Iraq announces visa facilitations for pilgrims

The General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in Iraq announced facilitations for visa requests to pilgrims visiting the holy shrines, in addition to regular, multiple and emergency entry visas.

The Council said in a statement, “The Diwaniya Order No. 41 of 2020 in the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers discussed facilitating procedures for granting entry visas and simplifying them to be via a single window, in coordination with all relevant institutions.”

It added, "During its first meeting, the committee reviewed the entirety of the previous contexts used to grant entry visas to various expatriates," stressing the importance of adopting the electronic single window project, which will contribute to achieving greater fluidity in granting visas and bypassing the redundant procedures, as well as coordinating efforts between government agencies through electronic channels.

The statement indicated that the committee was entrusted with five tasks, namely "facilitating the granting of entry visas and bypassing additional and unnecessary procedures through the visa window, facilitating requests for granting entry visas for pilgrims to visit the holy shrines, and facilitating the regular and multiple entry visas for experts, doctors, military advisors, and non-governmental organizations, in accordance with the applicable law and instructions."