Last week i was trying to find countries which are easy to travel to by Iranian passport. I’m happy that i could find an interesting list of countries, most of them a kind of touristic Islands. (Isolated islands better than nothing!)
Iranian passports are issued to nationals of Iran for the purpose of international travel. The passport serves as a proof of Iranian citizenship. The Iranian passports are burgundy, with Iranian Coat of Arms emblazoned on the top of the front cover.
On the other hand, the political pressures make it very difficult for Iranians to take Visa of other countries. According to a study done by Henley & Partners, Iran has a Henley Visa Restrictions Index of 14, which means that Iranian citizens enjoy visa-free access to 14 countries and territories for short-term tourism visits. Iran is ranked 82nd out of 83 in terms of international travel freedom, which is one of the lowest scores in the study.
Anyway i never understand borders and restrictions. Why there should be this division for people of two different countries who directly dont have anything with political games and have to suffer separation bcs of enmity between governments?
Africa
Seychelles 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Americas
Dominica 21 days
Haiti 3 months
Saint Kitts and Nevis 14 days
Asia
Azerbaijan 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Armenia 21 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Bangladesh 90 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Indonesia 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Laos 15 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Macau 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Maldives 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Malaysia 30 days
Nepal 60 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Sri Lanka 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Turkey 3 months
Oceania
Cook Islands 31 days
Federated States of Micronesia 30 days
Palau 30 days (visa issued upon arrival)
Visa exemption for the holders of Iranian passport and either the US or Canada Permanent Residency
Aruba 14 days
Bahamas 30 days
Bermuda 90 days
Canada 180 days (for US residents)
Costa Rica 30 days
Jamaica 6 months
Liechtenstein 90 days (same as Switzerland)
Mexico 180 days
Netherlands Antilles 14 days
Nicaragua 3 months
Switzerland 90 days
For other countries, there is a need to have an invitation from a person inside the country. Anyway this way also is not always practical and many times, the request for visa is declined.
April 12, 2008 at 11:35 pm
You are só invited to come to Holland!
It’s great if you like rain and tulips!
April 12, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Aafke, haha, Sure i will try it soon. I love rain, tulips and Aafke!
April 13, 2008 at 12:40 am
Pretty limited innit sharzad?
its not like you can go to the uk or us is it?
April 13, 2008 at 12:45 am
Abdul, No tourism visa for any other country except the above list. About immigration, story is different anyway.
April 13, 2008 at 1:28 am
[...] Shahrazad wrote an interesting post today on Iranian PassportHere’s a quick excerptLast week i was trying to find countries which are easy to travel to by Iranian passport….(Better than nothing!) Iranian passports are issued to nationals of Iran for the purpose of international travel. The passport serves [. . . ]… [...]
April 13, 2008 at 1:58 am
Kinda shocking that Pakistan doesnt allow Iranian Passport holders…
April 13, 2008 at 5:24 am
Agh tell me about it, I hate this passport sooo much. While growing up we were the only people who were held up the longest when traveling between Oman and UAE. Also it is extremely difficult to travel internationally and obtain visas to countries.
The list is Interesting though, I only knew that Malaysia allows us to enter without a visa not the others.
Oh and the reason we get such bad reputation is because many Iranians are asylums seekers or due to drug traffic (in the Persian Gulf region).
April 13, 2008 at 7:36 am
“Anyway i never understand borders and restrictions.”
…amen…me either…i would we all could go as and where we wish…safely and freely….as our nations relationship gets more strained…i hope you stay safe shahrzad….
our prayers are with you…
in HIS grace,
wordsseldomsaid….
April 13, 2008 at 8:28 am
ps…i saw the bahama’s were on the list..if you ever go to the bahama’s…let us know before hand and we(my family and i) can jump over there(we go often and it is close) and buy y’all lunch or somehting….
the abaco’s have the clearest water…just about anywhere i have seen except cuba…you can see the oceans floor no matter the depth….but it is not really that deep around there…
avoid haiti….it used to be the loveliest place in the world….
now it is a wasteland…striped and barren…broken and poverty striken…..dangerous in many ways…..only palms left because they don’t burn…and the history is very dark as well…
the slaves back in the day made a deal with satan, that if he helped htem overthrow there masters and win their freedom, he would always have a place in haiti…
freaky huh?…well…they won the revolution….but now are slaves to desperation and poverty…sad….
April 13, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Come to Canada
April 13, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Wow! And I was complaining when my country barred it’s citizens from visting Thailand because of the drug problems.
I don’t know which is worse, having your own country ban you from visiting another country, or having the host country upturn it’s nose and refuse you entry.
Miss you! Just dropping a quick one,
April 13, 2008 at 9:35 pm
You can just move to the US, and come stay with us here
We would love to have you 
Ya Haqq!
April 14, 2008 at 1:08 am
[...] بی ربط: پاسپورت ایرانی [...]
April 14, 2008 at 1:58 am
somebody invite me
(:
April 14, 2008 at 4:26 am
Lot of Iranians in Canada!
I sort of understand borders and passports though.. seeing some of the underhanded tricks some people try… unfortunately for the innocent many the actions of a mischievous few have a huge impact.
April 14, 2008 at 5:49 am
It is a bartering mechanism. Governments broker deals with each other to promote trade and tourism dollars. Often it is used as a from of punishment to deny entry to individuals from a certain country if they are at odds. Other countries (totalitarian) do not want their citizens to know of freedoms and rights of others.
Basically, citizens are treated as chattel who are denied freedoms by restricting their movement. All global citizens should have the right to free travel respected by their nationalistic prison wardens.
April 14, 2008 at 3:17 pm
For tourism I highly recommend Seri Lanka, the Maldives , Turkey and Malaysia. Beautiful countries and friendly people.
Egyptian passport sucks too , unless you are working in one of the Gulf countries, then visa becomes less of a problem.
Like you I hate boundaries and limitations, but this is the reality of our world.
April 14, 2008 at 6:49 pm
are you muslem shiah or sunny?? or other??
April 14, 2008 at 10:19 pm
As Salaamu ALaikum Dear Sis:
Too bad the Northwestern part of Africa is not on the list. I wonder why? Anyway, your journeys are pretty limited. So glad to read your entries once again. I was sooo busy these past months with work. Keeping overly productive. Insh’ALlah, I will come back and visit you.
Happy travels wherever your heart is set to go!!
April 14, 2008 at 11:09 pm
My wife has the Saudi passport, it the same way. I dont think there could probably be any two worse passports today, unfortunately.
I like Iranians, if was up to me you all could come here to the USA as long as you want. “:>)
April 16, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Of course it’s very easy to travel to afghanistan or some countries like that. But I prefer to stay at home and look at my passport and laugh to my goverment. It’s so funny.
April 17, 2008 at 10:55 pm
For Brazil is not that hard. The main problem is that the application needs a “consultation” from the Ministery of Foreign Affairs and this can take up to 3 weeks.
On the other hand, for example, if the applicant is a Permanent Resident of Canada (no need to be Canadian citizen), he will be granted a visa without the consultation.
April 17, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Would you tell us how did you get the list of Visa-Free countries with the IR Passport? If we can double check it for ourselves.
Thank you
April 18, 2008 at 1:04 am
Ardeshir, I got it from Wikipedia / Iranian Passport..
April 29, 2009 at 8:14 pm
I came across this site.
I don’t think the regulations on borders & stuff are fair on people either. It’s unfair that you’re implicated by something you have no control over and that is not your doing.
I really, really hope things get better. Also wish that more sensible people run governments!
June 22, 2009 at 1:40 pm
How long does it take to renew an Iranian passport?
June 22, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Leila, less than a week..