Travel is one of the most enjoyable experiences that people can obtain in life. Travel to each country has its own particular conditions, and for travel to some destinations a visa is needed, and traveling is one of the most important concerns of every person's life whose importance is not hidden from the people and officials. For example, one of the candidates in the 1400 (2021/22) elections has spoken of his plans about traveling. Iranians travel to various cities inside the country; Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz and Qom are the most popular domestic tourism destinations in the country. But what about foreign travel? Foreign travel depends both on the dollar and on the credit of the passport. You can view the most popular cities in Iran for travel on Namafar.
Foreign travel, apart from its pilgrimage trips, is always a luxury recreation, but the number of Iranians who have gone abroad in the past 15 years, except for two or three years, has continually increased, which shows Iranians' interest in going abroad. To go abroad, dollars are needed. The rise in the dollar's price in the years 91 (2012/13) and 97 (2018/19) caused many Iranians bound for abroad to cancel their trip and save their money so that the following year they would at least have paid a visit across the borders.
What is a visa?
A visa is said to be a conditional permit that allows you to enter a foreign country and stay in it for a specified period and is attached to your passport. A passport is a document or credential like an identity card and contains a person's identity information that is used to identify the citizens of a country outside the borders of their own country. The government of each country may require the citizens of other countries to obtain a visa or exempt them from it; this matter depends on political and cultural conditions and also that country's relations with other countries.
Each country's visa has specified restrictions such as an expiration date, a limited duration of stay and a prohibition on work and study in that country. To obtain a visa, after submitting an application in person or online to the consular office or embassy of the destination country, the applicant's conditions such as financial status, travel records and purpose of travel, occupational conditions and family ties are examined.
The value of the Iranian passport
The number of countries that can be traveled to without a visa is the criterion for measuring the credit of a country's passport. The more it is, the greater the passport's credit too.
The number of countries that Iranians can travel to without a visa has grown, but the passport's rank has become worse. Why?
This matter has several causes:
1) Change in the number of countries examined:
The increase and decrease of the countries under examination causes fluctuation in the rank.
2) Lower sensitivity of various countries in accepting travelers without a visa:
For example in 2006 and 2021 respectively Danes and Japanese had the world's most valid passports, with the difference that Danes could travel to 130 different countries and Japanese to 193 different countries. As a result, for Iran to upgrade its standing it would have needed an acceleration greater than the world's, which it has not had.
Which countries can Iranians travel to without a visa?
The number of countries that Iranians can travel to and do tourism in without a visa has grown in the past 15 years. Iranians can in 2021 travel to 42 countries of the world without a visa. Turkey, Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Syria, Lebanon, Madagascar and several other countries are on this list. More interestingly, Iranians must obtain a visa to travel to Iraq.
Armenia, Iraq, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Lebanon, the Maldives, Oman, Qatar, the island of Timor-Leste (Timor-Leste), Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Georgia, the Republic of Azerbaijan Burundi (Burundi), Cape Verde (Cape Verde), the Union of the Comoros (Comoros), the Democratic Republic of Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo), Djibouti (Djibouti), Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau), Lesotho (Lesotho), Madagascar (Madagascar), Malawi (Malawi), Mauritania (Mauritania), Mozambique (Mozambique), Nigeria (you must submit a request before entering the country), Rwanda (Rwanda), Seychelles, Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone), Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Togo, Ivory Coast (Ivory Coast)
The number of countries that Iranians can travel to without a visa.
On the surface the situation of the Iranian passport has improved. Hassan Rouhani in 1392 (2013/14) said that he wants to restore respect to the Iranian passport but it appears the growth in the number of countries that do not require a visa from Iranians occurred in the period of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and in the 11th and 12th governments no new opening has been achieved.
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Which countries do Iranians wish to travel to more?
Iranians travel to Iraq, Turkey, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Qatar, Armenia, Saudi Arabia and China more than to other parts of the world, which except for China and Germany the rest are in this vicinity. Going abroad, in addition to dollars, also needs a visa. The higher the passport's credit, the easier it is to go abroad. For example an Iranian right now can go with their personal car to the Razi border and, only by having a passport, enter Turkey, for a few days with their money put the economy of the city of Van in order, and return to Iran. But this same Iranian, to enter China, must wait a few days at the embassy and after paying the costs, if China permits, travel to this country. The most engaging statistics in the creative field on Namafar's Instagram.
Machine-translated from Persian by Namafar; the Persian original is authoritative. Read the original in Persian