Passport directorate officially opens in Kurdistan Region’s Zakho

A passport directorate in the northwestern Kurdistan Region city of Zakho was officially opened on Tuesday.

Kurdistan 24 2019/12/10 08:59

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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A passport directorate in the northwestern Kurdistan Region city of Zakho was officially opened on Tuesday.

Rebar Ahmed, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Interior Minister, delivered a joint press conference at the doorsteps of the new office.

“This service will greatly help the residents in Zakho, and we will always work on ways to improve other services for our people,” he told reporters.

Ahmed concluded his speech by presenting the first passport that was printed and stamped at the new directorate.

Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed holds up the first printed and stamped passport at the new passport office in Zakho, Dec. 10, 2019. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Duhok Governor Ferhad Atrushi, meanwhile, expressed his delight that the “directorate was opened at the right time.”

“We are always ready to provide services for the people of Zakho to make their lives easier,” he stated.

The clerk's desk at the new passport office in Zakho. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Residents can renew their passports and other documents at the new passport office in Zakho. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

The waiting room at the new passport office in Zakho. (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

The passport office will reduce the difficulty and inconvenience civilians in Zakho experience by having to drive up to 50 kilometers to visit the office in Duhok.

Nechirvan Ahmad, a Passport Officer at the new office, previously told Kurdistan 24 that residents in Zakho could renew their passports or other documents as well as register for new documents at the new office.

“However, for lost or damaged passports, people will have to visit the main office in Duhok.”

The city of Zakho has a population of approximately 212,000 people. Zakho is located near the Kurdistan Region – Turkey border.

The opening of local directorates spares residents the trouble of traveling, including the cost of travel and avoiding possible traffic accidents as they drive long distances.

In November, the interior ministries of the Kurdistan Region and the Federal Government of Iraq inaugurated a new passport directorate in Erbil province’s Soran district.

Efforts to open such offices across the Kurdistan Region are per a directive from Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to provide the necessary service for citizens.