Iraq has deported more than 32,000 foreigners for residency violations this year

BAGHDAD — Iraq has deported 32,457 foreign nationals for breaking residency rules since the start of 2026, more than 20,000 of them from Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said Monday, as authorities press nationwide campaigns against people without valid permits.

The ministry deported 20,114 people from Baghdad between Jan. 1 and Oct. 19 and 12,343 from other governorates, spokesperson Col. Mohammed Ali al-Hassoun told a state-run newspaper. The ministry had stepped up legal and administrative enforcement through the Directorate of Residency Affairs and other authorities, he said, and inspection teams would keep checking foreign residents’ legal status and acting against violators. The ministry deported 43,986 foreigners in all of 2025, it said in February.

Iraq has tightened enforcement against undocumented foreign workers in recent years and introduced electronic visas with barcode checks at border crossings and airports. The Labor Ministry has said at least 80% of employers’ workforce must be Iraqi, with foreign workers capped at 20%; inspectors check compliance, and companies hiring foreigners must show qualified Iraqis are unavailable. In August, Karbala police detained 16 foreign nationals for residency violations after inspections by a joint committee of police, intelligence and residency officials.

Under the Foreigners’ Residency Law No. 76 of 2017, foreigners must comply with rules on entry, residence and employment, and violations can lead to detention, deportation and bans on future entry.