Question: Hi there travellers,

I have a question. My first trip to Iran had some consequences, I`m going to marry in summer.
Now to the problem... My friend should come with me, for some reasons the embassy told him that they need a lot of time to prepare the visa for him, so he wont get it before we fly.
So my idea for him was to claim the passport back from the embassy and we try to get a visa on arrival at Imam khomeini airport.
I have an invitation for him from an iranian travels agency, as well as a booking confirmation for his hotel and his flight back. I have iranian papers that proof that the purpose of our travel is my wedding. Can anybody tell me if he has experiences with VOA or maybe even with a situation like this?
How big is the chance of refusal?
I know that in case his visa would be refused by the embassy he couldnt apply for VOA, but how about claiming it back from the embassy himself - maybe they count it as an unsuccesful visa application.
Thank you for any help...
Thorsten

Answer: If he has a visa invitation letter from a travel agent in Iran and only wants to collect his visa at the embassy, then surely he will get his visa and no refusal may happen. Only it takes about 2-7 days to collect the visa.

You can also ask the same travel agent for the collection at the IKA airport, so they will contact the MFA and secure a new number for him to collect the visa while arriving at the IKA airport.