ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Sweeping closures imposed in response to the coronavirus outbreak, including the shutdown of government ministries, had left Erbil’s residency office as deserted as the empty half-constructed buildings it sits among.
But as new virus cases tapered off, the government decided to rein in its movement restrictions and reopen Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) offices on May 11.
Foreigners whose temporary visas and residency cards have expired during the COVID-19 lockdown will not face penalties, residency office officials confirmed Tuesday.
Karzan Sulaiman, head of Erbil residency office’s media directorate, told Rudaw that visa-holders will be allowed to stay in the Kurdistan Region for another month, and holders of expired residency cards will not be fined if they are renewed by June 1.
Early on Monday morning, a diverse crowd of apprehensive migrants with expired papers had gathered outside the blast wall perimeter of the residency office.
Among the expectant crowd was a 33-year-old Kurdish man from Piranshahr in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province. His iqama, or residency permit, had expired three months earlier.
Declining to give his name, fearing repercussions, he told Rudaw he came to Erbil because he couldn’t find work back in Iran, where high rates of unemployment hit the socio-economically deprived Kurdish provinces especially hard.
Instead he has found casual day labor here in Erbil to provide for him and his wife.
The KRG closed its borders with Iraqi provinces and neighboring countries early on in the crisis when the scale of the outbreak in Iran became clear.
Non-commercial travel over national frontiers was banned, as was the issuance of visas to Iranians and visitors from other high-risk countries. New arrivals were subject to 14 days in quarantine.
Many Iranian Kurds returned home early on in the pandemic, fearing they may become stranded and be fined for overstaying their residency.
Kamil Barzanji, head of the Erbil residency office, told Rudaw that Monday’s crowds were “expected” after the two-month lockdown, so measures had been taken to accommodate the caseload.
The residency office has extended its opening hours from 9am to 4pm. Like other government offices, it used to close at 1pm.
The extended hours did nothing to simplify the notoriously chaotic procedure, which lacks any written guidelines. Visitors are pin-balled through a maze of rooms by officials offering often contradictory instructions.
Several Iranians who spoke to Rudaw English outside the residency office had come to renew their one month visa. An iqama costs $500 for six months and $800 for a year – well beyond the means of poorer migrants.
Additional reporting by Shkar Ahmed and Karwan Faidhi Dri
Updated: 10:08 pm
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