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Extension of Visa

Application for extension of visas, including entry, tourist, and pilgrimage visas, are issued by the Police Department of Aliens Affairs based on justifiable reasons and approval of the mentioned Bureau.

Do you have Iran tourist visa? You want to stay and visit Iran more? Many tourists want to extend their Iran visa so that they can stay in Iran and visit Iran more. Fortunately, it’s quite easy to extend Iran visa. You can extend your Iran visa whether you have a tourist visa or work permit visa. The good news is that, it’s possible to extend a 30-day tourist visa to 60 days, but harder to extend again, up to 90 days. If you are picking up your visa at an Iranian embassy and have permission to stay in Iran for 30 days, the Police Aliens Affairs Dept. usually extends your visa for another 30 days. Extending Iran visa on arrival is a little difficult, you may only get a 15-day extension. Visa extensions are available at the Police Offices of Foreign Aliens in major Iranian cities like Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Tabriz. You can extend your Iran visa in other cities too but Plan your itinerary so that you can extend your visa in cities which are more familiar with tourists.

Note: The extension of your visa when you get it at the airport is dependent on the discretion of the Police Aliens Affairs Dept. If you have a 15-day Iran visa on arrival you only can extend it up to another 15 days.

Work permit visa will be extended by Police Aliens Affairs Dept. with Coordination of the Department of Aliens’ Employment at the ministry of labor and Social Affairs and based on a request by the Iranian sponsor of the applicant.

Start the process early

Offices are open from Saturday to Wednesday, 7:30 AM - 2 PM. The offices are usually very crowded so go there in the morning and start the process faster. Start the visa extension process with 1-3 days left before your visa is expired.

Documents for Iran visa extension

The process is simple, but as we mentioned above, it is depended on the discretion of the Police Aliens Affairs Dept. They may also ask you about the reason for your visa extension. If you have a tourist visa, say that you want to see more attractions in Iran. If you have a work permit visa, you should explain the reason more. All you have to do is to fill some forms and give photocopies of your passport and your visa. The documents needed are:

Two passport photos
Forms to be filled
Copies of your passport and Iranian visa
An entry stamp
Pay for the visa extension (350,000 IRR plus about 50,000 IRR to buy a folder and for photocopies)

Note: For women, photos have to be with scarfs.

In some offices, there is a copy box so you can make photocopies in the office, which of course is not for free! But usually, there is a long queue at the copy box. Please note that you should pay the visa extension money in cash. You should do the payment in “Melli Bank” and bring back the receipt.

Note: Don’t worry if they don’t know English for doing the payment in Melli Bank. Just say Visa, and they will help you.

How long does it take?

If you start early in the morning you might get the extension on the same day it usually takes between 1-4 hours. Otherwise, they keep your passport and you come back the next day and your extension is ready! The offices are usually crowded, plus in some cities like Mashhad there are a lot of Afghan and Pakistani people looking for residence permit extensions. If it is possible, ask a local to help you with the visa extension process. It helps a lot.

Visa extensions are available at the Police Offices of Foreign Aliens at the below addresses: