  The field-angular dependence and anisotropy of the critical current density
in iron-based superconductors is evaluated using a phenomenological approach
featuring distinct anisotropy factors for the penetration depth and the
coherence length. Both the weak collective pinning limit, and the strong
pinning limit relevant for iron-based superconductors at low magnetic fields
are considered. It is found that in the more anisotropic materials, such as
SmFeAsO and NdFeAsO, the field-angular dependence is completely dominated by
the coherence-length (upper-critical field) anisotropy, thereby explaining
recent results on the critical current in these materials. In less anisotropic
superconductors, strong pinning can lead to an apparent inversion of the
anisotropy. Finally, it is shown that, under all circumstances, the ratio of
c-axis and ab-plane critical current densities for magnetic field along the
ab-plane directly yields the coherence length anisotropy factor
{\epsilon}{\xi}.
