In a big transfer to encourage cultural exchanges and enhance tourism, the Islamic Republic of Iran has introduced a visa-free coverage for residents of India, efficient from February 4, 2024.

If reviews are to go by, the visa exemption, a part of a broader initiative, has been prolonged to 33 international locations, together with Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil, and Mexico. It was authorized by Iranian authorities in December. Ezzatollah Zarghami, Iranian Culture Minister, said that the target is to spice up tourism.

The visa waiver applies solely to Indian nationals arriving in Iran by air and is particularly designed for tourism functions. Under this new coverage, people holding atypical passports can enter Iran with out a visa as soon as each six months, with a most keep of 15 days per go to. It is essential to notice that the 15-day interval is non-extendable.

For these intending to go to for functions aside from tourism, corresponding to enterprise or research, the usual visa software course of stays in impact. Additionally, if Indian nationals plan to remain for an extended length, make a number of entries inside six months, or require various kinds of visas, they need to get hold of the mandatory visas by means of the Iranian representations in India.

This visa exemption is unique to air journey, and people coming into Iran by means of different modes of transportation should still be topic to visa necessities.

The implementation of this visa-free initiative is predicted to strengthen people-to-people connections and foster tourism between Iran and India.

Iran has seen a considerable improve in overseas vacationer arrivals, with a 315% rise in 2022 in comparison with the earlier yr, attracting round 4.1 million vacationers. Moslem Shojai, head of the Iranian Tourism Ministry’s overseas tourism advertising and marketing and improvement workplace, stated that they’ve witnessed a big surge in Indian vacationers in 2023, as 31,000 Indians visited Iran within the preliminary six months of the yr. This marked a 25% upswing when in comparison with the corresponding interval in 2022.

Most overseas guests to Iran interact in tourism, commerce, medical therapy, and pilgrimage, making the visa-free initiative a strategic transfer to additional facilitate and encourage journey between these two nations.