting a Tehran based travel agent to apply for my visa on my behalf. It didn't cost much. Once I had the visa code, I went to a local consulate to pick up the visa.

When I flew on Turkish Airlines, I was twice asked for my visa for Iran. I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't had one. I have heard of other people being challenged for a visa, and have heard of one person initially being refused boarding, but they argued their way onto the plane. So, I have never heard of anyone being permanently refused boarding.

I believe, but please check, that you can get a visa and as part of the application say that you will pick it up at an airport, presumably IKA. Or that you can name the embassy/consulate where you will pick up the visa. Hence, while I haven't heard of anyone doing that, I would imagine that you could arrange to pick up the visa in Austria.

This forum isn't very active on this topic. There are other places you can ask where there is much more activity, and more Iranians working in the tourism industry posting.

thundercracker76

That could be a last resort, the cons are/is, that I need to leave a gap day in between legs in case my flights in between gets delayed... which will unfortunately cut my intended days of travel in Iran.
Btw, I have another Passport, im not sure if I need to start another thread just for that,,

Thanks

OccasionalFlyerPerson

What other passport do you have?

thundercracker76

I presumed that you were asked at the airline check in counter and at the gate? I'm already in contact with a Travel Agency, they presented me with an option to pick up the visa at any consulate of my choosing or just cut to the chase and just use my other passport (Philippines..No need for CV, 3 days LOI processing and VOA). Catch 22 is, I may need a visa to travel to any European country just to obtain a visa ..I always travelled as a Canadian though.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

Both times I was asked at the gate. At the check-in counter they inspected my passport. I don't know/remember if they checked my visa, which was in the passport.

I have both New Zealand and UK passports, and did my Iran trip on my NZ passport. I'd really recommend that you use the Philippine passport for Iran. I could just walk around wherever I wanted to and do what I wanted. Within reason and general laws. If you're there on the Philippine passport you can still hire guides when and where you want, at little notice, and don't need guides with a special licence. [I confused a policeman at a railway station by having a clear British accent - I've lived here for over 20 years - but I turned up by myself with no guide. ]

Coming from Europe, Istanbul is a major gateway to the Middle East. Tickets from UK to Istanbul are cheap and frequent. From there, you can get flights to a variety of Middle Eastern countries including Iran. You can even get from Istanbul to Iran by train if you like epic train journeys - I do.

You can get a Turkish visa based on either your Filipino or Canadian passport. But, both cost. It's much easier on a New Zealand passport where I don't need a visa for Turkey. Once in Istanbul you could pick up your visa at the Iranian consulate, which is common for people doing long land journeys. There are many flights from Istanbul to various cities in Iran by both international and Iranian airlines.

But, that depends on Istanbul being a reasonable stopover from where you are coming from. How do the tickets work for you?

EDIT: Based on your Philippine passport, you can apply for an e-visa for Turkey http://www.mfa.gov.tr/visa-informati...eigners.en.mfa, then pick up your Iranian visa in Turkey.

EDIT2: I found return flights from Toronto (randomly chosen Canadian city) to Istanbul for £614. That seems pretty decently cheap to me. It's not much if any cheaper (except for one anomalous flight on LOT) to get to Austria.

thundercracker76

Did you leave your UK passport at home, or brought it just in case? .. Can I just show 2 passports at any check-in counter regardless of the destination (have you done it yourself?)
The flights that i'm seeing (or at least appeals to me) right now are the ones connecting at either Vienna, Istanbul or Dubai.. Turkey could be a plan B, in case my plan go haywire( denied visa and such)..
Did you booked all your tickets with your NZ passport?
and where did you depart from? NZ or UK?

MSPeconomist

OccasionalFlyerPerson

I booked all my tickets based on my NZ passport. I departed from and returned to the UK. From the UK, flights to Istanbul are much cheaper than flights to Dubai, so it didn't make sense to me to go through Dubai. If you can get to Dubai then you can fly from there to various cities in Iran. Again both on international or Iranian airlines. You can also take a ferry to Iran from Dubai, but based on a recent trip report I read, it's set up for domestic traffic more than international visitors. The person who took the ferry had good advice about what to do and managed OK. I see that there is an Iranian consulate in Dubai: Consulate General of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I only took my NZ passport with me. This caused a bit of difficulty when I returned to the UK as they had to verify that I had permanent residence in the UK, but they looked me up on their computer. They recommended that in the future I carry my British passport with me, though they said that I could also carry a copy of it instead. My intention next time I visit Iran (and Iraqi Kurdistan which will come first) is to travel on my NZ passport, and only have a copy of my British passport.

Personally, I wouldn't show a Canadian passport in Iran (and I didn't show my British passport) if you are entering the country on the Philippine passport. There's no need to create potential confusion.

I wasn't suggesting that you go to Turkey instead of Iran, just that Istanbul is a plausible place to pick up your Iranian visa on the way.

My knowledge is all about how to get from the UK to Iran, as I'm in the UK. For the UK, the fares to Istanbul are anomalously cheap. This makes it possible to have genuine stopovers in Istanbul without the ticket being more expensive than a single ticket. Once you get near enough to Iran, and there are Iranian airlines you can book, then these tickets can be very cheap if you get an Iranian travel agent to book them so that you pay Iranian prices.

The cheapest reasonable way I know of to get to Iran is to fly to Istanbul buying the ticket well ahead of time (£120 return possible), then take an internal Turkish flight to somewhere like Van in eastern Turkey (£51 return possible), and then take the coach to Tabriz. That's considerably cheaper than even the cheapest bought way ahead of time tickets to Iran. Albeit you end up in Tabriz not Tehran, but I don't think that's a bad starting point for an Iran trip.

I did a bit of searching using Toronto as a sample starting point as I don't know where the OP lives. £614 return to Istanbul is possible. Without too much searching, I found flights for £724 Toronto to Tehran return. International airlines from Istanbul to Tehan would be much more than the £110 difference, but if the OP gets creative the cost difference can be minimised.

I looked into flights Toronto <-> Dubai, and found flights for £563. Mahan Air flies from Dubai to Tehran. I'd be curious to know what the cost would be if booked by an Iranian travel agent.

Of course, the simplest method may be to just fly to Iran and get VOA - but the point of this discussion is whether there is a way for the OP to pick up an Iranian visa. I know I was happy to have gone through the visa process before arriving in Iran and have the visa already, so I can understand if the OP feels the same.

thundercracker76

All these information had me leaning more to use the other passport (with all the paperwork and layovers that will certainly add costs and other what nots) . Thanks for the tidbits, I was able to form a scenario thru my mind if i travel as a Canadian. The other passport as I believe doesn't guarantee a visa grant at the airport, they could reject me on the spot and that's where I feel compelled to bring my Canadian with me.(I can probably just visit Eastern Europe as Plan B..or Turkey)

OccasionalFlyerPerson

If you get a visa based on your Philippine passport to pick up in Istanbul, then the chance of rejection is minimal. Even with VOA the chance of rejection is low, though it does happen. I can't see how your Canadian passport would give you a better chance of being accepted than your Philippine passport. And, for the Canadian passport, you need to pick up a visa somewhere anyhow, and you're more restricted while in Iran - you need a licenced guide.

Bringing your Canadian passport with you to Iran won't help even if you were rejected at the Iranian airport. As Canadians can't get VOA.

If you're concerned about being rejected the best thing to do is to apply for a visa ahead of time through an Iranian travel agent. To be picked up in Washington DC, Istanbul, Dubai, Vienna, or other location.