Iraq's Residency of Foreigners Law No. 76 of 2017: residence and removal

In briefA foreign national who wishes to stay in Iraq beyond the period of the visa must obtain, before it ends, a residence card of up to one year, request renewal thirty days before expiry, and may object to a refusal before the Minister within fifteen days, under article 19 of Residency of Foreigners Law No. 76 of 2017. The law distinguishes expulsion, which asks a lawful resident to leave, from removal, which returns someone who entered unlawfully across the border.

A foreign man married to an Iraqi woman, a foreign student at an Iraqi university, and an investor resident for years all ask about the legal basis for staying in Iraq. That basis is Residency of Foreigners Law No. 76 of 2017, which applies to foreign natural persons and defines a foreign national as anyone who does not hold Iraqi nationality. This page from the office of lawyer Ali Barakat in Baghdad sets out the law's rules on residence and removal. Residence of foreign workers in the Kurdistan Region is covered on the residence card in Kurdistan.

Visa and residence: the difference

Under the first article, an entry visa is approval of a foreign national's entry endorsed in the passport, while a residence document is permission to stay in Iraq issued by a competent Iraqi authority. The eighth article sets conditions for a visa: proof of means to live during the stay, no health, security or public morals bar, no charge or conviction for a felony abroad, no earlier expulsion order unless its grounds have ended and two years have passed, and freedom from communicable diseases.

The residence card and its period

The first paragraph of article 19 requires a foreign national who wishes to stay beyond the period allowed by an ordinary visa to obtain, before it ends, a residence card from the residence officer for up to one year. Renewal for another year may be requested thirty days before expiry, and this may be repeated as long as the reason for residence continues.

Article 23 treats the time a foreign national spends between applying for residence and obtaining it as lawful residence once the conditions are met. The fifth paragraph of article 19 cancels the remaining residence period if the foreign national leaves Iraq for more than six months, and a new document must be obtained on return.

One-year renewable residence

The ninth article allows the director general, or a person he authorises, to grant entry and residence for one renewable year in four cases:

Joining the head of the family or a guardian.
Study at an Iraqi university, college or institute, students of religious seminaries and their families, or a training course at a public body.
A foreign woman widowed or divorced by an Iraqi husband.
The spouse and children of an Iraqi man or woman who hold foreign passports.

This residence can lead to naturalisation: the Nationality Law requires five years' residence for the husband of an Iraqi woman under the seventh article, and five years of marriage and residence for the wife of an Iraqi man under article 11. See naturalisation.

Three-year residence

Article 21 allows residence for three years, renewable for the same period, for a foreign national who provides a useful service to the country, in cases including: a person born in Iraq who has continued to live there; a person resident for fifteen years or more after lawful entry; a person providing scientific, cultural or artistic work who has resided for three years; a person resident for six years under a government contract; a person enrolled in a religious seminary; and investors and businesspeople. Residence counts as continuous in the first two cases if time outside Iraq does not exceed six months a year.

Refusal, cancellation and objection

The second paragraph of article 19 allows the director general to refuse to grant or renew residence where the public interest requires, and the foreign national may object to the Minister within fifteen days of notification, with an answer due within thirty days.
The third paragraph allows the Minister to cancel residence before it ends for reasons of public interest.
The third paragraph of article 17 allows an entry visa to be cancelled for legal reasons, with an objection to the Minister within thirty days of the decision.

Loss of a passport or residence card

Article 20 requires a foreign national who loses a passport or residence card to inform the residence officer within three days on the prescribed form and announce the loss in two local newspapers. Fifteen days after publication, a replacement residence document and a letter to the embassy are issued, and the remaining residence may be transferred to the new passport.

Expulsion and removal

The law defines expulsion as the competent authority asking a lawfully resident foreign national to leave, and removal as returning someone who entered unlawfully across the border. Article 26 allows removal of a person who entered unlawfully; article 27 allows expulsion of a person who entered lawfully but did not meet, or later lost, a condition in the eighth article; article 31 allows expulsion of a person under a final judgment recommending it; and article 35 allows expulsion of a person whose residence was refused by a decision that has become final. An expulsion decision may cover dependent family members named in it under article 30.

Under article 34, a foreign national facing expulsion or removal may request up to sixty days to wind up his or her affairs, guaranteed by an Iraqi, extendable by up to sixty more days. An expelled person may return only by decision of the Minister after the grounds have ended, under article 32.

A foreign man marrying an Iraqi woman

Article 51 allows the director general to give an opinion to the personal status court on requests by a foreign man to marry an Iraqi woman, on conditions including lawful entry, a means of living, freedom from infectious diseases, and no charge or conviction relating to public order or morals.

Legal basis and sources

Frequently asked questions

When should I request renewal of my residence card?

Thirty days before it expires, under the first paragraph of article 19.

My renewal was refused. What is the deadline?

An objection to the Minister within fifteen days of notification. The later routes of challenge are on challenging nationality and residence decisions.

Do I lose my residence if I travel?

The remaining period is cancelled if you are away for more than six months, under the fifth paragraph of article 19.

Always check the text in force and its amendments in the official source.

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Residence of foreign nationals in Iraq under Residency of Foreigners Law No. 76 of 2017