Where can Iranian citizens move to?
Ranked by what the move actually takes on an Iranian passport specifically, not in general. Every rating below comes from the same verified data as the full guide it links to.
Iran doesn't recognise a second nationality but won't strip yours, so naturalising in any of these 12 leaves you with both passports. You must still use the Iranian one to enter Iran.
No working-holiday route is open on an Iranian passport in any of these 12. That shortcut is not on the table.
Easiest to keep driving on in Costa Rica, Portugal and Thailand. Each guide has the exact terms. Elsewhere expect more steps, often a full local test.
Every one of these needs the full consular legalisation chain rather than a single apostille stamp. Add weeks.
Moderate 1 of 12
Complex 11 of 12
- AustraliaIranians arrive mainly through skilled visas and a substantial humanitarian/protection stream, alongside a growing student pipeline; Melbourne’s established Persian community reflects decades of successive migration.Complex
- CanadaIran is around ninth among source countries, arriving largely through work permits and the protected-person stream.Complex
- IrelandIranians in Ireland come mainly through postgraduate study (engineering, sciences) that converts into an employment permit, and through the international-protection system.Complex
- ItalyIranians moving to Italy typically use the Elective Residency Visa (for those with independent means), a student visa that later converts to a work permit, or humanitarian protection; ordinary labour migration from Iran is uncommon given banking and consular frictions.Complex
- JapanIranians largely arrived in the late 1980s-90s labor wave and via subsequent family reunification; new arrivals today mostly come through student visas or the Engineer/Specialist in Humanities route given limited options.Complex
- NetherlandsHistorically a large asylum/refugee stream, increasingly supplemented by Kennismigrant tech workers and PhD/postdoc researchers at Dutch universities.Complex
- New ZealandIranian arrivals to NZ come mostly through skilled migration (engineering, IT, medicine), international study, and refugee/humanitarian resettlement pathways.Complex
- PortugalIranians arrive mainly through student visas and a smaller skilled-worker and family stream; sanctions-related banking and document friction slow nearly every step.Complex
- SpainThe Non-Lucrative Visa and student visas are close to the only realistic routes, given international banking and sanctions friction that complicates proving funds or paying fees; some use an entrepreneur visa.Complex
- ThailandIranians moving to Thailand rely mostly on the DTV/digital-nomad route or LTR/retirement visas funded by savings, since banking and international transfer restrictions make employer-sponsored routes harder to arrange from Iran.Complex
- United StatesHistorically, Iranians arrived mostly as F-1 graduate students moving on to OPT and H-1B, plus family sponsorship and asylum.Complex
Ratings weigh entry class, working-holiday access, licence exchange, dual citizenship and document legalisation. Each is checked against the issuing government. Open any destination for the full guide written for Iranian citizens.