Importing a car into Iran with your own foreign currency

Importing a car 'with personal currency' (arz-e ashkhas, also called arz-e dar ekhtiar) is the channel that lets Iranians resident abroad import a passenger car paid for entirely with their own funds held outside Iran, with no currency transfer from inside the country. The rules have changed several times since June 2025. This guide compiles the latest state as of July 2026 (Tir 1405), dating every change, and is educational only.

Legal basis

The implementing regulation of paragraph (R) of Note 1 of the 1404 Budget Act (Cabinet resolution No. 50703/T63881H, session of 11 June 2025, 21 Khordad 1404) set the framework for passenger-car imports, and Note 1 of its Article 2 created the special own-currency channel for Iranians resident abroad. For the Iranian year 1405, under Article 92 of the 1405 budget implementation rules and a Cabinet resolution, the Trade Promotion Organization announced around 10 June 2026 (20 Khordad 1405) that the channel continues.

Who qualifies?

• Only Iranians resident abroad: Iranian citizenship, at least 18 years old, and a valid foreign residence permit verified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Mikhak portal (mikhak.mfa.gov.ir) (rules of June and December 2025).
• In the 1404 round the residence had to have started before 11 June 2025, and according to the Ministry of Industry even a single day of valid residence sufficed (December 2025).
• Quota: one car per person per Iranian year, reconfirmed by a customs circular in June 2026.
• Residents inside Iran have no personal import path: commercial imports run only through ranked companies with approved after-sales service, and buyers inside the country purchase through the integrated sales platform for imported cars (salecars.ir). Its latest registration round ran from late June to early July 2026 with a 500-million-toman deposit.

How the 'own currency' mechanism works

Order registration is done solely under paragraph 9 of Article 38 of the implementing regulation of the Export-Import Act (import without currency transfer): the car's price and freight must be paid entirely from the applicant's currency or funds held abroad, transferring currency from inside Iran is prohibited, no state or preferential currency is allocated, and the import sits outside the country's car-import currency ceiling (text of the December 2025 amendment). In the 1404 round the banking network and the Central Bank verified the foreign origin of the funds; a customs circular of June 2026 stated that the new round requires no proof of the currency's origin.

Step by step

1. Register and verify your residence in the Foreign Ministry's Mikhak portal
2. Receive the Foreign Ministry confirmation code
3. Register the order in the Comprehensive Trade System (ntsw.ir) under paragraph 9 of Article 38
4. Ship the car and clear customs, paying the import duty in rials

The integrated sales platform (salecars.ir) is not part of this path: that platform is for the domestic sale of cars imported by companies (as of July 2026).

Vehicle limits

• A passenger car, new or used, built within the last 5 years (June 2025 regulation and December 2025 amendment)
• US-brand and right-hand-drive cars are banned, and the Ministry of Industry publishes the list of permitted brands (June 2025)
• The December 2025 amendment required that the car had been owned by the applicant before 3 December 2025 and that a driving license from the country of residence be presented. The 1405-round circulars do not restate this condition and its continuation is unclear.
• No official dollar value cap has been announced for this channel. The 20,000-dollar cap sometimes quoted belonged to the retired 2022-2024 used-car scheme, and the 30,000-dollar cap relates to the separate perk for foreign investors (one car per 300,000 dollars invested).
• A car imported for personal use cannot be sold or transferred for 5 years (2025 and 2026 rules).

Costs: from a tiered table to a flat 100 percent

The December 2025 amendment (resolution 158710, session of 3 December 2025, notified 10 December 2025) allowed the use of personal foreign-currency accounts with Central Bank verification and set a tiered import-duty table by fuel type and engine size; press reports of that table's details were inconsistent. After parliament objected that the table contradicted paragraph (R) of the Budget Act, a corrective resolution notified around 17 May 2026 (27 Ordibehesht 1405) by the Trade Promotion Organization made the import duty for this channel a flat 100 percent for all cars, regardless of fuel type. That is the current rate (as of July 2026), payable in rials at customs.

Current status (as of July 2026)

The channel for Iranians resident abroad is open: the Trade Promotion Organization announced its continuation in June 2026, and a customs circular of 13-14 June 2026 confirmed the one-car-per-year quota and import without currency transfer. By contrast, commercial car imports are largely halted: the car and CKD-parts tariff lines have been closed since 30 April 2026 and only orders with special permits proceed. New registrations under the war-veterans quota have also been suspended until further notice since 25 May 2026. No official end date for the 1405 diaspora round has been announced yet.

Summary

As of July 2026 the only personal route for importing a car into Iran is this own-currency channel for Iranians resident abroad: one car per year, at most 5 years old, paid entirely from funds outside the country, a flat 100 percent import duty, and a 5-year ban on resale. The rules in this area change quickly, so check the latest circulars in the Comprehensive Trade System and with customs before acting. This article is not purchase or investment advice.