DOES A VISIT TO IRAN BAR YOU FROM VISITING THE US

on July 3, 2019 at 7:53 am

I AM KEEN TO VISIT IRAN BUT HESITATE BECAUSE I FEAR I COULD BE BARRED FROM VISITING THE US IN THE FUTURE.

A visit to Iran doesn’t bar you from visiting the USA. What it does mean is that you will not be eligible to apply for an e-visa, known as the Electronic System for Visa Authorisation (ESTA) in the case of the USA. This is a visa waiver that is available to eligible Australia passport holders.

What the ESTA authorisation does is to streamline your entry to the USA.

Australians who have visited Iran – or a small number of other countries on the USA’s unfriended list – will have to apply at the USA consulate or embassy for a visa.

Essentially you will have to jump through a couple more hoops and possibly explain that your visit to Iran was for purposes of tourism, but there’s little chance that you’d be refused entry on ground of a previous visit to Iran as a tourist.