Temporary work visa for a foreign skilled worker, specialist or engineer sponsored by an Iranian employer and approved by the labour ministry.
Southern Asia · Immigration
Iran
Iran sits in Southern Asia. Its immigration system runs 16 distinct routes — led by short stay & visit, work and humanitarian protection, each set out in official law. 12 of them cite an official government source, shown on the route with the date we last read it. Who actually qualifies depends on your full profile.
- Immigration routes
- 16across 10 route categories, each set out in official law
- Source-cited routes
- 12 of 16cite an official government source, with the date we last read it
- Largest category
- Short stay & visit4 of the 16 routes — see them under Short stay & visit below
- Region
- Southern Asia
- Capital
- Tehran
- Population
- 92,417,681
- Official language
- Persian (Farsi)
- Currency
- IRR
- Time zone
- UTC+03:30
Source-cited pathways
Immigration routes
All 16 routes, grouped by purpose — 12 of 16 cite an official government source directly. Any route below without one says so on the route.
Work
3 routes
Post-arrival work authorisation for an adult foreign national who holds a qualifying legal residence document in Iran.
Official source of the governing body: help.unhcr.org · checked 2026-07-27
— No eligibility summary published for this route yet
Investment
1 route
Investment visa for a merchant or investor whose investment permit has been approved by Iran's competent investment authority.
Study
1 route
Study visa for a foreign school student, higher-education student, religious scholar or researcher with an official eligibility certificate.
Family
1 route
Family visa for a foreign man married to an Iranian woman and for children of that family.
Can bring: spouse, children, parents
Residence-based status
1 route
Information-only record of the residence-permit status referenced by Iranian authority guidance, pending a current public application inventory.
Official source of the governing body: help.unhcr.org · checked 2026-07-27
Cultural, religious & volunteer
1 route
Non-immigrant visa for a foreign Muslim visiting holy places in Iran.
Short stay & visit
4 routes
— No eligibility summary published for this route yet
Non-immigrant visa for a foreign citizen travelling to Iran for tourism.
Airport visa process for an eligible international-airport traveller who completes the advance eVisa measures.
Tourist entry without the conventional visa process for a passport holder covered by Iran's published waiver arrangements.
Official government source: evisa.mfa.ir · checked 2026-07-27
Humanitarian protection
2 routes
Annual continuation process for previously registered Afghan Amayesh and Iraqi Hoviat status holders.
Can bring: children, parents
Government-run registration and refugee-status determination process for a newly arrived person seeking protection in Iran.
Official source of the governing body: help.unhcr.org · checked 2026-07-27
Medical treatment
1 route
Medical-treatment visa for a foreign patient with a physical illness and prior approval from an authorised Iranian medical centre.
Transit
1 route
Transit visa for a driver, tourist or merchant passing through Iran without a purpose of stay.
Official sources
- MFA e-VisaGovernment
- MFA Family VisaGovernment
- سرکنسولگری جمهوری اسلامی ایران -بمبئیGovernment
- [NSO] Statistical Centre of IranGovernment
See which Iran routes you actually qualify for.
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