The mud-brick citadel of Rayen, Iran

Who needs a visa for Iran?

Southern Asia · Tehran

Photo: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Of 198 nationalities, 43 enter Iran with no paperwork at all. The rest: 145 can get a visa at the border, 9 must be approved before they travel and 1 cannot travel there.

We have not found a Iran government portal we can link to with confidence, so we link to none — a lookalike is worse than nothing. Apply through Iran's own immigration service or its embassy.

What do you need?

Who needs what

Visa free 43

Nothing to apply for and nothing to pay before you travel.

Visa on arrival 145

Issued at the border rather than beforehand. Bring the fee in cash in the currency the border post accepts. It is a permission, not a guarantee.

Visa required 9

You must apply and be approved before you travel. Airlines will refuse to board you without it.

No admission 1

A government policy, not a paperwork problem. No agent or service can work around it.

About Iran

Region
Southern Asia
Capital
Tehran
Population
92,417,681 2025 · 17th of 197
Size
1,648,195 km² 17th largest of 199
Density
56 per km²
Language
Persian (Farsi)
Currency
Iranian rial IRR

Capital, area, languages and currency from the open country dataset, pulled 21 September 2026. Population from the World Bank, series updated 13 July 2026. Density is calculated from the two figures above.