Visa requirements eased after lobbying

Visa requirements have been confusing and expensive since Iraqi officials took control of the country in late June, according to local aid workers. Staff at aid agencies already established in the country have been spending days getting required letters of approval from at least three ministries before they left the country, some workers told IRIN on condition of anonymity. When coming back into Iraq, workers often saw more delays. At the Iraqi consulate in Amman, Jordan, for example, consular officers required final approval from officials in Baghdad before they would issue a visa, no matter how many previous approvals were presented, according to aid workers and journalists. Some foreigners were told to bring letters of invitation from their companies directly to Baghdad airport or any international border. Others were told that they had to pay US $40 to buy a visa in Amman. A journalist entering the country paid a $200 "fine" because he had what he thought was the required invitation letter from his company when he got to Baghdad airport, but no visa in his passport. "It was such a time-consuming process before. Agencies could apply and [only] pick up a visa a couple of days later," an aid agency worker in Baghdad told IRIN, declining to be identified for security reasons. Now things are easier, after about two months of negotiations between the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), which is currently based in Amman, aid agencies and others, and the interim Iraqi government, a worker at the Non-Governmental Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI) office in Amman told IRIN. The worker also declined to be named for security reasons. Discussions continued "at all levels" until the Ministry of Interior agreed to take over the visa approval process, the worker said. "It's been in effect, and it works," the aid worker said. "They have very nicely agreed to do this. Basically, it was a collective effort from us." All that is now required is a letter of invitation sent to the Ministry of Interior and aid agencies don't have to pay for a visa. Journalists and other foreign workers pay $40 for a single-entry visa. Foreigners working for the US Department of Defence who have identification are also let into the country free. "There's an interim procedure for NGOs, now that the Interior Ministry has taken over the procedure," the worker said. "Before, it was quite a complicated process. You had to have an invitation from the related ministry, the Planning Ministry and then the Foreign Affairs Ministry." The aid worker in Baghdad said at least one person had come into the country under the new rule. "It was an overnight change in the situation," the worker said. There seems to be no signs of corruption either. "We've had no reports of bribes or corruption, as we were originally instructed of the procedures at the Iraqi embassy in Amman." Consular officials in Amman recently received training in the US on how to do their jobs more efficiently. Hundreds of applications were sitting on desks in Amman on a recent visit. Officials worked late into the night to process them. Many aid agencies in Iraq have now registered with the Ministry of Planning to make sure they are following the rules when it is time to get visa approval, said Nawfal al-Rawi, a spokesman for Muslim Hands, a British-based aid agency, told IRIN. Iraqi Muslim Hands staff are guided by British directors who have not visited the Baghdad office in about four months, he said. "Whenever they said they would come back into the country, something else happened," al-Rawi said, referring to the recent spate of kidnappings of foreigners and other violence. "But we are registered with the ministry, so there will be no problem." Following the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in April 2003, there was no visa requirement or charge associated with coming into Iraq. At first, US-led forces let anyone into the country at major borders and airports. As Iraqis took over border immigration before sovereignty was handed over to Iraq, they added entry and exit stamps to the process. Under the former regime, aid agencies went through a complicated vetting process, and many were not allowed to work in the country. Journalists also had a difficult time getting visas. Corrupt officials would drag out the time it took to receive approval, often asking for money to speed up the process, according to local people.