Iran to Facilitate Visa for Afghan Cultural Elites
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran's Cultural Attaché in Afghanistan said Iran’s foreign ministry is planning to facilitate and accelerate the process of issuing visas for Afghan cultural elites.
“I believe we cannot divide visas into cultural, economic, etc., visa is visa. What is important is that we provide facilities for Afghan cultural elites to be able to receive their visas faster and take advantage of the cultural capacity in Iran”, said Naser Jahanshahi.
The Iranian diplomat described the two countries’ cultural elites as the most suitable people who can establish strong bilateral relations between the two neighbors.
Jahanshahi added that since two months ago, the Iranian embassy in Kabul has started issuing online visas which has led to elimination of long queues in front of the embassy building.
According to Jahanshahi, now Afghan nationals can receive Iran’s visa in 20 to 25 days after signing up online.
Iran’s embassy in Afghanistan says visa applications this year have increased 50 percent compared with last year.
Every year, over 100 thousand Afghanis receive Iran’s visa for different purposes including finding labor in their western neighbor as well as visiting their relatives in Iran.
Since former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees fled to Iran and resided in different Iranian cities.
Iran is one of the global record-holders in hosting millions of refugees from neighboring countries (mostly from Afghanistan) for more than three decades, only 860,000 of whom are registered.
