The Government of Iran has recently offered a new service for visa issuing. Known as “laissez passer”, and followed by an electronic visa issuance, the service solves the problem of many tourists who would like to travel to the United States in the future or the tourists who are US citizens.
Therefore, as of now, the tourists can travel to Iran without worrying about Iran visa stamps on their passports.
What is a Laissez-Passer?
In general, the passport is a travel document for traveling abroad and a visa is a document stamped in the passport for entering a country. In case a traveler’s passport is stolen, lost, or expired, another document will help him/her enter a country: laissez-passer.
Laissez-passer is a French word meaning “let him/her pass”. As the name indicates, it should let a traveler enter a country without a passport. The laissez passer can also function in official missions as a national passport.
In the same way as national passports, some countries or regions accept the entry of its holder without the need for a visa (such as Kenya, United Kingdom, Schengen Area, Lebanon, etc.). However, most of the countries require a visa to allow entry into the country. In this case, the laissez passer is not taken into account.
Most officials hold a blue laissez passer whose legal status is similar to the service passport. A red laissez-passer is issued to particularly important officials. Depending on their rank, they may be conferred some diplomatic privileges. The red laissez-passer may, in this case, be similar to what is known as the diplomatic passport.
This identification sheet contains a visual area and an optical area (machine-readable texts). The visual area is similar to that of a classic passport: photograph, passport information, holder’s information. The nationality and place of birth of the holder are not indicated on the laissez passer.
The Restrictions Imposed on the Visitors of Iran
On June 26, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision known as the “Travel Ban”. According to this decree, immigrants and tourists are banned to travel to seven Muslim countries, including Iran.
As a result, the tourists who have traveled to Iran and received the Iranian entry and exit stamps on their passport would be in trouble for their future trips to the United States even if they do not need a visa for traveling to the US.
Of course, the decision could have had negative effects on Iran tourism industry and tourists, businessmen, and foreign politicians traveling to Iran. So, several people had become reluctant to make a journey to Iran or not.
How Does Iran Decision Work?
Following the decision of travel ban to Iran by the United States, Iran has recently decided to take the necessary measures to facilitate the travel of tourists. In addition to offering all visa application procedures electronically, the country has a new arrangement called “Laissez Passer” to enter Iran.
It allows tourists to travel without worrying about the entry and exit stamps of Iran visa on their passport. They will be able to obtain a visa with a document, a sheet, attesting their visa to Iran. The Laissez Passer is offered in the international airports of Iran.
This decision by the Iranian government can help the Iran tourism industry and make world travelers’ visits to Iran convenient and hassle-free.
It should be noted that Iran is considered the safest country in the Middle East for traveling. Also, Iran is one of the safest countries in the world to travel to. So, there are no worries regarding traveling to Iran anymore.
You can also check out some of the top tour packages of Iran here!
