KRG Offers Illegal Entrants A Flat Exit Fine
The Interior Ministry asks foreigners who entered by smuggling routes and have no residency to visit residency offices and start the exit procedure, with a single penalty regardless of how long they stayed
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Ministry of Interior on Saturday urged all foreigners who entered the Kurdistan Region through smuggling routes and have no residency to go immediately to the residency directorates of the provinces and independent administrations to begin procedures to leave and return to their home countries.
According to the ministry’s official letter No. 34702, dated Sunday, and based on Article 12 and Item 30 of the appendix to the Kurdistan Region’s Instruction No. 1 of 2021 on electronic visas and residency, as amended, the ministry will charge only a 500,000-dinar penalty, about $380, in return for the exit stamp, regardless of how long the person has stayed illegally. The ministry said the step is meant to help foreigners who came by smuggling routes years ago and have been living illegally in the Region, and who face a heavy financial penalty because they have no official residency.
The announcement does not give a deadline, a number of people affected, or the nationalities covered, and it does not say whether the flat penalty replaces other legal consequences. Under the 2021 instruction, an expired visa or residency card normally carries a penalty of 20,000 dinars per day, plus a 60,000-dinar fee for the exit stamp, and the stamp is normally available only to foreigners who entered the Region officially. Under Iraqi residence law, illegal entry can carry up to one year in prison or a fine of 500,000 to 1,000,000 dinars, according to Iraqi media.
The ministry has repeatedly eased penalties for foreigners during the war. It waived fines in April for people unable to travel after February 28 and then announced a 90-day grace period with a 75 percent cut in late fines. On October 18 it announced a new 75 percent reduction in late fines for expired entry visas and residency permits, available until December 31, under an order dated October 15, according to Welat TV. Those measures covered foreigners who had entered legally, and Saturday’s announcement is the first to address those who entered by smuggling.